Season over for Keenum

The Case Keenum era at UH came to an abrupt end after the quarterback tore his ACL while attempting to make a tackle after throwing an interception. Backup quarterback Cotton Turner also suffered a season-ending

shoulder injury, fracturing his clavicle.

Keenum will finish his career as the school leader in passing yards, touchdowns and attempts, along with having the fifth most passing yards in NCAA history.

Turner had shoulder surgery Sunday, and head coach Kevin Sumlin said the swelling on Keenum’s knee must subside before he goes under the knife.

Keenum was redshirted as a freshman, guaranteeing him five years of eligibility at UH. The NCAA states a player can only play 30 percent of a season to get consideration for a medical redshirt. Keenum is under the minimum, but since he received a voluntary redshirt it would take extenuating circumstances for him to receive a medical redshirt. It is unknown at this time if the team will apply for one, as the chief concern is his health.

“It’s a blow to our team,” Sumlin said. “I’m really disappointed for them personally, particularly for Case. It’s one of those things that you don’t want to happen to anybody. It’s an unfortunate situation.

“We’ve been through adversity of all kinds. I don’t know if we’ve been through this type yet.”

With Keenum and Turner out of the equation, it will lead to a quarterback competition between true freshmen Terrance Broadway and David Piland, along with junior Austin Elrod. Broadway and Piland’s redshirts have been lifted.

Elrod and Broadway came in after Turner’s departure. Broadway completed five of eight passes for 84 yards and a touchdown. Broadway, a native of Baton Rouge, La. was ranked a four-star recruit by rivals.com. The true freshman showed some elusiveness with two runs for 14 yards. Regardless of who next week’s starter is, Sumlin said he doesn’t sense that the offense will undergo any major changes.

“We’re going to name a starter at the beginning of the week,” Sumlin said. “We’re going to also get David Piland involved. He was not on the trip but we’re going to get him involved and practicing. I don’t see us making a drastic departure from what we do offensively.”

With little preparation, Broadway was able to calmly lead the offense to two scores to get UH within 18 points. Sumlin said he was impressed with Broadway’s ability to manage the game.

“He operated very well,” Sumlin said. “He was probably calmer than a lot of the coaches were at that point. I told him to smile. He looked at me said ‘I don’t think we have time for that, coach,’ and off he ran. That’s the kind of kid he is; our young guys are from programs that are used to winning in high school, they’re competitors and I think that showed.”

Despite losing the starting and backup quarterback, Sumlin said the team’s goals remain the same: to win Conference USA. The Cougars will get back to conference play Saturday when Tulane comes to Robertson Stadium.

“We’ve got a long season ahead of us, all of our goals are still out in front of us,” Sumlin said. “Every year our goals start with our conference, and right now we’re 1-0 in our conference, and we play a conference game this week. We’ve got to turn our attention now to still reaching our goals.”