Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Cougars slam door on Sooners behind long return
HOUSTON — Houston Coach Tom Herman and the Cougars 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 Houston is doing that’s fine. Whatever. “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 15th-ranked Cougars looked every bit ready to compete in the Big 12 — or any other conference for that matter — in a 33-23 victory against No. 3 Oklahoma on Saturday.
Houston is one of 11 schools that will meet with Big 12 officials 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’ victory 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 regular-season 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 on Austin Seibert’s short 54yard field-goal attempt to give Houston a 26-17 lead with 8:28 left in the third quarter.
Wilson reached up to catch the ball, barely keeping his feet in bounds. Reminiscent of Auburn’s Kick Six against Alabama in 2013, Wilson went flying out of the end zone and hurdled a fallen teammate to score in what went as a 100yard 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 make that quite a few times.”
In another game involving a Big 12 team, Jhajuan Seales caught two touchdown passes, helping No. 21 Oklahoma State roll past visiting Southeastern Louisiana 61-7. Seales finished with three catches for 61 yards. Barry J. Sanders compiled 76 all-purpose yards and scored a touchdown. Sanders, whose father, Barry, won the Heisman Trophy for Oklahoma State in 1988, is a graduate transfer who played for Stanford last season. The younger Sanders scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter and nearly scored again later in the quarter. He was stopped at the 1-yard line after weaving through the Lions for a 57-yard punt return. Mason Rudolph completed 18 of 26 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns for the Cowboys (1-0). Kaelyn Henderson ran 13 times for 68 yards and a touchdown for Southeastern Louisiana (0-1). Madre Harper recovered a muffed punt in the end zone for Oklahoma State’s first points of the season. Chris Carson barreled through several Lions on a 9-yard touchdown run, and Seales stretched out for a 24-yard scoring grab to make it 21-0 with 8:10 left in the first quarter. Henderson scored Southeastern Louisiana’s only touchdown on a 26-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC Backup QB paces Navy
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Navy pulled a quarterback out of the stands Saturday, finding an unlikely replacement for injured starter Tago Smith in a 52-16 victory over Fordham in the season opener.
Freshman Malcolm Perry was told to suit up and take over after Smith was lost to a knee injury early in the second quarter. Perry, who started the junior varsity game Friday after being sick most of the week, put together a 90-yard drive in the fourth quarter that led to a 23-yard field goal.
“It wasn’t planned for me to even dress today,” said Perry, who ran for 32 yards on seven carries but did not attempt a pass. “I came here with the rest of the brigade. I was just watching the game and Tago went down. The coaches got me out of the stands and got me dressed. It felt good. Playing the JV game the prior day helped a lot. It was a good experience.”
The Midshipmen were playing their first game without record-setting quarterback Keenan Reynolds, who rushed for 88 touchdowns as a four-year starter. After serving for three years as Reynolds’ backup, Smith ran Navy’s triple-option offense flawlessly until he was injured on a 22-yard run with 14:17 left in the half. Smith’s status is uncertain.
“He’s just a great kid,” Navy Coach Ken Niumatalolo said about Smith. “He really symbolizes who we are, hasn’t said [anything] for three years and came to work every day. He didn’t complain, didn’t get bitter. What he did in the first half didn’t surprise me. We knew the guy was a good football player. We just feel bad for a kid who has waited his turn.”
In just over one quarter of work, Smith rushed for 97 yards on 10 carries with a pair of touchdowns. Senior Will Worth entered and was also effective, scoring on a 7-yard run that gave the Midshipmen a 28-10 lead. He also threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to Toneo Gulley.
Junior fullback Chris High had 176 yards on 10 carries with 2 touchdowns. It was the most rushing yards by a Navy fullback since 2010.
Kevin Anderson completed 26 of 45 passes for 302 yards with a touchdown for the Rams.
Chase Edmonds, the 2015 Patriot League offensive player of the year, finished with 70 yards on 18 carries for Fordham, ranked No. 20 in the NCAA FCS Coaches poll.