UH hoping to end challenging season right
Bowl win would cap up-and-down year in big way for seniors
HONOLULU — A season that began with the University of Houston football team loading buses to evacuate Hurricane Harvey and the return to a city underwater, ends, perhaps fittingly, with one last date in paradise.
Four months after Harvey, the Cougars will take the field for the last time in 2017 against Mountain West runner-up Fresno State in Sunday’s Hawaii Bowl at Aloha Stadium.
“We had to bounce back and come together for our city and for each other,” junior cornerback Isaiah Johnson said. “It made us stronger as a team.”
While bowls are considered a reward but also treated like the proverbial business trip, the Cougars had a relaxed look throughout their five-day stay on the island of Oahu.
A few went surfing. Many walked along the world famous Waikiki Beach. The team took a solemn tour of the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. They were introduced to traditional Hawaiian dances and food at a luau. A flame-thrower left them in awe. Coach Major Applewhite even joked about needing extra sunscreen for his fair skin. And they took lots of photos. “To be in a beautiful place like this, not a lot of people get to come to Hawaii,” safety Khalil Williams said. A fitting conclusion
Especially after the way the season began. Just days before Harvey made landfall, UH moved its football operations to the University of Texas campus. The Cougars remained in Austin for nearly a week and had the season opener at Texas-San Antonio cancelled. When it was time to return home, the Cougars first organized relief aid that was delivered by a convoy of equipment trucks from football programs across the state of Texas.
Harvey left a trail of death and destruction in Houston and the Gulf Coast as one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history.
“We tried to stay strong for the city,” senior linebacker D’Juan Hines said.
They wore a “Houston Strong” sticker on the back of helmets.
Along the way, there was a turnover-filled loss to Texas Tech, an embarrassing 28-point road loss to Tulsa, a second-half collapse against Memphis and an uninspired loss to Tulane.
“We wanted to end the season different,” Hines said. “We wanted to win a championship.”
Johnson said the team bonded during the extended trip away from home during the hurricane and came together throughout the season, particularly after a few close losses.
“It was a reality check,” Johnson said. “It was a tough year. We had some hiccups.”
There also were some memorable moments along the way. A gritty win at Arizona to begin the season, a final-minute comeback to upset South Florida, the emergence of sophomore D’Eriq King at quarterback and Ed Oliver winning the Outland Trophy as the nation’s top interior lineman and becoming the school’s first consensus All-American since 1989.
“After we beat South Florida, that was probably the defining moment for the season,” Johnson said. “That opened up a lot of eyes. OK, let’s do this. This is for the seniors.” ‘It’s definitely special’
A bowl win would give this senior class 38 wins, matching the 2016 group for the most in program history.
“This is just another game in the books and I’m going to treat it as such,” senior right guard Marcus Oliver said. He paused for a moment before acknowledging, “but it’s definitely special.”
Players also consider a win and good showing in the Hawaii bowl as a chance to use it as springboard into next season.
“This is the last memory before going into next year,” junior center Will Noble said. “Through it all we’ve grown as a team. We’ve gotten a lot better and I think we are still getting better. I think we’re going to go out and show it.”
Added Applewhite: “We want to end it the right way.”