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HOUSTON – It was a tale of two offenses as the University of Houston softball team won both games on the opening day of the Marriott Houston Invitational with a 2-1 victory in eight innings over No. 16 Louisiana-Lafayette and a 13-3 win against UTSA.
Houston improved to 4-3 and won its second game against a Top 25 opponent this season.
HOUSTON --- University of Houston head football coach Kevin Sumlin announced on Monday that he has hired Brian Stewart as his defensive coordinator.
“We are excited about Brian joining the University of Houston as our new defensive coordinator,” Sumlin said. “His prior experience as defensive coordinator in the NFL and as a position coach at the collegiate level is exactly what we were looking for to elevate our defense to the next level.
“Brian brings a combination of experience and energy to our staff, which is what separated him from all the other candidates. Also, he and his family are familiar with Houston, having been here when he coached for the Texans, and they are looking forward to returning to Houston.”
Baseball Kicks Off Feb. 19, Softball Feb. 12
HOUSTON – With their respective seasons slated to begin in just over
a month, season tickets for Houston baseball and softball are on sale
now.
A season ticket package for softball is only $75 and
is good for all 18 home games. The tickets are also part of a flexible
ticket package that is good for any game. With the flexible ticket
package, fans are given the opportunity to either use one ticket for
each home game or multiple tickets to a few games.
The
Cougar softball team opens the season Feb. 12-14 when they host the
Marriott Houston Hobby Classic. Teams slated to participate in the
tournament include Ohio State, Louisville, Kansas, Baylor and Sam
Houston State.
The University of Houston softball team
finished the 2009 season with a record of 25-24 and 12-11 in
Conference USA. For the fourth-straight season, Jessica Valis was
named to the All-C-USA First Team for her performance on the field.
Laurie Wagner, Katie Bush and Haley Valis were named to the All-C-USA
Second Team. First baseman Melissa Gregson was named to the C-USA
All-Freshman Team.
The 2010 baseball season kicks off
Feb. 19-21 at Cougar Field, when Houston hosts Texas State in a
three-game series. A season ticket package for all 27 home games start
as low as $165.
UH finished the season 27-31 a year ago.
After a slow start, Houston rebounded to finish fourth in Conference
USA and finishing 2-2 at the C-USA Championship. Donnie Joseph earned
C-USA First Team honors, while Blake Kelso, Chris Wallace and Jared
Ray were each named to the Second Team. Michael Goodnight also earned
a spot on the All-Freshman Team.
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"A Blessed Program"
In a season filled with "stories of the season," none stands out quite as much as Texas Christian University's rise to BCS-caliber play.
This Fort Worth campus has begun to adjust to the program's winning ways. Football, already off-the-charts popular in Texas, has been all the rage for the well-mannered Christian student body of 8,600 since 2000 -- the same time Gary Patterson took over the reins of the program.
In college football, there is no other aspect more important to the game than the coaching staff. It is the beginning and the end, the be-all end-all of the sport. These are the men that walk into family rooms across the country, look mothers and fathers in the eye and say that their child will be taken care of for the next four years. Patterson, a former player himself at Kansas State, excels at the process, developing what others describe as a knack to find "the other" players, the ones bigger programs routinely overlook.
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HOUSTON --- University of Houston Director of Athletics Mack
Rhoades today announced the Cougars have accepted an invitation to
participate in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl on December 31 in
Fort Worth, Texas, squaring off against the Air Force Academy in a
rematch of last season’s Armed Forces Bowl.
The Cougars
won their first bowl game in 28 years with a 34-28 win over the
Falcons last season.
“When you look to play a bowl game,
you always seek out the following criteria: quality of experience for
your student-athletes, ability for ours fans to travel to the game and
the quality of the opponent you are playing,” Rhoades said. “In this
case all three of these conditions are extremely positive.
“The student-athletes had a great experience last year, and they’ll
have an even better experience this year. The fans can drive to Fort
Worth to watch the game, and Air Force is a nationally known opponent
with a great football history.
“Our fans have been tremendous this season, coming out to Robertson Stadium in record numbers this year. And, they should be excited to rally around a team that enters this bowl game with a 10-3 record and ranked No. 25 in the country.”
Cougars Notch 10th win of 2009 Campaign
HOUSTON -- The Houston Cougars scored at will on the Rice Owls to reclaim the Bayou Bucket, rolling to a 73-14 victory at Robertson Stadium on Saturday.
The Cougars notched their 10th win of the 2009 campaign, tying the program record for regular season wins in a single season. The Cougars posted 10-win regular seasons in 1973, 1979 and 1990.
“Everyone knew what was at stake here tonight from a big-picture standpoint,” head football coach Kevin Sumlin said. “The more you can reduce things to feelings about rivalry games, the more I think it helps the guys focus a little better. Our guys came out today and showed how important this game is to them.”
Keenum Sets School Record for Career Touchdown Passes
HOUSTON -- After suffering a setback against UCF last week, the Cougars remained in contention for the Conference USA West division title with their 55-14 victory over Memphis on Saturday.
Junior quarterback Case Keenum threw five touchdown passes and broke David Klinger’s school record of career touchdown passes (91). Keenum finished the day with 94 career touchdown passes and also broke Kevin Kolb’s school record of pass completions (964) bumping his career total up to 971.
HOUSTON --- University of Houston head football coach Kevin Sumlin
today announced several promotions and one addition to his coaching
staff.
Jason Phillips was promoted to Offensive
Coordinator and will continue to coach the Cougar outside wide
receivers, while Kliff Kingsbury will take on the role of Co-Offensive
Coordinator and Quarterback Coach.
“Continuity,
especially on the offensive of the ball, was very important in all of
these decisions,” Sumlin said. “Jason understands what we have been
doing here and what we want to continue doing on the offensive side of
the ball. Jason has a lot of experience, and he knows the style of
offense we prefer. He’ll do a tremendous job.
“Kliff was
a tremendous player as a quarterback and has been in the background
with our offensive staff for the past two years. This will give him
an opportunity to continue the progress and development in the level
of quarterback play.”
HOUSTON – University of Houston director of athletics Mack Rhoades announced Monday that Molly Alvey will be the Cougars next head volleyball coach.
“Molly will be a great leader and role model for our student-athletes, as she brings a winning demeanor to the court and classroom,” Rhoades said. “Her fiery passion will undoubtedly prepare them for success in all areas of life. We are excited to have Molly join our Houston athletics family.”
Alvey becomes just the fourth head coach in the programs’ history after spending five seasons as an assistant coach at Ole Miss, including her final two as the associate head coach.
She brings a wealth of experience to the University and she sees a great deal of potential in the Cougar volleyball program.
“Houston is a place that obviously has been very, very successful in the past and has the potential to be there again, from a recruiting standpoint, from the name that Houston volleyball has throughout the country and where Mack is ready to lead the athletics’ program,” Alvey said.
HOUSTON --- For the first time since 1997, a University of Houston
football standout was named a First-Team All-America, as junior
quarterback Case Keenum added to his 2009 accolades by being selected
to illustrious honor by College Football News.
Already
selected as a Second-Team All-America pick by the Walter Camp Football
Foundation last week, Keenum picks up the top honors this season from
CFN. The Conference USA MVP also was named Second-Team All-America by
Rivals.com, Phil Steele’s College Football and CBSSports.com. He also
picked up Honorable Mention All-America accolades from Sports
Illustrated.
The Sporting News also named Keenum its
Conference USA Offensive MVP.
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The Longhorns will play in their second BCS National Championship Game in the last five years.
AUSTIN, Texas -- After winning the 2009 Big 12 Championship and matching the school record with its second 13-win season, No. 2/2 Texas (13-0, 8-0 Big 12) will play the No. 1/1 Alabama Crimson Tide (13-0, 8-0 SEC) in the Citi BCS National Championship Game on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010 (7 p.m. Central/ABC), at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
The game will mark the Longhorns' second appearance in the BCS title game and its fourth BCS bowl in the last six years. It will also be the third time in the last six years Texas will play at the Rose Bowl after winning the 2005 National Championship against USC, 41-38, and defeating Michigan, 38-37, in the 2005 Rose Bowl (2004 season).
HOUSTON – For the second straight week, University of Houston junior quarterback Case Keenum has been named a finalist for an illustrious post-season honor. This time he is being named a finalist for The Manning Award, as it was announced by the University on Tuesday.
Last week Keenum was selected as one of three finalists for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award. Keenum is one of 10 finalists for The Manning Award, joining Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen, TCU’s Andy Dalton, BYU’s Max Hall, Central Michigan’s Dan LeFevour, Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett, Texas’ Colt McCoy, Boise State’s Kellen Moore, Cincinnati’s Tony Pike and Florida’s Tim Tebow. McCoy and Tebow also are finalists with Keenum for the O’Brien Award.
HOUSTON --- The University of Houston today announced that junior
quarterback Case Keenum was named a finalist for the Davey O’Brien
National Quarterback Award. He joins Colt McCoy of the University of
Texas and Tim Tebow of the University of Florida as the three
finalists.
The 2009 O'Brien Winner will be announced live
on The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show airing Dec. 10 at
6 p.m. (CST) on ESPN and will be honored at the 33rd Annual Davey
O'Brien Awards Dinner held at The Fort Worth Club on Feb. 15, 2010 in
Fort Worth, Texas.
"The caliber of talent these three
young men bring to the sport is undeniable and we are honored to
recognize them as the 2009 O'Brien Finalists," said Danielle Moorman,
executive director of the Davey O'Brien Foundation. "This year's fan
support has far surpassed our expectations. To date, fans have cast
close to 150,000 votes for their favorite quarterback."
History repeated itself in Corsicana with the Blinn Buccaneers defeating Navarro 45-34 after having lost the No. 1 ranking and the regular season game to the Bulldogs just like in 2008. With the win, the third-ranked Bucs remain in contention for a national championship. The conference champion earns a bid to the CHAMPS Heart of Texas Bowl, which is on Dec. 5 in Copperas Cove. However, the conference champion may forego that automatic bid if it is playing for a national championship. If Fort Scott Community College, which beat Butler Community College 13-12, and Blinn are No. 1 and 2 in the final poll on Monday, they could potentially play each other in the Citizen's Bank Bowl in Pittsburg, KS, on Dec. 6 for the national championship.
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