# 1990 Houston Cougars football team

The 1990 Houston Cougars football team represented the University of Houston during the 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Cougars were led by first-year head coach John Jenkins and played their home games at the Houston Astrodome in Houston, Texas. The team competed as members of the Southwest Conference, finishing in second. Due to NCAA sanctions, Houston was ineligible to be invited to a bowl game and was banned from being ranked in the Coaches Poll. The Cougars lost only once in the season, to eventual SWC champions Texas, and were ranked 10th in the final AP Poll of the year. Their last regular season game was played in Tokyo, in the Coca-Cola Classic.
Quarterback David Klingler finished third in voting for the Heisman Trophy, leading the nation with 54 passing touchdowns and 374 completions. His 5,140 passing yards trailed only Heisman-winner Ty Detmer of BYU.

## Schedule

| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 8 | UNLV* | No. 24 | Houston AstrodomeHouston, TX | | W 37–9 | 20,138 |
| September 13 | at Texas Tech | No. 18 | Jones StadiumLubbock, TX (rivalry) | ESPN | W 51–35 | 36,794 |
| September 29 | Rice | No. 13 | Houston AstrodomeHouston, TX (rivalry) | | W 24–22 | 24,130 |
| October 6 | at Baylor | No. 13 | Floyd Casey StadiumWaco, TX (rivalry) | Raycom | W 31–15 | 36,289 |
| October 13 | No. 20 Texas A&M | No. 12 | Houston AstrodomeHouston, TX | | W 36–31 | 45,141 |
| October 20 | at SMU | No. 9 | Ownby StadiumDallas, TX (rivalry) | | W 44–17 | 23,250 |
| October 27 | Arkansas | No. 6 | Houston AstrodomeHouston, TX | Raycom | W 62–28 | 27,352 |
| November 3 | TCU | No. 6 | Houston AstrodomeHouston, TX | | W 56–35 | 25,725 |
| November 10 | at No. 14 Texas | No. 3 | Texas Memorial StadiumAustin, TX | ESPN | L 24–45 | 82,457 |
| November 17 | Eastern Washington* | No. 12 | Houston AstrodomeHouston, TX | | W 84–21 | 17,050 |
| December 2 | vs. Arizona State* | No. 11 | Tokyo DomeTokyo, Japan (Coca-Cola Classic) | TBS | W 62–45 | 50,000 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game ||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | 24 | 24 | 18 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 6 (1) | 6 (2) | 3 (5) | 12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 10 |
| Coaches | | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released |

## Game summaries
### Texas A&M

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 20 Aggies | 17 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 31 |
| • No. 12 Cougars | 7 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 36 |
The Cougars drove 95 yards for the game-winning touchdown, a 1-yard run by Chuck Weatherspoon with 20 seconds remaining. Weatherspoon accounted for 218 yards from scrimmage (131 rushing) and 2 touchdowns. David Klingler passed for 352 yards and had 2 touchdowns (1 rushing).

### Vs. Arizona State

In the 62–45 victory over the Sun Devils, David Klingler set the Division I-A single-game passing record with 716 yards.