The Cougars continued to test out new pieces as several players have shifted position and others have moved into starting roles. Kenneth Farrow, who signed on to play safety a year ago, impressed at his new position -- running back. Farrow gained 123 all-purpose years and scored three touchdowns. | Hendrick Rosemond/The Daily Cougar
The 2012 Houston Cougars have been commonly referred to on Cullen Boulevard as the “Charles Sims Show.” Why not? All the running back and potent pass catcher did a season ago was rank third nationally in yards per rush (7.5) while silencing crowds from El Paso to New Orleans with his sudden bursts of speed. However, Friday it was Kenneth Farrow – a redshirt safety from a year ago creating the buzz in the backfield.
“We moved him to running back in December and it was a need for us in terms of Bryce Beall and Michael Hayes graduating,” head coach Tony Levine said. “From day one here this spring, he’s been physical, fast, he’s gotten better every day and we’re really excited about his future in this program.”
Farrow, a redshirt freshman who played running back in high school, racked up 123 all-purpose yards including two rushing and one receiving touchdown while helping lead the Red team to a 42-28 victory over the White team in front of 5,137 spectators at Robertson Stadium.
“I talked to Levine and he told me they didn’t really know who was going to be behind Charles,” Farrow said. “Coming back to running back, I was kind of slow getting my vision and footwork back but I always knew I could play because that’s what I played in high school, so I just kept going at it every day and working.”
Farrow was one of several bright spots for the Cougars in their final tune up of the spring. At quarterback, David Piland rebounded from a slow start to finish 21-of-27 passing to go along with 276 yards and two touchdowns, while backup Crawford Jones was 11-of-15 under center throwing for 135 yards and two scores.
“I thought all four quarterbacks executed the offense very well,” Levine said. “There is no doubt in my mind that if we had to play a game today, we could.”
Still, both Levine and Piland made it clear that there is work to be done before the team returns to Robertson Stadium in September.
“We have a checklist of things that need to be fixed before we go into fall ball,” Piland said. “I think we’re going to have to speed up things a lot quicker, get a lot more tempo in there and make better plays.”
Marcus Williams (115 yards, 85-yard kickoff return for touchdown) and Dewayne Peace (104 yards, two touchdowns) led their respective squads in receiving while defensively, Efrem Oliphant led the game in sacks (2.5) and Lester Block was the leader with eight tackles.
The offense looked really impressive especially Kenneth Farrow. The new 4-3 defense has some work to do. They would have been really out matched if Simms had been playing. You forgot to mention the monster punts by Richie Leone. A couple of his punts nearly went the length of the field!!! That is exagerated a bit but he really did kick some boomers.
solid article. Can't wait for next season.
It was nice to see so many people attending the game