"I feel like I'm a mentally tough guy right now. I feel like I'm the right guy." -- Penn State head football coach Bill O'Brien on the day he was hired, 1/8/2013 Selecting the recipient of the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award for the best head coach of a given college football season has generally been a p ... More >>
This is a year the Houston Cougars would probably prefer to forget. It started with a bang as the Cougars demolished Penn State on January 2 at the TicketCity Bowl in Dallas. But the football team wasn't quite the same after the departure of Case Keenum and his receiving corps. As the Cougars move i ... More >>
It's been a so-so year for Rice sports. The baseball team didn't make it past the NCAA Regionals. The men's basketball team self-destructed. And at one point the football team was 1-5. But then in mid-October the football team took off, and they won five of their six games to finish the season at 6- ... More >>
The college football season ended last week, and it's safe to say that the season didn't exactly go as Rice (6-6) and the University of Houston (5-7) wanted. For Rice, things went a bit better. For the Cougars, things went a lot worse. So here are five things we learned about the Owls and Cougars th ... More >>
The Houston Cougars were destroyed on Thursday night. The Rice Owls blew a game they should have won on Saturday. The Owls loss is not surprising. The Cougars loss isn't really surprising, either, though the magnitude of the loss is. The Cougars (3-5) lost to the SMU Mustangs by a 72-42 score on Th ... More >>
Through the first few weeks of the football season, I had been combining my foremost thoughts and remembrances of the weekend that was in football -- Texans, college, and general NFL -- into the ever popular "4 Winners, 4 Losers" post. However, now we've got three weeks of college football in the b ... More >>
Thursday night college football is fun. The Friday night ESPN game, at least under the magical watch of Joe Tessitore, has become somewhat sneaky over the years. But the college football season truly begins on that first Saturday. So when I fired up the television Saturday morning, then and only th ... More >>
The Houston Chronicle's Sam Khan, Jr. had a good story on Houston Cougars athletics yesterday. It's called a story of a renaissance, and it looks back at the last 10 months of the program. It's told through the eyes of the football program, going through the incredible season the Coogs had as they m ... More >>
He does have one very good reason to vote for him...I'm not a big politics guy. I don't like to talk politics on my radio show (EVER), I don't like to talk politics in social situations (People take it too personally), and I don't spend any of my free time studying the issues (I spend my free ... More >>
John RoyalCase Keenum was the Man of the Year for the CougarsYes, it's that time of year. That time of year when I take a look back at the year just past. On Friday, I looked back at the sports year for the Rice Owls. Today, let's take a look at the top 25 events, in no particular order, f ... More >>
John RoyalRice's Anthony Rendon became a very rich baseball player this summerIt's that time of year. The time for end-of-year lists and bests of, etc. And I'm not immune to tossing off an easy post. So, without further ado, and in no particular order, here are the Top 25 Events in Rice Ow ... More >>
The Cougars are going to have a new home starting in 2013.The expansion of the Big East has been a long-expected announcement, especially seeing as how several members of the conference are on the verge of departure. And one of the long-rumored names of this expansion has been the University ... More >>
One more win and the Coogs are BCS-bound.The distractions are there for the 12-0 Houston Cougars, the number six team in the BCS standings. Distractions like which BCS bowl game they're playing. Distractions like which team they're playing in that BCS bowl -- current projections being Michi ... More >>
The Cougars are one game short of regular-season perfection. One game short of the team's best win total. Ever. One game short of the Conference USA title game. A BCS Bowl is just over the horizon. Of course, the Cougars haven't played the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Tulsa's overall record ... More >>
See pics from ESPN GameDay at UH in our slideshow. Maybe it was the stadium packed to the gills before kickoff. Maybe it was the excitement and energy of Senior Day. Maybe it was ESPN's Lee Corso letting loose with a profanity as he picked the Cougars to defeat SMU. Maybe it was the representati ... More >>
Hey kids, College GameDay is coming to townThe season has come to this. Two weeks for the Houston Cougars to continue with perfection and reach a goal set this summer. Two weeks for the Rice Owls to gain some redemption for a season gone very wrong. The Cougars acknowledged their possible ... More >>
Cullen Circle: The site of GameDayThe truck has arrived, there will be a 6 p.m. pep rally at Cougar Village with University of Houston football players tonight, and, beginning tomorrow morning, GameDay will officially be in the house at UH's Third Ward campus for the game between the Cougars ... More >>
This stopped being funny 200-plus episodes ago. It's a big deal that ESPN's traveling college-football preview show GameDay is posting up at the University of Houston's Cullen Circle in advance of the Cougars' game against the SMU Mustangs. (Who saw this coming, especially after quarterback C ... More >>
As of now, the Coogs are BCS-bowling.I spent most of Saturday afternoon working on a post explaining the possible ways the Cougars could still make a BCS bowl even with Boise State going undefeated and taking the one guaranteed BCS bowl spot that the non-automatic qualifying conferences get. ... More >>
It's got no name, this football-only alliance of Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference. It's supposedly been in the planning stages for over a year, but nobody involved has a clue to any actual details of how the thing's going to work. And once the Big East finishes acting -- mayb ... More >>
Obviously, Garrett Gilbert is no Colt McCoy. Or Case McCoy. Or David Ash. Earlier today, the Texas Longhorns announced that Gilbert -- who filled in admirably for the injured Colt McCoy during the Longhorns' loss in the 2010 BCS Championship game...and that's about it -- is leaving the program. G ... More >>
J.D., Turk, and the gang didn't get to play, but the rest of the Cougars bench got plenty of playing timeAs the Cougars trotted off of the field after the first half on Saturday night, the question wasn't whether the Cougars would be in need of another second half comeback. That wasn't the q ... More >>
The UCLA cheerleaders probably weren't too happy after Saturday's gameThe Houston Cougars did their best impersonation of the Houston Texans on Saturday. They dominated the first half, playing a fantastic two quarters that masterfully mixed their passing and running games. Case Keenum showe ... More >>
buckaroosfunnypictures.comHook 'em Horns...You wouldn't know it from walking around outdoors, but fall is just around the corner, and in Texas that means two things: We no longer have to consume our body weight in water for shows at the Pavilion, and it's almost time for college football. An ... More >>
Case Keenum's comeback attempt starts September 3. Last week, Hair Balls broke down some of the best (as well as the worst) games of the 2011 football season involving Big 12 teams. Now, Conference USA, which just wrapped up its media days in Memphis, gets a similar treatment. Houston, tha ... More >>
C-USA coaches think he doesCase Keenum's big comeback attempt, which we chronicled as spring practice began in April, is apparently destined for success if the coaches of COnference USA are right. They chose the UH quarterback as pre-season Offensive Player of the Year as part of the media d ... More >>
Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner, etc., etc., etc.Football-wise, the Big 12 (aka. Oklahoma and the nine others) is barely hanging on, now that Nebraska is in the Big Ten and Colorado bolted to the Pac-12. The 2011 season, which is just over a month away, marks the first time that ... More >>
When it comes to college football, I'm not a staunch traditionalist. I believe the season is more compelling when the longtime powers are strong (Translation: Texas, Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Miami all being mediocre is, to me, a bad thing.), and yet I picked Boise State before the season ... More >>
Photo by Stephen Pinchback, UH Athletics CommunicationsBryce Beall needs to deliverEverybody knows how the Houston Cougar offense works. Pass on first down. Pass on second down. Pass on third down. Keep passing until you score or you have to punt. Yes, that's how the Cougars spread offense works, ... More >>
Cougars battled SMU and the weatherThe Houston Cougars stopped the SMU Mustangs on their first drive. The Cougars then took the ball and scored a touchdown to go up 7-0 with about half of the first quarter left to play.Then came the thunder and lightning to join the rain and, just like that ... More >>
Heading into tomorrow's game with the 4-3 SMU Mustangs, it needs to be pointed out that the 3-3 Houston Cougars have some issues that need to be addressed. Real issues like the leadership void on the field since Case Keenum's season-ending injury. And a defense that has problem making tackles ... More >>
Perhaps it had something to do with Rice's pink logoSaturday was a tale of two halves. The Rice Owls dominated the first, playing easily their best half of football this year. The Houston Cougars came out and took over most of the second half. But for the Cougars, winning the second half wa ... More >>
The Owls hope to mine UTEP for a winIf you ask the Rice Owls, they'll tell you that they're doing just about everything right. That they're one or two plays from turning around the season. They'll tell you about the improvement they're seeing in this year's team when compared to last year's ... More >>
Not Even Sandra Bullock Could Have Saved The Owls This TimeBefore the season began, the Rice Owls were confident that they would get the six wins needed to qualify for a bowl game. Five games into the season, with the Owls record at 1-4, the question isn't so much whether the Owls will get ... More >>
neilfein If only the football team was this fearsomeI've got a confession to make. I've got this thing for mediocre mid-`90s alt-rock, specifically, Bush. I mention this because whenever I attend a Rice press conference, or do the interview thing after the games, the one thing I hear over ... More >>
Photo by John Royal A nearly empty Rice Stadium as the rain descendedThe Rice Owl fans must have sniffed something in the air. There can really be no other explanation.The score was only 7-3, Baylor over Rice, when the football game was delayed due to lightning in the area. It wasn't raini ... More >>
Bring the noise to Robertson Stadium for ESPNStrange as it may seem, if things had gone a bit differently in the college career of Drew Bledsoe, Kevin Sumlin might not have ended up in Houston. But strange as it may seem, that's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.Sumlin's first ... More >>
Snoop & Pete: BFFsThe Southern Methodist University football team was hit with NCAA sanctions on February 26, 1987 because of a slush-fund created to pay players. Seeing as how the Mustangs were a repeat offender -- they were already on probation for recruiting violations -- the NCAA le ... More >>
cutlineI was sitting next to one of my fellow reporters at a UH football game last fall. I think the opponent was SMU, though it might have been Southern Miss. The Coogs were highly ranked, and they were getting lots of national attention. Yet Robertson Stadium was nowhere close to being sold ... More >>
Lost amidst the hoopla of the upcoming NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament was the release on Tuesday of the football schedules of the Houston Cougars and the Rice Owls. And knowing Cougar fans the way I do, I'm sure they're already starting to form their excuses for failing to sell out the stadiu ... More >>
Photo courtesy UHTomorrow is the day the Cougars have pointed toward since they won the Armed Forces Bowl back on New Year's Eve 2008. Tomorrow is the Conference USA Title Game, and all this season, the Cougar coaches and players have talked of playing in this game and winning the conference.And ... More >>
One season is ending. One season is just beginning. But for the Houston Cougars, it's a big Thanksgiving weekend either way with the football team playing for the C-USA West title, and the basketball team up in Alaska playing against Big 12 power Oklahoma in the Great Alaska Shootout on Thurs ... More >>
Photo courtesy UHIt's easy to blame the Houston Cougar defense for Saturday's 37-32 loss to the University of Central Florida Knights. After all, the Knights scored 37 points, gained 393 yards, and controlled the ball for almost 40 minutes of of the game.If the defense makes some plays, th ... More >>
Our readers weigh in.
Photo courtesy UHBefore this football season began, it was thought that the Tulsa Golden Hurricane would be the toughest competition to the Houston Cougars for the C-USA West championship. But as both teams head into game number nine this weekend, it's beginning to look like those fears might ha ... More >>
Photo courtesy UH"As a team, I still don't think we've played our best game," Houston Cougars head coach Kevin Sumlin stated at yesterday's media luncheon. "It's still out there for us. I think we can be better."The Cougars are 6-1 on the season, and if the team's best game is still out there wai ... More >>
Photo courtesy UH"I still don't think we've played our best football yet," Houston Cougars head coach Kevin Sumlin said Saturday night. "To be 6-1,and as a coach, to think that you haven't played your best football yet is pretty encouraging."Sumlin's statements came not long after Houston's 38-1 ... More >>
Photo courtesy UH"We've got our work cut out for us," Houston Cougars head coach Kevin Sumlin said yesterday about the team's game with the SMU Mustangs this weekend. And though that's pretty much coaching cliché number one, Sumlin is hinting at the actual truth this time out.The Mustangs, ... More >>
Photo courtesy UHThe Houston Cougars came out in front of a nearly non-existent Superdome crowd on Saturday and got business done, defeating Tulane 44-16.Of course, it wasn't easy. At least for a half, as the Cougars battled a slow start and poor kicking to lead at only 9-6 after the first ... More >>
Photo courtesy UHMany words were said by Houston Cougar head coach Kevin Sumlin and his players at yesterday's media luncheon. But of those many words, none captured the spirit of Saturday's loss to UTEP better than those of cornerback Brandon Brinkley: "I felt embarrassed."Quarterback Case Ke ... More >>
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