Rusty Cougars rally in long-delayed opener
HOUSTON — They waited and waited, 53 days to be exact, through schedule changes, postponements and one cancellation after another.
All along, the college football season seemed to tease and taunt the University of Houston. September came and went without the Cougars ever stepping on the field, as three games were canceled in the span of 11 days because of coronavirus issues.
UH got the green light to open the season Thursday night. Surely you didn’t think it would be easy, right?
The Cougars had to stage a 17point comeback, overcoming four first-half turnovers — two by quarterback Clayton Tune in the opening six minutes that were returned for touchdowns — to beat Tulane 49-31 before a COVID-19 limited crowd of 8,164 at TDECU Stadium.
The comeback tied for the sixthlargest in school history.
Once the Cougars (1-0 overall and in the American Athletic Conference) shook off the cobwebs, they seized command by scoring 42 of the final 49 points.
“Once we got settled in and started rolling as an offense, I was very comfortable back there,” Tune said. “I felt like I could make every throw and make every play I needed to.”
Marquez Stevenson, UH’S sensational senior wide receiver, finished with 223 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. He scored on a 97-yard kickoff return, the longest in stadium history, to give the Cougars the lead for good late in the third quarter and on a 41-yard catch to begin the fourth quarter.
After his three turnovers in the first half, Tune settled down and finished 20 of 31 for 319 yards and two touchdowns. At one point, Tune led the Cougars to six touchdowns on eight drives between the second and fourth quarters.
UH’S defense offered some help along the way.
Clark 64 interception return (M.glover kick), 13:42. Car 5 run (Witherspoon kick), 11:07. J.johnson 1 fumble return (M.glover kick), 9:23. FG M.glover 39, 3:50.
Pratt 1 run (M.glover kick), 13:50.
Tune 1 run (Witherspoon kick), 9:47.
Street 23 pass from Tune (Witherspoon kick), 3:53.
Car 3 run (Witherspoon kick), 7:53. Jh.jackson 8 pass from Pratt (M.glover kick), 5:53. Stevenson 97 kickoff return (Witherspoon kick), 5:36. Porter 1 run (Witherspoon kick), :46.
Stevenson 41 pass from Tune (Witherspoon kick), 14:03.
First downs Rushes-yards Passing Comp-att-int Return Yards Punts-avg. Fumbles-lost Penalties-yards Time of Possession
16 45-70 141 11-25-0 57 8-51.2 1-0 8-66 28:47
22 43-157 319 20-33-2 205 3-41.7 3-3 10-84 31:13
Tulane, Carroll 18-34, Huderson 7-31, A.jones 7-14, Pratt 13(minus 9). Houston, Porter 11-57, Ke.walker 6-32, Car 7-30, Tune 1215, Stevenson 1-8, Fullbright 1-7, T.brown 3-5, C.smith 2-3. Tulane, Pratt 11-25-0-141. Houston, Tune 20-33-2-319. Tulane, D.watts 2-50, Huderson 2-20, A.jones 2-19, Robertson 1-14, P.watts 1-13, Daniels 1-9, Jh.jackson 1-8, James 1-8. Houston, Stevenson 5-118, Corbin 4-46, Bradley 2-45, Singleton 2-23, Car 2-21, Dell 1-26, Street 1-23, C.smith 1-8, B.smith 1-6, Trahan 1-3. Houston, Witherspoon 47.
Tulane scored 14 points to begin the first quarter with its offense on the field for only three plays. The Green Wave should have kept their defense in. Against UH, Tulane managed only 211 yards total offense, had seven three-and-outs, and its final three drives ended on downs.
That Tulane rushing attack that entered the game fourth nationally with nearly 300 yards per game? Held to 70 yards, snapping a fiveyear streak of 56 consecutive games with at least 100 rushing yards. Those Ncaa-leading eight touchdowns by running back Cameron Carroll? He’s still at eight.
Defensive lineman Payton Turner had two sacks and 4½ tackles for loss.
“They had nowhere to run,” said UH linebacker Grant Stuard, who had a team-high nine tackles. “They had no choice but try to run through us, and that’s not going to happen with this defense.”