Delayed, not slowed
Replacements for hurt starters have an impact
After a more than three-hour rain delay, the Cougars rout Lamar 42-0.
They got an earful from coach Tom Herman and then a mouthful courtesy of a chicken sandwich delivery to the locker room during a more than threehour lightning delay.
Then the Houston Cougars did what the sixthranked team in the nation is supposed to do, rolling to a 42-0 victory over overmatched Lamar on Saturday in a tuneup for this week’s American Athletic Conference opener at Cincinnati.
Even with its two best offensive players — quarterback Greg Ward Jr. (shoulder) and running back Duke Catalon (ankle) — out with injuries, UH barely skipped a beat with a rushing-fueled offense that generated 511 yards and a defense that set a school record for fewest yards allowed (73) in a game.
“We were dancing around and having fun,” linebacker Steven Taylor said of the locker room during the lightning delay that occurred late in the first quarter and kept both teams indoors for three hours, 36 minutes.
But not before Herman had a few words, unhappy after the Cougars came up empty with a missed field goal and fourth-down incomplete pass in the end zone on back-to-back possessions and led 7-0 at the time of the delay.
“We got after them in that delay,” Herman said.
A near-sellout crowd of 39,402 was on hand at TDECU Stadium for the home opener, although many were gone by the second half in a game that lasted six hours, 19 minutes.
When play resumed, the Cougars scored on three straight possessions — a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs by Kevrin Justice and a 2-yard run by Mulbah Car.
Backfield in motion
The Cougars finished with three players rushing for 100 yards in the same game for the first time since 1974 and only the third time in program history. Justice had 111 yards on 27 carries, Car added 111 yards, and backup quarterback Kyle Postma finished with 106 yards and two touchdowns.
UH had 381 rushing yards. Josh Burrell scored the Cougars’ final touchdown on a 2-yard run early in the fourth quarter.
Herman said Ward was “probably 70-80 percent” from a shoulder injury suffered in the season-opening win over Oklahoma and could have played had it been a conference game.
“We felt it was in his best interest to get more treatment and more rehab today rather than go out and bang around,” Herman said.
Herman said Ward and Catalon will be available for Thursday’s AAC open- er at Cincinnati.
With both out, the Cougars used the game to get work for Postma and true freshman D’Eriq King at quarterback and another look at the No. 2 tailback job after none of the candidates separated themselves in preseason camp. Twenty-two players who did not compete in the OU game saw action against Lamar.
UH’s Third Ward Defense, meanwhile, allowed just four first downs, forced punts on 10 of 11 possessions and never allowed the Cardinals to cross midfield.
Herman likes defense
Taylor and Tyus Bowser combined for three sacks and 4½ tackles for loss.
“Fired up about the defense from start-to-finish,” Herman said. “We’ve got a chance to be really good on defense. That front seven, if we can stay healthy, is going to be heck for opposing teams.”
Kade Harrington, who had 207 rushing yards in Lamar’s season opener against Coastal Carolina, was held to 23 yards. The Cardinals finished with 15 yards on the ground.
“We were kind of worn down,” Lamar coach Ray Woodard said. “I was proud of our effort, but we just got outmanned today.”
But not everything went as planned for the Cougars. Kicker Ty Cummings, who entered a perfect 12-for-12 on field goals in his career, missed attempts from 25 and 31 yards.
The Cougars were also stopped twice on fourth down inside the Lamar 5-yard line.
“I think the offense probably thought, ‘Hey this is going to be easy,’ ” said Herman, who added there is room for improvement. “To win 42-0 and still have that much work to do is a definite eye-opener for our guys.”