Houston serves Big 12 notice with OU beatdown

HOUSTON — Coach Tom Herman and his Houston team are past the point of proving they are for real.

Shocking the world is for the real underdogs and if a Power Five conference happens to take note of what the Cougars are doing that’s fine.

“We were prepared to win. We expected to win. We train to win,” Herman said. “It wasn’t about making a statement, it was about going 1-0 the first week of the season.”

Greg Ward Jr., Brandon Wilson and the No. 15 Cougars looked every bit ready to compete in the Big 12 — or any other conference for that matter — in a 33-23 victory over No. 3 Oklahoma on Saturday.

Houston is one of 11 schools that will meet with Big 12 officials starting next week to make a pitch to the Power Five conference that is pondering expansion.

Regardless of whether Houston (1-0) ends up in the Big 12, the Cougars’ latest surprising win could have season-long ramifications on the College Football Playoff.

“We’re not your typical Group of Five program,” Houston athletic director Hunter Yurachek said.

The elusive quarterback Ward passed for 321 yards and two touchdowns. Wilson, though, provided the key play in the biggest regularseason nonconference game the Cougars have played in 25 years and Houston’s third victory in school history against a top-three team.

The versatile senior defensive back went end line to end zone to score a touchdown with a short 54yard field goal attempt to give Houston 26-17 lead with 8:28 left in the third quarter.

Wilson reached up to catch the ball, barely keeping his feet in bounds. Wilson raced out of the end zone and hurdled a fallen teammate to score what went into the books as a 100-yard return.

“I thought I stepped out, but I didn’t,” Wilson said. “I just saw the green grass and I scored.”

Herman said he was looking for penalty flags.

“I was thinking this is too good to be true, surely there’s a flag somewhere,” Herman said.

Oklahoma called a timeout before trying the kick, which Herman said allowed Houston to see the Sooners’ personnel and set up for the return.

“You know you have to cover it, but the personnel on the field isn’t the best cover guys because the best cover guys wouldn’t be able to protect the field goal. So you’re in a little bit of a dilemma,” Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. “I don’t really second-guess. I’ve seen Austin [Seibert] make that quite a few times.”