Houston: 2015’s Five Best Sporting Moments
Dec 31, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; The Houston Cougars players pour gatorade on Cougars head coach Tom Herman (C) after defeating the Florida State Seminoles 38-24 during the fourth quarter in the 2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
3. Houston Cougars Win The Peach Bowl
There’s a new sheriff in town at Cullen Blvd. and that’s first-year head coach Tom Herman.
Herman, the former offensive coordinator for Ohio State’s University’s football program, was pried away by the Cougar football brass to convince him to resurrect a floundering program.
Tony Levine, his predecessor, didn’t necessarily leave the program in shambles but wasn’t getting most of the players that were on the roster.
After two straight seasons of 8-5 finishes and a terrible 27-7 loss at the inaugural game at University of Houston’s brand-new TDECU Stadium, his days were numbered and he was fired at the end of 2014 season.
The Cougars came out clawing in 2015 reeling off 10 straight before falling to UCONN on the road 20-17 Nov. 21 which was more because of injuries to both of the team’s quarterbacks in Greg Ward Jr. and Kyle Postma during that stretch.
The Huskies were a bit hungrier for an upset because their season — and postseason chances — were on the line.
But the team picked up the pieces and were able to make a mockery of the Navy Midshipmen’s triple-option offense with a 52-31 win at home, which afforded them additional opportunity to host the Temple Owls for the American Conference Championship.
They dominated the Owls as well, having little trouble along the way as they sailed to a 24-13 win taking the AAC ship and finishing the season 12-1.
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Herman, Major Applewhite and Todd Orlando has these guys believing and it’s virtually with the same recruiting class the previous regime had showing that they can get the most of their players.
The Cougars were leaders in numerous offensive and defensive statistics in the FBS this season so it’s a representative of how talented this coaching is.
This was all under the helm of the talented Ward as quarterback as he was catalyst for their ferocious offense.
Ward, the junior who was just named to the AAC’s second team and is a finalist for numerous amount of awards at the end of the season, shattered a ton of school records for passing and rushing for a quarterback and was a pivotal key to their success.
He had 19 rushing touchdowns and 16 passing touchdowns on the season — wow!
But he won’t tell you that as his humble personality continues to shift to focus on the team’s effort.
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It’s tough to say how long Herman will be around as he fields numerous calls from other top schools seeking his services but UH just signed him to extension shortly after the season bumping his pay from $1.35 million per year to $2.8 million through 2020 which should keep him happy for awhile.
As a die-hard Coog fan myself, my advice to the rest of the Houston community is to enjoy the ride, as long as it lasts.
He may not be the Bill Yeoman-type but he’ll stay long enough to make us proud and hopefully get this program into a power conference.
You can bank on it.
And after the Coogs’ impressive and stout 38-24 win over the No. 9 Florida State Seminoles this afternoon, this is going to convince Power 5 conference officials to do some long and hard thinking!
Go Coogs! H-Town Takeover! What a culmination to a fantastic season!
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