Cougars choke away championship, BCS berth

The Cougars’ BCS chances slipped away like so many passes did through Tyron Carrier’s hands on Saturday at Robertson Stadium.

The Cougars did not compete on third downs and lost the Conference USA Championship and any hope of going to a BCS bowl, falling 49-28 to Southern Miss.

“It’s very devastating,” senior quarterback Case Keenum said. “I’ve been in this position twice now. It’s not very fun. I told that to the young guys. It was right within our grasp and we let it slip away.

“We have to give credit to Southern Miss. They came in here, in a hostile environment, that’s as hostile as I’ve ever seen Robertson Stadium, the fans were incredible, but for them to come out and play like they did in that type of environment, you have to hand it to them.”

The UH offense converted on only thirty percent of its third downs, and allowed USM to convert eight-of-18 times, including a crucial 3rd-and-13 in the third quarter that led to a 17-yard-touchdown run by Desmond Johnson to give the Golden Eagles a two-touchdown lead.

“They did a good job, had a good gameplan, and we just didn’t execute when we needed to,” Keenum said.

Johnson and Tracy Lampley gave the Cougars fits, combining for 162 yards on 24 carries.

Lampley also caught six balls for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

The Cougars fell behind early by two touchdowns, by rallied to bring it to 14-14 in the second quarter and entered the half trailing by one touchdown.

“We missed a couple of opportunities early in game,” head coach Kevin Sumlin said. “When you’re down a touchdown at halftime, you still have a great opportunity.”

The Cougars were primed to tie the game up after forcing USM off the field on a three-and-out to open the second half. But the Cougars again could not convert on third down and Richie Leone’s blocked punt turned into another Golden Eagle touchdown.

“I thought that being down seven allowed us to do what we do offensively and hang in there,” Sumlin said. “Once they got up 14, we couldn’t run it and we really needed to throw the ball, and their defense did an excellent job. They were able to pin their ears back and just rush us and play some soft coverage behind it so that we couldn’t get the big plays that we would in a closer ball game.”

Justin Johnson was the only sure-handed receiver in a passing attack that was shut down. Johnson caught 12 balls for 171 yards and two touchdowns.

Carrier dropped several critical passes, including a ball in the first quarter where he was all alone at midfield.

Patrick Edwards was taken away as a deep threat, and finished with just 28 yards on five receptions.

UH’s offensive line was dominated and never able to establish a consistent run game.

The normally explosive tandem of Charles Sims and Michael Hayes was held to just 3.4 yards per carry.