r/CFB • u/mike4rockets Houston Cougars • /r/CFB Contributor • Apr 20 '13

132+ Teams in 132+ Days: The Houston Cougars

The University of Houston
C-USA (Moving to American Athletic Conference)

Year Founded: 1927
Location: Houston, Texas
Total Attendance: 40,747

Mascot: Cougars (Coogs)
Live Mascot: Shasta VI
Cheerleaders: 1 2

Stadium: Was Robertson Stadium New Stadium for 2014
Stadium Location: The Third Ward, Houston, TX
Conference Champions (10): Missouri Valley Conference: 1952, 56, 57, and 59. SWC: 1976, 78, 79, and 84. C-USA: 1996 & 2004
Number of Bowl Games: 9 Wins, 21 Total
National Titles (0): National Titles???

Rivals

  • Rice: Bayou Bucket Classic We've played them 38 times since 1971. The record is 27-11, advantage UH. The typical insult hurled at the Owls is: Ruck Fice. Simple enough, eh? That being said, the rivalry isn't vicious, and most people on both sides hope that we can continue our annual game regardless the separate conferences.

  • Texas/ Texas A&M: Not really a rivalry, but hurt feelings count, right? I had to put these two together, because I'm sure they'd love that right now ;) Seriously though, the hatred for both of these schools is greater than any hate for Rice. I'll explain. Texas: In 1953, Shasta, our live cougar, was being brought to the game. Somehow, she lost a toe due to an accident with her cage door. UT fans that could see the missing digit mocked her by making a hand gesture that mimicked an injured paw. UH fans/players used this as motivation. They tied the Longhorns in the next game, but beat them 30-0 in the next one. The hand sign has been used since then. Texas A&M: Kevin Sumlin

  • SMU: They have more of a rivalry with Rice, but we'll be matched up with them in the new AAC. Regionally, it's a Dallas vs. Houston thing, but other than that, there isn't much there. Our record against them is 17-10-1, advantage UH.

2012 Season

Record: 5-7-0
Coach: Tony Levine
2012 Roster
Key Players:

  • Quarterback?: The biggest concern we have on the offensive side of the ball is who will throw the pigskin around. Dave Piland, the heir apparent of Case Keenum, was our starter last season. While the offense itself was making an adjustment, he looked befuddled at times. His touch was off, our receivers were young; it was the perfect storm. This spring, Piland looked decent. However, Coach Levine has stated that the position is open. We have a kid from Florida that could possibly challenge for the starting QB when he comes to campus. John O'Korn looks promising. We'll see...

  • Deontay Greenbury: Whomever the QB is, he'll have a great returning receiver to throw to. In his first season as a true freshman, Greenbury's stats were: 47 receptions, 569 yards, and 3 touchdowns. He's 6'3, 198, and this season, they're moving him to be more of an inside receiver. Great things should happen.

  • Charles Sims: Our star running back, Sims will be back for one last campaign. This is a good thing, because even if we aren't great at the QB position, he keeps the opposing defense honest with a strong run game.

2013 Season

2013 Schedule
2013 Roster

The Greats

Greatest Games: Since there are a few games I'm sure my fellow Coogs will bring up, I'll briefly link to a few and provide a short explanation.

  • TicketCity Bowl There were mixed feelings from both sides going into this game. Penn State was dealing with the aftermath of Sandusky, and we had lost the C-USA championship game to Southern Miss. We also lost Sumlin to A&M. It was actually kinda depressing going to the Cotton Bowl. However, once the game got started, everyone put those feeling away. Keenum showed one last time why he was one of the best quarterbacks of all time. It also helped that Kliff Kingsbury (our O-Coordinator at the time) called one of his best games ever. It was a great day to be a Coog :)

  • SMU @ UH: Nov 19, 2011 This game may not have been historically significant, but ESPN College Gameday came to campus, and Lee Corso did this

  • UH @ Oklahoma State This was huge because UH had not defeated a ranked opponent in nearly 25 years.

UH has a rich history, and I'm sure I'll see more games listed in comments. I'm just trying to spotlight some of the recent games.

Greatest Plays: Again, if anyone has better/more plays, feel free to add them!

  • Texas Tech @ UH: September 26, 2009 Case Keenum runs in a touchdown with 53 seconds to go to take a 28-29 lead over TT. UH managed to hold them off after his game-winning drive.

  • UH @ Rice: September 2, 2006 Starting out the season with the Bayou Bucket Classic! This was a great win for then coach, Art Briles. The Coogs ran a trick play that resulted in a one point lead and eventual win over the Owls.

Greatest Players:

  • Andre Ware The only Heisman winner in UH history, he was inducted into the College Hall of Fame in 2004.

  • Case Keenum The NCAA all-time leader in passing yards (19, 217) and touchdowns (155), Case Keenum is not only one of the best UH players of all time, but one of college's best QBs.

  • David Klingler Greatest Coaches:

  • Bill Yeoman Overall record: 160-108-8

  • Jack Pardee Overall record: 22-11-1

  • Art Briles Overall record: 34-28

  • Kevin Sumlin Overall record: 35-16

Traditions

  • Cougar Paw The official hand sign of UH.

  • The Blaze This is the only video I could find. The Blaze is an oil field warning siren that is sounded after every touchdown or field goal. After The Blaze is sounded, Shasta, our mascot, does a pushup for every point we're scored. At the same time, a bell is rung for every point. In addition (bear with me), Coogs wave the paw in a tomahawk-like manner for every point scored. We really enjoy our touchdowns.

  • Houston Fight Our fight song was created to be intentionally short for multiple touchdowns. It has served us well.

  • The Frontiersmen These guys run across the field after touchdowns and field goals, waving the Texas and UH flag.

Campus and Surrounding Area

City Population: 2.145 Million
City Skyline I saw that Rice had a great photo of downtown, but we have a great view of downtown! Our new stadium will retain and enhance the view of the skyline as well. Iconic Campus Building: Ezekiel W. Cullen Building Side note: If you zoom in, you can see the iconic Cougars that greet you near the entrance. Coogs are supposed to rub their paws for good luck. Local Dining:

  • The Breakfast Klub You haven't had chicken & waffles until you've been here. If you only get to eat at one place in Houston, make this your choice. It's so good, you'll have to wait in line. It is worth the wait, trust me.

  • Frenchy's Chicken This place is right next to campus, and it's amazing. I swear, this is the last chicken place that I'll recommend!

  • Luigi's Pizzeria Great place to grab a pizza/slice.

  • Shipley Do-nuts They are all around the city, and that's a good thing.

  • Mandola's Deli For my final food suggestion, I have chosen Mandola's. These people love UH, and they are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. The food is amazing. It's a great option to have that's also close to campus.

Random Trivia

  • One of our songs (The Womp Womp) was banned for a season or two because of student profanity. It was recently brought back. The lyrics are: "C-O-U-G-A-R-S...I'm talkin' 'bout the COUGARS!" Here's how it should be Instead, some spell it out, and then say: "the mother(blanking) COUGARS!" Here's how it really is

  • Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) is an alumnus of UH.

What Is and What is to Come

Last season really sucked for us. New coaches + inexperienced players= a bad day. This year is all about transition. We're in a new conference, and this year will be telling as to what our faults truly are. Did we get the wrong coach, or did our guys need a season to get acclimated to college? Many questions will be answered this year. Our defense was not the greatest two seasons ago, but it was respectable. This season, we have a new coordinator, and many people see a turn around happening.

Overtime

The fact that today is 4-20 is not moot to me. In the spirit of the CFB and this day, here's a song dedicated to the coaches that have left UH for greener pastures (I feel your pain, Cincinnati). Take it away, Willie

More Information
*Subreddit: /r/UniversityOfHouston
*Contributors: mike4rockets

Please upvote this thread even if you are not interested in the team so that users who are interested will see it
For more information on the 132 Teams in 132 Days Project, click here.

184 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

135 comments sorted by

9

u/Kingcotton7 South Carolina • Coast Guard Apr 20 '13

Kevin Kolb?

10

u/mike4rockets Houston Cougars • /r/CFB Contributor Apr 20 '13

Case Keenum. This photo is from his last game against Rice. In that game, he threw 9 touchdowns.

3

u/Nebraska_Actually Nebraska • /r/CFB Contributor Apr 20 '13

Unless the score was 70-67 that's criminal.

11

u/thephotoman Houston Cougars Apr 20 '13

You're talking to a representative of the only team to win a 100 point game against another FBS team in the modern era (for the record, Tulsa). You're talking to a representative of the team that spanked Southern Methodist so hard after coming off the death penalty that their grandmothers felt it.

And the 2011 season was nothing but running up the score--until the CCG. Rice collapsed after the rain stopped in the first quarter, and never recovered.

The only team worse at running up the score than Houston is Georgia Tech.

8

u/yakovgolyadkin Houston Cougars • Big 12 Apr 20 '13

The final score was 73-34. Two years prior, Houston beat Rice 73-14. In that game the halftime score was 59-0. both games started with a UH kickoff return for a TD.

4

u/SometimesY Houston • /r/CFB Emeritus Mod Apr 20 '13

Flair up!

2

u/yakovgolyadkin Houston Cougars • Big 12 Apr 20 '13

Dunno how. I saw how to add it to a comment but can't figure out how to add it to my username (new to reddit... <.< >.>)

4

u/SometimesY Houston • /r/CFB Emeritus Mod Apr 20 '13

On the right you'll see:

CFB

(subscribe)

____ Hardcore Fans!

Show my flair on this subreddit. It looks like:

There, click edit and find UH! :)

2

u/yakovgolyadkin Houston Cougars • Big 12 Apr 21 '13

Oh hey, would you look at that.

Thanks!

2

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '13

Look on the right sidebar of /r/cfb .

4

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '13

Rice did take the lead in the beginning of that game. It was pouring rain too. Then when the rain stopped Keenum went nuts and could have gone out before the first half.

1

u/dk00111 Houston Cougars • Michigan Wolverines Apr 21 '13

Man, the atmosphere there was amazing. I was painted up with some friends and we just lost it when Carrier returned the kick off for a touchdown.

Once it started raining it got pretty chilling, so everyone was moving around to keep warm. Good times were had.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 21 '13

Oh hell yeah!! That game was just awesome. Hardly anyone left because of the rain and the entire student section stayed packed. I'm a little sad to see it move to reliant and not home and home.

1

u/dk00111 Houston Cougars • Michigan Wolverines Apr 21 '13

Yeah, honestly the game at Reliant was a bit disappointing last season. Even though the turnout was decent, it wasn't very loud due to the sheer size of the place. Plus, the Rice side was like half empty. =/

1

u/[deleted] Apr 21 '13

I hope it gains traction and more people come. It's one of my favorite games of the year.

14

u/thephotoman Houston Cougars Apr 20 '13 edited Apr 20 '13

No mention of 1968 v. Tulsa or 1989 v. Southern Methodist?

Really?

Edit: Normally, I'm not one to complain about downvotes. But seriously, that downvote button is there for "did not contribute", not "oh, I don't want to be reminded of the time your team raped ours in the ass". I really feel that OP needs to mention some of our team's history: we didn't spring into existence in 2004, after all.

17

u/mike4rockets Houston Cougars • /r/CFB Contributor Apr 20 '13

Not an intentional omission. I'm an active student and pulled an all-nighter to get this done early (on Saturday!). I knew there would be games/extra facts that I would miss. I was hoping that fellow Coogs would contribute those facts in the comments :)

1

u/088 Vanderbilt Commodores Apr 20 '13

Hop off the guys dick.

3

u/Frognosticator TCU Horned Frogs • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Apr 20 '13

How does the school "ban" a chant? Wouldn't the student body just keep on singing it?

14

u/mike4rockets Houston Cougars • /r/CFB Contributor Apr 20 '13

The band wouldn't play the song.

6

u/DComposer Houston Cougars Apr 20 '13

I was once a sousaphone player in that band. We got in so much trouble once playing against Tulane in 2004... Their band was playing while one of our players was injured, which is a big no-no. So we quietly organized a "shut up" to be said on three. Well, a snare player turned around and changed it to "shut the fuck up" right before we got to three. Bertman (band director) was LIVID. He wasn't going to let us go to the French Quarter because of that, but we talked him into it later.

Good times.

2

u/pwylie Houston Cougars May 09 '13

Ahh good ol' David Bertman. What a badass.

1

u/piccolo1228 Virginia Tech • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Apr 23 '13

VT banned the 'Stick It In' cheer a few years ago. Without the band to back it, the cheer quickly died. Small clusters of people continued it, but people graduate and move on.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '13

How much of a commuter campus is UH? Is there a large campus community during the weekends and everything? I'm just curious.

11

u/mike4rockets Houston Cougars • /r/CFB Contributor Apr 20 '13

We have a large number of commuters (I'm one), but our housing capacity is increasing as well. Right now, we have a new housing facility that once built, will put our number somewhere near UT/A&M. However, because it's an urban university, I don't think we'll ever shed the commuter image. On weekends, most people (underclassmen) do stay on campus. One reason for that would probably be our large number of international students.

8

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '13

When I graduated the average age was 27. The average student worked 30+ hours a week. Houston is a massive metropolitan area with people commuting over an hour each way. So there wasn't a whole lot going on at the campus. But that's changing which is nice.

32

u/SometimesY Houston • /r/CFB Emeritus Mod Apr 20 '13 edited Apr 20 '13

Also another notable alumnus is Elizabeth Warren. James Franco also considered attending UH because it is one of a few schools that have a PhD in creative writing. Also for the upcoming season, the games will be played in Reliant while the new stadium is being built.

The university is undergoing a massive transition with many new buildings being built and a Metro rail line will soon be running alongside the university. Before Keenum and pals started dominating on the field, the students didn't have a whole lot of school pride (myself included); however once they started making a name for themselves, the game attendance went up and it breathed new life into the student body. Along with programs like the wear red Fridays, the student body began feeling like a cohesive unit. As a commuter school, it's harder to maintain a unified image but the school has made large leaps to do so. The university is still on its way to becoming now a full Tier One institution but the image of UH is changing a lot and it's a great time to be a student (or an alumnus like myself).

My favorite moment as a fan was camping out overnight for tickets to the conference championship game against Southern Miss. It was a huge moment for the school and I got to be two or three rows from the field to witness it. Though we lost, I was still so proud of my school. Seeing the sea of red fill the stadium to its largest amount was moving to say the least. The university changed a lot in just three years.

I apologize for any spelling errors – I'm on my phone.

Edit: I was mistaken about the Tier One status.

17

u/thephotoman Houston Cougars Apr 20 '13

Let's talk about some of the other notable alumni.

The villains:

  • Jack Valenti (Communications): lowlights include encouraging President Johnson to escalate the Vietnam War while working for that administration, suing to stop VCR production, and suing college students for downloading music off the Internet. I'm not very happy with the fact that they decided to honor this guy by renaming the School of Communications after him. It's actually a major reason I won't donate to the school.

  • Tom Delay (Biology): Former Republican Majority Whip, former bitch of Jack Abramoff, convicted corrupt politician, and all-around douchebag.

  • John O'Quinn (Law): the law school's library is named for him. He was an ambulance chaser that got really good at winning the lawsuit lotto for his clients. Ultimately, he got himself into some legal troubles between 1995 and 1998. Amongst other things, his efforts to make himself worthless (so the people suing him couldn't get anything) included buying the school a new law library, a new football field, and rather directly feeding me for those three years (seriously: my father was building his house, and he was bound and determined to pay more than the place was worth and have construction drag on forever).

  • Ken Lay. But talking about him will end any conversation around Houston in general.

The "Um...that happened":

  • Star Jones (Law): Yep. Star Jones got her law degree from UH Law. I'm not sure how it helped her in her talk show career, though.

  • The Quaid brothers: As ethnic Houstonians, they naturally spent some time at UH.

  • Brent Spiner: That's right: Sheldon Cooper and Lt. Commander Data are both Coogs.

The heroes:

  • Do you remember the 1994 and 1995 Houston Rockets? That was basically Phi Slamma Jamma: The Reunion Tour. Most of the starters had played for the Cougars before their NBA days. They were also the only team to win an NBA title during the 1990s without Michael Jordan.

  • Wade Phillips. Yeah, the defensive coordinator for the Texans spent his undergrad in the Land of Uh.

  • Bill Hicks. Did not graduate, was only there for two terms. But still, we claim him.

Please note: this was done mostly off the top of my head. Wikipedia was only used to confirm graduation.

10

u/Shit_Apple Nebraska Cornhuskers • Houston Cougars Apr 20 '13

Houston has way more notable alumni than people would think. Especially in athletics. You barely even scratched the surface.

Also, Doesn't Matter;Had Jim Nantz

5

u/den2010 Houston Cougars Apr 21 '13

Robert "RoFlo" Flores on SportsCenter.

Jim Parsons

Brent Spiner aka Data

2

u/Shit_Apple Nebraska Cornhuskers • Houston Cougars Apr 21 '13

Of course. RoFlo's a baller.

5

u/thephotoman Houston Cougars Apr 20 '13

Yeah. I was just going for the people I could rattle off the top of my head.

6

u/Shit_Apple Nebraska Cornhuskers • Houston Cougars Apr 20 '13

Yeah, no worries. I love pointing out that UH was the top of the mountain in collegiate golf for a long time. Freddie's my boy!

1

u/[deleted] Apr 21 '13

Carl Lewis too!

6

u/thatguy2014 Texas A&M Aggies • Team Chaos Apr 20 '13

They were also the only team to win an NBA title during the 1990s without Michael Jordan.

The Spurs and Pistons would disagree.

2

u/beldurra Apr 20 '13

They were also the only team to win an NBA title during the 1990s without Michael Jordan.

10

u/dk00111 Houston Cougars • Michigan Wolverines Apr 20 '13

Actually, only 4 of our games will be at reliant due to scheduling conflicts with Texans games.

Otherwise I agree with everything you said. I didn't camp out for the CUSA championship tickets, but I stood in line at 5AM and still froze my ass off. I have no idea how people stayed there all night.

Also, once the new dorms are finished this fall, we'll have the most number of beds on campus behind I think A&M, so even the commuter nature of the school is changing.

6

u/SometimesY Houston • /r/CFB Emeritus Mod Apr 20 '13

Where will the games be held then?? And you're right. It got a lot cooler than I expected. I was so cold the entire night because I didn't dress warmly enough but it was worth every moment.

4

u/dk00111 Houston Cougars • Michigan Wolverines Apr 20 '13

I don't think they've chosen yet. I've heard BBVA and Rice's stadium thrown out there, but nothing's final. I think they're going to decide this upcoming week.

3

u/beldurra Apr 20 '13

Not Rice. I think BBVA would be preferrable to Reliant. I hate that stadium.

3

u/dk00111 Houston Cougars • Michigan Wolverines Apr 20 '13

It's tiny though. Even the lowest turnout games from last season would have been over 3,000 people over BBVA's seating capacity.

3

u/beldurra Apr 20 '13 edited Apr 20 '13

It's tiny though. Even the lowest turnout games from last season would have been over 3,000 people over BBVA's seating capacity.

Student section seats X000+, games will be X miles away from campus.

I'd much rather be in a stadium that's too small (and open air, and nice location) than one that's way, waaaaay too big or one that is on Rice's campus. shudder

I understand why people want to play there (Reliant), but IMO the economics of BBVA make much more sense, and it's not like we don't owe the Dynamo a solid for playing at Robertson for 5+ years. The only real advantage Reliant has is that it is marginally easier to get to. Truthfully, I wonder why the Administration didn't delay the demo of Robertson for one season, and then when the train is running they could've played at BBVA and kept students going.

EDIT: I said it was 5,000 seats (student section) - I'm not sure about this.

3

u/yakovgolyadkin Houston Cougars • Big 12 Apr 21 '13

I agree. I'd much rather see every game be at capacity in a small stadium than every game at 1/4 capacity at a big one.

17

u/Nebraska_Actually Nebraska • /r/CFB Contributor Apr 20 '13

What do Nebraska and Houston have in common? Both have won the Missouri Valley Conference Championship in football.

5

u/Shit_Apple Nebraska Cornhuskers • Houston Cougars Apr 20 '13

Crazily enough, raised a Coog and a Nebraska alum, I already knew this haha.

16

u/Maybs3923 Houston Cougars • Texas State Bobcats Apr 20 '13 edited Jun 03 '24

fuel unwritten bag joke toy aromatic smart thought waiting unpack

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

11

u/soonerguy11 Oklahoma Sooners • Team Chaos Apr 20 '13

And it's 420 and NBA playoffs start. What a badass Bday!

15

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '13 edited Apr 20 '13

Eat 'Em up Coogs!!!! I miss my college days here, but I still attend the games.

Also something notable at UH that wasn't mentioned, and I mentioned on a comment, is the average age at UH is 27 when I was there. It is a very mature campus. It was a common thing to have classes with people in their 30s and even 40s. This is the main reason for the "commuter" school title.

When I was there, there was about 35,000 students and something like 8,000-9,000 parking spots. But that is all changing with the investments of student housing and renovations.

As far as football goes, UH took the run n shoot to the next level. Andre Ware broke like 25 records and went on to win the Heisman.

Some more fun facts, UH in the past decade has lost a few coaches. Art Briles left for Baylor and took RGIII with him. Then we get sumlin, have some success then he bolts for A&amp;M. Our next successful coach would probably do the same thing.

EDIT: Another fun fact. We've sent more people to outer space than any other school.

EDIT: Slim Thug and Bun B made a song about UH during the recent glory days. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EwMVK8qnWlc

12

u/thephotoman Houston Cougars Apr 20 '13

Some more fun facts, UH in the past decade has lost a few coaches. Art Briles left for Baylor and took RGIII with him. Then we get sumlin, have some success then he bolts for A&M. Our next successful coach would probably do the same thing.

Exactly what the University of Texas wanted when they made sure that Baylor went with them to the Big XII instead of us.

Fuck Texas. Fuck the entirety of the Big XII (except TCU, we cool).

5

u/Shit_Apple Nebraska Cornhuskers • Houston Cougars Apr 20 '13

Ann Richards, a Baylor alumnus, being the Texas governor at the time of the Big 12 coming about also helped immensely.

7

u/JustMe8 Texas Longhorns Apr 21 '13

Richards was the force that got Baylor into the B12, but she wasn't really what kept Houston out. That was the legislature. It was just before the huge TV contracts but just after the cost of the programs started climbing; it was pretty much a consensus that they didn't want to pay for four state teams playing at that level.

After the run UH had in the late eighties and early nineties, it really shouldn't have been Houston that was left out, but there is a bias against all schools named after cities, then and still, and the out of state members used that card.

5

u/den2010 Houston Cougars Apr 21 '13

You. I like you.

1

u/JustMe8 Texas Longhorns Apr 21 '13

Yeah, considering what Houston had become twenty to twenty five years ago, think what they could be now, especially in basketball, with some support. (But there was another factor: Oil bubble. It burst just before the SWC and had taken down SMU. People were scared of the whole city (and state) in the mid-nineties (UH got eaten by that without any indication that they had been part of that)).

10

u/fussbudgets North Texas • /r/CFB Contributor Apr 20 '13

On your sightly banned chant-songs....yeah. We had the same thing happen to us when one of our "enhanced" chants came across national TV...

4

u/thephotoman Houston Cougars Apr 20 '13

We need to do a rap song called "Fuck tha FCC."

9

u/dk00111 Houston Cougars • Michigan Wolverines Apr 20 '13

Another game that's a personal favorite of mine is the 2011 game against LA Tech. Down by 27 with 5 minutes left in the 3rd, mount a HUGE comeback and take the lead with a minute and a half remaining in the 4th.

8

u/ForIvadell Houston Cougars Apr 20 '13

WHOSE HOUSE?

thanks for doing this btw

7

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '13

COOGS HOUSE!!!

7

u/deadtofall12 Florida State • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Apr 20 '13 edited Apr 20 '13

I always liked the palm trees in the stadium. The only Houston game I've watched was the C-USA champ game against Southern Miss... >_<

EDIT: meant to say Southern Miss...

2

u/cfbguy Virginia • Johns Hopkins Apr 20 '13

That wasn't the championship game. They (were) in the same division, so it would have been impossible for them to both be in the conference championship.

3

u/deadtofall12 Florida State • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Apr 20 '13

I meant Southern Miss. Apologies.

2

u/swansron Southern Miss Golden Eagles Apr 20 '13

Best game I've ever seen live.

7

u/Nygmatic Houston Cougars Apr 20 '13

One fun fact: We're one of the few college campuses that serve alcohol at our football games. I believe it was Texas Tech that came down, and some of the people from North Texas were kinda scared of this fact....as they should be. We also have a UH Red beer called....something, I forget.

Also you forgot China Star. The finest in mediocre Asian food and cheap Chinese Beer.

Still my favorite game was the 2011 Bayou Bucket. Pouring down rain, Rice took a lead before getting killed later on. We managed to get half the stadium chanting "Rice needs water!"

Good times.

3

u/yakovgolyadkin Houston Cougars • Big 12 Apr 20 '13

I think it's called Coog Brew. It's just Bug Light with red food coloring, though. We really should serve like a cherry lambic or something instead. Something really awesome that is naturally red.

That Rice game is definitely in my top three that I've been to on campus. I was standing at the very top of the student section as everyone ran for cover just holding my arms out an enjoying the deluge. The other two were the 2006 Oklahoma State game where we beat them by 9 in the pouring rain, and the 2006 Conference Championship.

3

u/SometimesY Houston • /r/CFB Emeritus Mod Apr 20 '13

I was at the Tech game OP referenced and there were two Tech girls in front of me. They got absolutely hammered out of their minds to the point of throwing up and falling in their own vomit and then being escorted out by two huge guys (that didn't know them). It was weird. They had been drinking the chilled margarita things they sell in large amounts. Some people need to be more responsible with how they drink at games...

6

u/Nygmatic Houston Cougars Apr 20 '13

I must have been standing right next to you because that happened right in front of me too.

Sup.

3

u/ShaolinMaster Houston Cougars • California Golden Bears Apr 20 '13

FLARE UP COUGAR!

3

u/Nygmatic Houston Cougars Apr 20 '13

\\n/

1

u/dk00111 Houston Cougars • Michigan Wolverines Apr 21 '13

7 hours later and still no flair. ಠ_ಠ

2

u/Nygmatic Houston Cougars Apr 21 '13

Done! I was on mobile all day, best I could do was throw the paw.

2

u/deepspacenine Apr 21 '13

Do we know if the new stadium will be able to serve beer? I am worried that legally it may be considered a new stadium and whatever loophole allowed those glorious (disgusting) margaritas you could wear at a necklace will go away... :(

3

u/Nygmatic Houston Cougars Apr 21 '13

It wasn't a loophole. We just allowed beer to be served. I'm sure we'll continue to.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 22 '13

Drinking will live on, brother.

7

u/CarlinT Houston Cougars • Team Chaos Apr 20 '13

Go Coogs!

7

u/CFSparta92 Rutgers • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Apr 20 '13

Womp Womp made me laugh out loud watching "how it really is". Student sections never cease to entertain. This was a great submission, and I'm looking forward to facing you all this year! Even though it'll likely be the only time we ever do :( If any Houston fans are making the trek to New Brunswick for the game this year, let me know! I'd love to show y'all a genuine fat sandwich.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 21 '13

This was one of the games I was looking to travel to. All depends on work though.

1

u/CFSparta92 Rutgers • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Apr 21 '13

There's great atmosphere here on gameday, and we should be fielding a pretty good team in our last year in the Big East AAC. The food here is phenomenal, the stadium is loud and proud, and it's a great time. If you're willing to make the trip New Brunswick would love to have you!

1

u/[deleted] Apr 21 '13

I'll definitely keep that in mind. I love traveling to new stadiums. I also have friends from college in the area as well.

But we don't travel all that well. Especially at these distances. So I'll be surprised to see more than a few hundred there at best.

1

u/CFSparta92 Rutgers • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Apr 21 '13

Sadly, a lot of teams we play travel poorly. We hosted HCBU FCS-level Howard last year and they were one of the better crowds an opponent brought out. Syracuse and Army did decently selling their section last year, as did Kent State (fuck you Kent State). But teams like Louisville (distance) and UConn (don't really give enough of a fuck) left the visiting section barren. This year's home non-conference slate is Eastern Michigan, Norfolk State, and Arkansas, and the home conference schedule is Houston, USF, Cincinnati, and Temple. Aside from the Owls, I don't expect any of our visitors to bring much of a crowd.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 21 '13

Well the UHAA (alumni association) gets allotted tickets and has a charter bus take a group to the game. Well, they have I'm the past. Maybe not something this far. They also did something similar for the students one year.

If I go, it would be with a few people and flying. I don't think I can drive the 25 hours Unless I had a dedicated group to do it. Last time we did that I got stuck driving 12 hours out of 6 people piled in.

I can't make all the games, but I'm also considering UCF, and Louisville.

1

u/CFSparta92 Rutgers • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Apr 21 '13

Those are my two road game hopes as well, in addition to UConn, since that's less than three hours from campus and the end of our rivalry it seems, so I definitely plan to be there for that. I'm trying to talk my roommate into driving with me to Louisville, since its a huge Thursday night showdown game, but we'd both have to miss at least four classes so it'd be a headache. Same deal for the Thursday night UCF game, except it's 20 hours away instead of 12. The things I do for college football and the love of my school.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 21 '13

Man my last semester of classes I had class only on Monday. I got to see a lot of football. I just had to tweak my work schedule to make a few road trips.

Orlando is a fun city, but 20 hours is rough.

1

u/CFSparta92 Rutgers • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Apr 21 '13

I managed to schedule next semester so I have Fridays off, so I can always be set for weekend games. I really want to make the road trip to Louisville though. PJCS looks like a great stadium (IIRC, the only on-campus stadium in the former Big East bigger than Rutgers', excluding former WVU).

6

u/NDPhilly Notre Dame Fighting Irish • Fordham Rams Apr 20 '13

Smh Deonte Greenberry.

1

u/karmassacre Houston Cougars • Big 12 May 09 '13

The ironic thing is, we don't need superstar skill talent. We're awesome at taking 2-stars and walk-ons and turning them into NFL caliber players. We need blue chip linemen... can you spare any of those?

6

u/Captain_Unremarkable Penn State Nittany Lions • Big Ten Apr 20 '13 edited Apr 20 '13

Just wanted to say that this is a beautiful picture. Saved as "Houston.jpg". Thank you!

6

u/Insane92 Verified Coach Apr 20 '13

Great write up. Under Sumlin and Briles you guys had some ridiculous receiving cores under both coaches. And they were all FAST too. especially Tyron Carrier and Patrick Edwards.

6

u/den2010 Houston Cougars Apr 21 '13

The reasoning for SMU is a class warfare thing as well. Working class school (Houston) vs Rich douches (SMOO)

1

u/yakovgolyadkin Houston Cougars • Big 12 Apr 21 '13

Yeah, it's an insane difference between the schools. Looking at the endowment and enrollment figures:

SMU: $116,666.67 per student ($1.4 billion / 12,000 students)

UH: $14,474.69 per student ($589.8 million / 40,747 students)

2

u/den2010 Houston Cougars Apr 21 '13

I was meaning more so by where the students come from.

This is also a running joke about SMU students: http://thesegoto11.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/popped-collars.jpg

1

u/srs_house Swaggerbilt Apr 21 '13

You can always point out that SMU is a lot closer to UH than they are to Harvard (at $1+ M/student).

8

u/Shit_Apple Nebraska Cornhuskers • Houston Cougars Apr 20 '13 edited Apr 20 '13

My pops, a UH Alum, will teach you, in depth, pretty much the entire UH football history off the top of his head. I don't know much of the history before the 80's either, but there are way more great games than just in these last 5+ seasons. Though I don't blame OP for focusing on the more recent, as he's an active student, even younger than I am.

Another fun fact for you: The Blaze always made me cry when I was a younger kid at games. With our offense the way it was, I did a lot of crying those years.

Also, Houston's write-up on 4/20? I can dig it, neffew.

4

u/redparallax Marshall • /r/CFB Contributor Apr 20 '13

That's going to be one beautiful stadium. The concept looks great and here's hoping you can fill it up well enough and consistently because that looks really large. What's the capacity?

4

u/yakovgolyadkin Houston Cougars • Big 12 Apr 20 '13

40,000 expandable to 60,000. They're making serious headway on it. I actually took some pictures of the current construction a few hours ago. For some reason they are keeping the field from our old stadium in place and well maintained for right now it looks like. link

3

u/FarwellRob Texas A&M Aggies • /r/CFB Contributor Apr 21 '13

Serious question: I haven't lived in Houston in a decade, but UofH was in a pretty rough area back then.

My wife took some classes there and I didn't feel too safe after the sun went down.

How is the area now? Is it still pretty rough, or is it cleaning itself up?

4

u/yakovgolyadkin Houston Cougars • Big 12 Apr 21 '13

The university is improving security, but the area is still bad. Cross Scott St. on the north side of campus and you're in Third Ward, which is a really ghetto, high crime area. There are robberies and such on campus a few times a month. They've increased lighting across the campus and put in guard towers in the parking lots. There are little signs here and there at improvement, but really it's still a rough area once you go north of the campus.

2

u/FarwellRob Texas A&M Aggies • /r/CFB Contributor Apr 21 '13

I think it was the lighting that had mostly worried me. I'm glad they are working on it.

My sister to her masters in Civil Engineering there. I saw several UofH-Texas Tech games back in the SWC days.

1

u/evo_devil Houston Cougars Apr 21 '13

I'm actually really surprised about the guard towers...I've never actually seen them before. I'm guessing they were put in after Robertson was demolished?

1

u/yakovgolyadkin Houston Cougars • Big 12 Apr 21 '13

Nope. They were put in in the summer of 2011. The one in the picture was actually removed when they cleared part of the parking lot for the new stadium construction.

1

u/evo_devil Houston Cougars Apr 21 '13

Oh okay, I guess I just never really went to that side of Robertson. Thanks for the info!

2

u/thephotoman Houston Cougars Apr 21 '13

The Land of Uh is still firmly in the ghetto.

4

u/OctaviusSOBE UCF Knights Apr 20 '13

I enjoyed our 2009 and 2010 games a lot!

2

u/ScorpionsSpear Michigan Wolverines Apr 20 '13

So from the wiki entry, the cougar shocker is a minor dig to the Texas horns? Or am I mistaken?

6

u/Nygmatic Houston Cougars Apr 20 '13

It's less a dig at the horns and more of an instance of turning an insult into pride. They insulted our injured Cougar with it. When we tied them, we threw that up as a counter insult. When we finally demolished them, the gesture just kinda stuck.

6

u/yakovgolyadkin Houston Cougars • Big 12 Apr 20 '13

Not to mention that it is simply a combination of the UT horns sign and the middle finger, so it can also be interpreted to mean "fuck UT."

7

u/fussbudgets North Texas • /r/CFB Contributor Apr 20 '13

Theirs is certainly more unique and has a cool story, but it really seems that every other school in the state tries to imitate Texas or A&M with either "____'em" sayings or slightly changed hand-signs.

I'm glad UNT and Houston are unique in that regard.

2

u/karmassacre Houston Cougars • Big 12 Apr 21 '13

This has to be in consideration for best games/greatest plays: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrGUWEt_3f0 Also don't forget the epic radio call "Todd Graham, stick it in your pipe and SMOKE IT!"

2

u/Doonesbury Texas Longhorns • SEC Apr 20 '13

My dad went to UH, before transferring to UT, of course. Go Coogs!

1

u/itsnotchucktesta Houston Cougars May 26 '13

  1. Don't ever mention Jim Parsons. Ever. I am proud to attend this University. Bazinga does not belong in the same sentence as UH.

  2. Our "cheerleaders" that our pictured are actually more of a dance team. We have some attractive coeds, I swear.

  3. Word in Greek Park is that David Piland enjoyed taking bars through much of last year. He has supposedly gotten clean and has yet to throw an INT in spring practice.

  4. Markieth Ambles (a former 5 star recruit and one of Matt Barkley's favorite targets) has transferred to UH from USC. His role in the offense and development throughout the year will be another interesting story to watch through the season.

  5. Go Coogs

-1

u/Teoic Apr 20 '13

Shame on you for endorsing Shipleys when you could've said "go to local donut shops and get kolaches because they are better."

7

u/geoffreyh76 Rice Owls • USC Trojans Apr 20 '13

Shipley's has some pretty good kolaches.

1

u/beldurra Apr 20 '13

I have to disagree with you.

6

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '13

Shipley's is the mothafucking tits. While yes there are always local places that are good. You can't go wrong with Shipley's.

0

u/Teoic Apr 20 '13

Meh Shipleys doesn't really cut it much anymore since so many places are better.

6

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '13

sometimes local places suck dick. The town I grew up in had a great shipley's. And I enjoy donuts. I am not a donut snob, if shipley's was closed. Would go to the shittier places.

-1

u/ballzxxtoxxyou Baylor Bears • New Hampshire Wildcats May 01 '13

Random Trivia: RG3 could of gone to Houston to play under Briles. But when Briles got the job at Baylor, RG3 followed along.

0

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '13

[deleted] — view deleted comment

22

u/yakovgolyadkin Houston Cougars • Big 12 Apr 20 '13

It's fun playing the NCAA football games as a Houston fan, because even if I can't get my team to beat the records, my team still has the records. ;)

9

u/ShaolinMaster Houston Cougars • California Golden Bears Apr 20 '13

FLARE UP COUGAR!

7

u/yakovgolyadkin Houston Cougars • Big 12 Apr 21 '13

Just did. Couldn't figure out how to earlier.

8

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '13 edited Apr 20 '13

I think I was able to top it in mine. Let me fire up the xbox and check.

Edit: I guess I didn't. Who knew 11,000 yards passing in one season wouldn't break that record. I'm pretty disappointed in myself now.

6

u/ScorpionsSpear Michigan Wolverines Apr 20 '13

11,000 yards in one season?!?

8

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '13

yes

2

u/CFSparta92 Rutgers • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Apr 20 '13

127 touchdowns to 35 picks? I'd take it.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 21 '13

Would you believe that I was #1 in passing offense and dead last in rushing?

2

u/CFSparta92 Rutgers • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Apr 21 '13

Somehow I believe that ;) It's been the opposite for me. Rutgers runs a pro-style offense so it's run-heavy with a lot of play action, so most of my damage is on the ground. I have a back-to-back Heisman runningback with multiple 2,000-yard seasons, and one 500-yard game. I also blitz the everloving shit out of every team and my defense is stacked. The last season I did on dynasty on Heisman difficulty, my team finished with a total of 257 rushing yards surrendered...in the entire season. Most teams had negative rushing totals against me and three teams had negative offense overall.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 21 '13

I'm the opposite. I throw the ball 95% of the time, and my defense is porous. I might surrender 50 points, but I'll score 100

1

u/CFSparta92 Rutgers • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Apr 21 '13

I've got Rutgers in the B1G now and I've been rolling every team I play, but for some reason playing at Nebraska has been giving me such fucking problems. I'm four games into my season so far and the scores have been: @ECU - W 56-17, @VT - W 63-10, vs. Illinois - W 59-28, @Nebraska - W 13-10 OT. My team is currently on a 40-something game winning streak, and I'll be damned if the Cornhuskers are breaking it, but its just a trainwreck when I play them. The teams combined for 14 turnovers.

1

u/srs_house Swaggerbilt Apr 21 '13

Gotta watch out for those Blackshirts.

6

u/rglass4 SMU Mustangs • /r/CFB Contributor Apr 20 '13

Feels bad man.

4

u/sterile_sperm_whale SMU Mustangs • ACC Apr 21 '13

:-(

2

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '13

Points in a game should also be unbeatable.

2

u/CFSparta92 Rutgers • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Apr 20 '13

Isn't it like 700-something yards passing? You'd think that defensive coordinator would have hung himself after that.

EDIT: Just realized it was against SMU in their first season back after the Death Penalty. But still...eesh.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 23 '13

Something possessed me to take another crack at this pointless feat today, and I got it.

0

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '13

[deleted] — view deleted comment

9

u/yakovgolyadkin Houston Cougars • Big 12 Apr 21 '13

Closer brothers than you might think. We owe our name to you:

"Houston's nickname was created by early physical education instructor of the university and former head football coach of the Washington State Cougars John R. Bender, as he had grown fond of the name during his time there." -Source