In front of a record crowd of 32,119 fans at Robertson Stadium, the Cougars scored at will and sealed the win before halftime, rolling past Texas State 68-28 in Saturday’s season opener.
UH quarterback Case Keenum threw for five touchdowns, all coming before halftime, in Saturday's victory over Texas State. | Daily Cougar File Photo
The Cougars went full throttle in the first half which led them to rest their starters in the second.
Already leading by 41 points, linebacker Matt Nicholson intercepted a pass and ran it back 42 yards for a touchdown. This put UH up 54-7 at the 2:10 mark in the second quarter, giving the Bobcats too much of a deficit to overcome.
Quarterback Case Keenum further solidified himself as one of the most elite passers in UH history. He became the school leader in passing attempts, yards and touchdowns all in the first half, passing Kevin Kolb. With five touchdown passes and 274 yards, Keenum’s day was over at halftime.
“Our guys came out came out and did what we asked them to do. I was pleased with the effort,” Sumlin said. “Are we there yet? No. But I think we’ve got something to build off of.”
The offense set the tone for the game on its second play. Running back Michael Hayes caught a toss from Keenum, made a cut and went the distance on a 40-yard scamper to break a scoreless tie.
On the second drive, Keenum threw a pass to Patrick Edwards for a score, but it was called back for holding. The penalty pushed the Cougars back to their own 34-yard line, but didn’t prove to be a challenge. On first down, Keenum targeted Edwards again for a 63- yard touchdown, this time with no flags, to go up 13-0.
Texas State responded with an 10-play, 80-yard drive, capped by a 14-yard touchdown run by Tyler Arndt at the 4:26 mark in the first quarter. This pulled the Bobcats within six, but they wouldn’t score again until the third quarter.
The Bobcats would go on to score three more touchdowns to make it 68-28 with 1:19 in the fourth quarter, but they were merely padding their statistics at this point.
Either way, the large crowd of UH fans were satisfied with the score.
“I can’t say enough or even put into words what having a crowd like that means,” Keenum said. “It’s incredible we’ve had that that much fan support.”
Five touchdown passes in 17 completions. Simply put: the best.
Marv.
Rockin
Keenum’s def a candidate…
We had a lot of fun last night! GO COOGS!
Congrats Coogs!
Side question: why does UT play Rice, but not UH?
Because they afraid being whip! Second, they want bigger stadium for more $$$. Third, I think there feeling is hurt from last game UH play them.
The first team scored 68 pts on 16:59 worth of offense. Could have hung triple digits had it been warrented. Second and true freshmen got some much need live contact after goin all summer hitting their own. This will pay dividends later. Next up, utep….. Can you say payback ? Remember what happened after tulsa in 07, next year this team put up 70 on them at home. I'm looking for that same response coogs…, so eat em up !