UH basketball falls to LaTech 99-94...same old song and dance...

Despite a balanced offensive attack that saw five players score at least 12 points, the University of Houston men's basketball team dropped a 99-94 decision Louisiana Tech on Tuesday during the finale of a month-long home stand at Hofheinz Pavilion.

Junior Adam Brown scored 20 points (six 3-pointers) while senior guard Aubrey Coleman the nation's leading scorer, was held to 19 points, eight points less than his season average.
Senior Kelvin Lewis added19 points with four 3-pointers.

The key to the Cougars loss was not their ability to score but their inability to control the glass. Houston was outrebounded 55-32 by a good but by no means dominant Bulldogs squad. 23 more rebounds???

It's the same thing over and over again. Smaller but quicker, Houston runs a mini-Chinese firedrill on offense, firing 3-point attempts and runners. On defense, a full court press that once broken, get pounded on the inside but anyone over 6'9".

Tom Penders did a good job getting the UH Basketball program off of life-support, just as Art Briles did for the football program. But like Briles did three years ago, Penders has hit a ceiling. Briles made UH Football competitive, but don't forget he only won one...ONE...CUSA conference championship (and CUSA is hardly a murderers row). With the type of program Briles runs (circus-like, gimmicky offense and NO DEFENSE) Briles could get 8-9 wins in a mediocre conference, but probably never a top 25 finish. You won't see a Briles-led Baylor ever challenge for the Big 12 South title. The Bears will be lucky to win 6 games in a season.

This is where Penders is now. I like Penders. I find him funny, engaging and someone who enjoys coaching basketball. But his formula for success is lacking. Sure, Houston will win 20 games this season against poor competition, might even make it to the CUSA championship game. Just like the Coogs did four years ago, and three years ago, and two years ago, and last year...and be left pondering why Houston can't get to the next level, an invite to the NCAA Basketball tournament.

Houston relies on small, fast guards to shoot three's and penetrate, which offensively is okay, as long as you have some presence inside to rebound or at the very least provide some threat of scoring. On defense, it's steal the ball or get burned inside and outrebounded.

It's not working. Penders stopped the bleeding, but he doesn't seem to have what it will take to get Houston back to even a shadow of it's glory days of the 1980's.

Same old story, same old song and dance...my friend

Leach vs. James vs. Myers...a triple threat cage match!

What a joke. Texas Tech suspends Mike Leach because he had a guy with a mild concussion stand in a dark garage for three hours? REALLY??? Ah, the kid's name is Adam James, son of Texas school boy legend and ESPN football analyst Craig James? Even better...

When you really boil it down, this isn't about Leach's treatment of James.

James was never in danger, never at risk of injury. Humiliated a little, sure, but nothing that even bordered on unfair or inhumane.

This is an ego battle between Myers (Texas Tech's AD) and Leach (and throw in Little-League dad Craig "Pony Boy" James for good measure). Myers is still angry about Leach strong-arming the school for a better contract and Leach's "goofiness" doesn't help.

Myers saw an opportunity to stick it to Leach over the James' situation by requiring Leach to write a letter of apology to the James' family. Whereas I feel that Leach did nothing wrong or over-the-top, a simple (and even backhanded) apology to the James' family would have cooled the flames, allowing Leach to coach in the bowl game and afterwards let James transfer to another school. Does it need to be said that Adam James is "persona non-grata" in Lubbock?

But Captain Mike's ego wouldn't allow him to do that. He refused to write the letter, and like most of us, when you refuse to obey your boss, you're either suspended or fired.

So now where does Texas Tech stand? Not in a good place, ALMOST a no-win.

If Tech fires Leach, it won't change the James' situation. Whether Leach stays or not, Adam James will not be a student at Texas Tech in 2010. And Pony Boy won't be making any donations to the Tech scholarship fund, either.

Myers should cool his heels, realize than Leach has been good for the Tech program and somehow keep his coach in place. Myers is not bigger than Texas Tech. He isn't seeing the bigger picture. Leach has made Tech a consistant top 25 program, something that Coach Spike Dykes, a West Texas favorite son, could never do. Yeah, the pirate stuff is goofy as are some of the things he says, but he's not evil or a detriment to his players or the school.

I guess there's no accounting for ego's...

Season's Greetings...and ramblings from the wilderness...

Season's greetings to all! Why Season's Greetings and not Merry Christmas? My wife is Jewish and to be honest, Season's Greetings covers everything from Hanukkah to New Year's Day. I'm lazy...

Urban Meyer is stepping down at Florida? Health and family reasons? There are rumors of heart problems, but I think there may be more here...

Everything seems to be lining up for a big Houston Cougar run in 2010. Sumlin and Keenum will be back and there is better than even chance that there will be a new UH Basketball coach in the fall. Billy Gillespie? I'd take him in a heartbeat...

Gotta give props to SMU and Marshall for stepping up with wins for CUSA in the early bowl games. Southern Miss and UCF...not so much.

If the Mountain West offers UH membership, Mack Rhoades would be a FOOL not to accept. BYU, Utah and TCU have shown the way with big wins over AQ-BCS programs.

Houston's football recruiting has been outstanding. Several local high school Top 100 players are committed to staying here in the Bayou City.

NCAA scoring leader Coleman leads Coogs over Frogs

Cougar Aubrey Coleman torched TCU with a game-high 33 points (11 of 18 from the field) and Kelvin Lewis poured in another 25 points (including six three-pointers) to lead UH to a big 105-81 win over the Horny Toads last Wednesday at The Hof.

Coleman, a home-grown talent, is the nation's leading scorer and boosted his scoring average to 27.4 per game.

The Coogs are 4-1 on their current home stand, which ends next Tuesday when Houston hosts La Tech at 7:00pm.

Sumlin named as finalist for Paul "Bear" Bryant Award

Just a week after being named CUSA Coach of the Year, Coach Kevin Sumlin was named as a finalist for the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award.

The award honors excellence in coaching while raising funds to fight heart disease and stroke.

He's got some good company, including Texas' Mack Brown and Alabama's Nick Saban. Sumlin and Boise State's Chris Peterson are the only finalists' from non-AQ BCS conferences.

Good Luck Kevin!

Mark Berman at Fox 26 Gets It!!

Last night on Fox 26 News (Houston, Texas), sports anchor Mark Berman, one of the most respected sports journalists in Houston, had this to say about the O'Brien Award given to Daniel (Colt) McCoy for nation's best QB:

"UH QB Case Keenum does not get the attention he deserves because he does not play at a BCS school and that predjudice continued tonight at Orlando where he lost out on the 'O Brien Award to UT's Colt McCoy. The award is given to the nation's best QB. McCoy did not have anywhere near the year that Keenum had."

Gotta love it!

Should I stay or should I go...Armed Forces Bowl

This one is a tough call. Yes, I want to support the program and the team. They have had a great year and deserve to be playing in a better bowl and/or a better opponent.

But I do support the team and university. I have four season tickets, I'm a Cougar Pride member (All-American) and Life Member to the general scholarship fund.

What I don't want to do is accept mediocrity. I don't mean from the players but from the AD and CUSA officals who can't find a better venue to showcase the program that carried the banner for them in 2009.

Look at it this way: if Houston had been 12-0 and lost the CUSA championship game, is this where we would have been stuck? The sad and pathetic answer is yes. So unless we go to Memphis for the Liberty Bowl (and Memphis isn't the best place to be in January) we will get stuck with some micky mouse bowl as long as we are a member of CUSA.

So, do I support the team and go to the bowl (at 11:00am on New Year's Eve in Fort Worth...in the Armed Forces Bowl...against Air Force...REALLY?) or save the money, give more to Cougar Pride in 2010 demand better results from CUSA?

Keenum wins Sammy Baugh Award!

And Sammy Baugh was a TCU Legend!

From the UH Athletics Website:

HOUSTON - University of Houston junior quarterback Case Keenum was the winner of the 2009 Sammy Baugh Award as announced by The Touchdown Club of Columbus Monday afternoon.

The accolade is presented to the top passer in collegiate football. Keenum completed more than 70 percent of his passes and threw for 500+ yards in four games during the 2009 season. The Abilene, Texas native led the Cougars to the Conference USA Championship game against defending champions East Carolina. Keenum connected on 43 touchdown passes and threw a single season record of 5,449 yards.

First presented in 1959, the award has been held by legendary passers including Steve Young, John Elway, Bob Griese and fellow Cougar David Klingler.

The award marks the second honor Keenum has received from The Touchdown Club of Columbus. In 2008, he was named a "Player to Watch."

The Sammy Baugh Award will be presented during the Touchdown Club of Columbus 55th Annual Sports Banquet scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010 at the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion in Downtown Columbus. For additional information, visit www.touchdownclubofcolumbus.com.

UH vs Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl Redux...this is B.S.!!

Looks like UH has accepted an invitation to the Armed Forces Bowl against Air Force. No, this is not 2008, it's 2009...

So this is our reward for a 10-3 season, spending most of 2009 in the top 25?

This game is a no-win situation. AF is 7-5, we beat them last year and we'll be favored to win. If we win, it'll barely make a blip on the radar and will give us only a tiny bump in the rankings. We lose, we tumble down between 35-40...if we're lucky.

I know the sports department, CKS and the team will spin this opportunity into a positive. What else can they do? I 'm sure they're not happy about how badly things have turned in only 24 hours. Top 20, conference champion, playing a quality SEC opponent in the Liberty Bowl, to out of the top 25, playing in a minor bowl against a 7-5 non-AQ opponent...sucks.

Is this really the best bowl our AD, CUSA officals or SOMEBODY can do for the only CUSA program that went 3-0 against automatic-AQ opponents? REALLY????

Not a good ending guys, no matter how you spin it. In 2008 we were 7-5 and got AF in the Armed Forces Bowl. That made sense. In 2009, we are 10-3 and get AF in the Armed Forces Bowl. That's spinning wheels. I'm not mad at the team...but the system sucks. We really need to find a better answer than this CUSA crap.

I really feel for the players, especially the seniors.

Another anti-BCS rant...

Well folks, in the last two weeks the T-sips barely beat a team that had won only six games (A&M) and a team with NO OFFENSE (Nebraska). But, we will have the misfortune of having them play in the BCS title game, though many would argue that both TCU or Cincy would wipe the floor with them.

So why is Texas (who to be fair, does have a very good team and is one of the top 4 teams this year) guaranteed a spot against Alabama in the BCS title game? Well...

Because the BCS wanted the winner of the Big 12 and the winner of SEC to play for the 2009/2010 BCS championship, plain and simple.

All year, all we heard fro the talking heads was who was better, the Big 12 or SEC? Texas and OU (some love for OSU) were the teams for the Big 12, Florida and Alabama from the SEC. Once OU lost their second game, they fell off the media map. Florida won with some "questionable" referee calls (causing suspension of the crew) while 'Bama had two scary moments with Tenn. and Auburn.

Wow, and isn't it ironic that the three top Heisman candidates play for either Texas, Florida or Alabama? Hell no it's not...

So no, neither TCU or Cincy will get the chance at 'Bama. The best that could happen is that both TCU and Boise State get a BCS bowl and win big over their AQ opponents.

But that will only make me feel good for a day or so, because the deck is stacked towards 4-6 teams every year. Guys, it's starting to make for boring college football. Before 2010 even starts, we already know that Texas, OU, USC, Ohio State, Florida, Alabama will be ranked in the top 10 (with Notre Dame somehow getting a top 25 ranking...geez), don't we? What a joke. It isn't as bad as pro wrestling, but i think you get my point...

That's the one thing pro football has right. It's a meritocracy. Any team can win it all, you just have to earn it!

DAMN IT!!!! NOOOOOO!!!!

Coogs lose 32-38. Defense did what I thought they would, but you can't give any team a 30 yard field (on a kick-off return) and an eight-yard field (interception) and think you're not going to give up points.

Keenum had a great day with 527 yards and five touchdowns, but three interceptions just killed us. Whether the last one was a fluke or not, the decision to throw the pass was questionable...AT BEST...

So now the Coogs lose the CUSA title, lose their top 25 ranking (for the season) and will now play in some "micky mouse" bowl, either the New Orleans (against Troy...WHO???") or the Armed Forces Bowl (against Air Force, who we played last year...BORING)...

Still, a 10 win season is nothing to sniff at...but a CUSA title would have been a great way to cap the final game of the regualr season...

Coogs in North Carolina...and prediction...

Well the Coogs football team has safely arrived in North Carolina. But because of the bad weather in Houston, the Spirit of Houston band got stuck at the airport and won't arrive until about 2:00am...

Kick-off is tomorrow at 11:00am CST...and now, my prediction for tomorrow's game...

Houston will jump out to a 10-0 lead with quick hit inside and crisp passing from Keenum. ECU responds with a touchdown at the end of the 1st quarter-

10-7 Houston

The Coogs once again march down the field and score a touchdown. Both defenses stiffen on key 3rd downs and the halftime score is-

17-7 Houston.

ECU comes out fired up in the 3rd with big slashing runs and scores from inside the 5. Once again Houston responds, marching 75+ yards and scores on a pass play. ECU continues to pound away at the smaller Houston defense, scoring another rushing TD to end the 3rd quarter-

24-21 Houston

ECU's defense stops the Coogs and forces a punt. ECU's running game is clicking, but a fumble inside the Houston 20 turns the ball over. Keenum directs a TD drive that finished with him scrambling into the endzone. ECU once again takes the ball and marches downfield, only to get intercepted in Cougar territory. Now the Coogs begin to pound the ball with Sims and Beall, finishing the drive with a Hogan 35-yard FG. ECU desperately moves the ball downfield with passes, scoring a TD with less than a minute to play. The onside kick fails, and Keenum takes a knee to finish the game.

34-28 Houston

GO COOGS!!

THIS SUCKS!!!

Just heard that Tom Franklin, the VOICE of Houston Cougar football, was released by 790am. Terrible news for a loyal Houston Cougar.

New "Moron" Award- SI's Darren Carroll

The article in SI is named "Home of the QB". The article is about the high number of Texas High School quarterbacks showing success at the Div. 1 level in college football, Seven-on-Seven, and why Texas is truly the home of the quarterback.

The article has pictures of Colt McCoy, Andrew Luck, Greg McElroy, and Jevon Snead...BUT NO CASE KEENUM!?!!? Longhorn hero, two freshman, an underachiever, but no KEENUM???

So a Davey O'Brien finalist AND Walter Camp finalist doesn't get a mention??? Oh, that's right, his name does pop up once...when shown with 20+ other names of Div.1 QB's from Texas. Nice...

Keenum award nominations keep rolling in...

More Case Keenum news...not only is Keenum one of three finalist for the Davey O'Brien Award for Best College Quarterback, he is one of five finalists for the Walter Camp Foundation's Player of the Year Award, voted on by college coaches and sports information directors...folks that know their stuff!! Congrats Case!!

Good evening Coog Fans!!

Seems that some moron at the Charlotte Observer thinks that Case Keenum's next two games will be the last ones of his college career. QUE??? Case Keenum has already committed to his senior year at Houston.

Guess writers can just make things up as they go along...just like John Lopez of the Chronicle!!

great link...and look who's #1... :)

http://www.southernpigskin.com/index.php/site/heisman_hopeless/

UH is in the process of putting together a new contract for Coach Kevin Sumlin. 5-years, $7 million, making him the second-highest paid coach (behind SMU's June "Cramps" Jones) in CUSA. GET THE DEAL DONE!!

Congrats to Aubrey Coleman! He earned the CUSA Player of the Week! Great Job, Aubrey!!

Aubrey had a great performance at the Great Alaskan Shootout. Maybe I need to make the trip next year...

Congrats to Case Keenum, a 2009 finalist for the Davey O'Brien Award, given to the nations best quarterback. Why is this even a contest? Just give the award to Case now!!

Quick overview of Saturday's CUSA Championship game (from the CUSA website)

East Carolina will enter the game seeking to become the first team to win back-to-back Conference USA Championship Games. Last year, the Pirates defense forced seven turnovers and Norman Whitley ran for 104 yards as ECU won its first conference football championship since 1976.


Houston will be looking for its second Conference USA Football Championship in four years. In 2006, quarterback Kevin Kolb led the Cougars to a 34-20 win over Southern Miss in the title game.


The Pirates again possess one of the top defenses in C-USA, allowing 371.3 yards per game and 21.2 points per game. Seniors C.J. Wilson (53 tackles, 5.5 sacks) and Linval Joseph (54 tackles, 12.5 TFL's) lead the charge up front, while junior S Van Eskridge (83 tackles, 4 INTs) anchors the secondary.


This year's Cougar attack is ranked number one in the nation in total offense. Junior QB Case Keenum has thrown for 4,922 yards and 38 touchdowns with just six interceptions. Among his many targets are three receivers that are having outstanding seasons. Junior WR James Cleveland has enjoyed a tremendous first season at UH, catching 82 passes for 941 yards and 11 touchdowns. He is joined by a pair of outstanding sophomores in Tyron Carrier (75 receptions, 904 yards, six touchdowns) and Patrick Edwards (74 receptions, 949 yards and five touchdowns).

The teams did not meet this season. Last year, Houston defeated then-No. 23 East Carolina in Greenville, 41-24. At the time, that win by the Cougars marked the first road victory by UH over a ranked team since 1984. Keenum was 37-of-45 for 401 yards and three touchdowns in the win.


East Carolina leads the all-time series 5-4, but is just 1-3 in games played in Greenville.

Houston Cougars advance to CUSA Title Game!

Greetings, Cougar Fans! This is TonyCoog, blogger and fan of the Houston Cougars! Welcome to this new blog that will focus on University of Houston Athletics.

Keep checking back with news and opinions on Cougar sports. Later this week I'll have some thoughts on the upcoming UH vs. ECU title game as well opinions relating to the rest of college football in 2009.

Check back soon!