Senior quarterback Case Keenum accomplished a feat that will not likely be duplicated anytime soon on Saturday. He became the NCAA leader in all-time passing yardage in the Cougars’ 56-13 win against UAB at Legion Field.
There wasn’t much of an audience to witness the historical achievement, and things will likely be the same in UH’s (9-0, 4-0 Conference USA) matchup against Tulane.
Usually the Superdome is a rowdy place as the venue for New Orleans Saints games. It will be far from that when the Cougars square off against the Green Wave today.
“It’s a little different,” Keenum said. “It’s more football at its purest form. There’s not everybody screaming and yelling. There’s not a ton of crowd noise. It’s just two teams out there playing football for their friends and family.
“It’s not a bad thing. We only have 12 guaranteed chances to play football every year, and this is one of them. We have to take advantage of it. No matter if we’re playing in front of 90,000 or 30,000 at our place or not very many. We know for a fact that we don’t get many chances to showcase what we can do, and this is just another one.”
UH is expected to extend its win streak to 10 after meeting with Tulane (2-8, 1-5). But just like UAB, the Cougars are expecting Tulane to come out with a high level of energy.
“It’s a tough matchup in our league each week,” Keenum said. “I’ve played in Conference USA long enough to know a team could come out and play well or not so well. I expect every team to come out and play really, really well against us and play their absolute best. I expect teams to give us their best shot and it’s our job to give them our best shot.”
The Cougars have been one of the busier teams in college football, competing in four contests in 21 days. This marks the third and final time of the season UH will play on a Thursday.
“I think it’s good,” Keenum said. “We have this `Saturday and come around and play Thursday’ routine figured out. We are getting used to it and getting ready. It will be another good game this week.”
The Cougars are one of five unbeaten teams that in the NCAA, but have not been flawless. Avoiding penalties is a top priority for the Cougars’ this weekend.
“You don’t assume that things are just going to continue,” head coach Kevin Sumlin said. “We have to eliminate penalties. In close games, too many penalties will cost you the ball game. We’ve had plays that have been called back or been put behind the chains making it third and long or first and long.
“That puts pressure on the offense to convert when we don’t need to do that. Defensively, we had a turnover early in the game that got nullified by a personal foul. Those are the things that in a close game are going to cost you ball games.”
The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network, and will be broadcast on 790 AM.
