In the first game of the season, The Cougars ran over UNLV by a score of 37-9. After this game, the team jumped to 18th in the polls. | Archive photo/The Cougar
“Coogs escape high flyin’ Owls.” wide receiver Patrick Cooper hauled in the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter to surpass rival, the unranked Rice, 24-22. This was the first test of the season. | Archive photo/The Cougar
Wide receiver Manny Hazard dislocated his shoulder during the win over Rice. | Archive photo/The Cougar
“Cougar cornerback Chuck Weatherspoon signs autographs for two young cancer patients”. By mid-October the team was ranked number 6th nationally. | Archive photo/The Cougar
Cougar lineman celebrate a thrilling 5-point victory over No.20 Texas A&M. | Archive photo/The Cougar
“Klinger’s 7 TD passes Humilate Arkansas.” Arkansas was forced to chase the Cougars up and down the field. Even after the 62-28 thumping, the Cougars remained the number 6th team in the land. | Archive photo/The Cougar
“Houston’s gunslinger shooting for Heisman.” After Ware had won the Heisman, another seemed within limits to a Houston quarterback. He had been on the cover of Sports Illustrated to start out the year, and was setting records after every game. | Archive photo/The Cougar
“A University of Texas defensive player introduces quarterback David Klinger to the Memorial Stadium turf. Klinger spent most of Saturday night’s game scrambling for his life. The Cougars lost 45-24.” While UT was only ranked 12th, the 3rd-ranked Coogs stumbled and were soundly beaten. The Cougars fell from their perch in the polls. | Archive photo/The Cougar
After getting smacked by rival UT, the Cougars obliterated Eastern Washington 84-21. In this ad in The Cougar, students are treated to a Pizza Hut deal after the game, and special $1 tickets. | Archive photo/The Cougar
While the Cougars leaped to No.6 in the AP poll this week, The Cougar looks back to the last time the football team were ranked this high in the same poll: the 1990 season.
In response to egregious recruiting violations during Coach Bill Yeoman’s tenure a few years prior, the Cougars were still under heavy NCAA sanctions. Although they were banned from bowl games, the team still attained two dominating seasons in 1989 and 1990.
Since Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware was drafted after his heroic 1989 season, quarterback David Klinger took his place. Klinger appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated during its annual college football season preview.
Recently, that magazine picked current quarterback Greg Ward Jr. for the cover.
The Cougars started out ranked No. 24, but after big wins over University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Texas Tech University and Baylor University, the team climbed to No. 12 nationally. After squeaking past the Texas A&M University Aggies, the team garnered national attention toward the end of the season.
Then there was the University of Texas game.
Against a team in the top 15, the Cougars were blindsided and eventually lost their No. 3 ranking.
While they were not allowed to go to a bowl game, the one-loss Cougars did participate in the “Coca-Cola Classic” in Tokyo. In this de facto bowl game, the team conquered unranked Arizona State 62-45.
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