2009 Houston Cougars football team The 2009 Houston Cougars football team , also known as the Houston Cougars , Houston , or UH , represented the University of Houston in the college football 2009 – 2010 season . It was the 64th year of season play for Houston . The team was coached by second year head football coach , Kevin Sumlin . The team played its home games at Robertson Stadium , a 32 , 000 - seat stadium on campus in Houston . The Cougars finished the season 10 – 4 , 6 – 3 in CUSA play , were co – champions of the west division and lost to East Carolina 38 – 32 in the CUSA Championship Game . They were invited to the Armed Forces Bowl were they lost to Air Force 47 – 20 . It was the second consecutive year that they had played Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl . Previous season . The 2008 season was head coach Kevin Sumlin ' s inaugural season with the Cougars . The Cougars finished 3rd in Conference USA ' s West division with a 6 – 2 conference record and 8 – 5 overall record . The Cougars ended their season with a win against the Air Force Falcons in the Armed Forces Bowl . This marked the first time since 1980 that the Cougars won a bowl game , and ended their eight game losing streak . In addition , the Cougars defeated two nationally ranked teams : # 23 East Carolina and # 25 Tulsa ; the former of which was on the road . It was the first time the Cougars had defeated a ranked opponent in an away game since the 1984 season . Another first since then was the defeat of two nationally ranked teams in one season . At the conclusion of the post - season , offensive lineman Sebastian Vollmer graduated from Houston , and was drafted by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft . Phillip Hunt was also signed to the Cleveland Browns . Houston ' s starting quarterback Case Keenum held the number two rank for passing yards in the NCAA . Preseason . Spring practices . The Cougars held Spring practices from March 24 to April 18 , 2008 . On April 4 , the team played a public scrimmage . The Cougars ' annual Red - White Game , which was the conclusion of the Spring practices , was abruptly halted after the first ten minutes of gameplay due to rainy weather conditions . Game notes . Northwestern State . The Northwestern State Demons of the Southland Conference traveled to Houston to meet with the Cougars for the first time in school history . Head coach Bradley Dale Peveto , a former Houston defensive coordinator and assistant head coach , led the Demons in his first game ever . With the first five touchdowns for Houston resulting from the Cougars ' first five possessions , the Demons ' first down only occurred after the score was 28 – 0 in the home team ' s favor . With the game well in hand for the Cougars in the third quarter , starting quarterback Case Keenum was rested for the rest of the game . Oklahoma State . The Cougars traveled to Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater to face Oklahoma State ( ranked 5th in the AP football poll and 6th in the Coaches ' Poll ) . Houston came out of the gate with a touchdown and field goal in the first quarter , but Oklahoma State responded with a drive to the endzone in the beginning of the second quarter . However , Houston parlayed an onside kick into two more touchdowns to close the half . In the third quarter , Oklahoma State dominated , with touchdowns coming from rushes by Keith Toston and Beau Johnston . A punt return for 82 yards by Dez Bryant yielded another touchdown for Oklahoma State . However , the Cougars clawed back in the final quarter , with the help of a Case Keenum pass that turned into a tipped ball caught by Bryce Beall , and a Zac Robinson interception that was returned for a touchdown . Following the win , Houston was launched into the # 21 ranked spot in the AP Poll , which marked the first time since 1991 in which the Cougars had been ranked in the top 25 . Texas Tech . Houston faced - off against former Southwest Conference rivals , the Texas Tech Red Raiders , for the first time since the demise of that athletic conference following the 1995 season . The game also marked the first time that Houston hosted Texas Tech on - campus , as the Astrodome had served as the previous home for the Cougars during that era . During Houston ' s bye the week prior , AP and Coaches ' Poll voters ranked the Cougars ahead in the polls to # 17 and # 23 respectively . It was the first time in eighteen years that Houston entered a game as a nationally ranked team . Although attempting to recover from a loss to # 2 Texas the week before , Texas Tech ' s starting quarterback Taylor Potts had passed for a career record of 46 passes for 420 yards . The game received heavy media coverage , and was broadcast nationally on ESPN2 . After a complete sell - out of public game tickets by Houston athletics , 1 , 500 student guest tickets went on sale the Monday morning before the game . With students arriving around midnight to await box office opening , all student guest passes were gone within three hours . The game marked a record attendance of 32 , 114 at Robertson Stadium in its current seating capacity including an appearance by U . S . Senator for Texas and gubernatorial candidate Kay Bailey Hutchison . Following a similar phenomenon from Monday , 5 , 500 students were allowed general admission into the game for no charge on gameday . Houston businessman Jim McIngvale donated a 9 ' x16 ' LED screen displaying the ESPN2 broadcast for use in the stadium parking lot during the game to accommodate the remainder of the University of Houston ' s 37 , 000 student enrollment who were unable to gain entry . UH Alumnus Hakeem Olajuwon facilitated the pre - game coin toss . Fellow alumnus and former Cougars basketball coach Clyde Drexler was also in attendance . Although prior to the win , Texas Tech had been victors of the previous five meetings , the all - time record between the teams was updated to 18 – 10 – 1 with Houston leading . The Cougars ' record improved to 3 – 0 . UTEP . Following the home victory , Houston went on the road to El Paso , Texas to face conference foe UTEP for the seventh time in school history . Having moved five spots up to # 12 in the AP Poll prior to the game , the undefeated Cougars were heavily favored to win . UTEP ' s record was 1 – 3 , and were coming off a 64 – 7 loss to Texas . Despite a remarkable attempt by Houston , where Case Keenum threw for a career record of 536 passing yards with 5 touchdowns , the Cougars could not contain UTEP ' s run - style offense . UTEP running back Donald Buckram ran for a career - high of 262 yards against Houston as the Miners completed a 58 - 41 upset . Houston ' s all - time record against UTEP fell to 3 – 4 . The Cougars would fall completely out of both the AP Poll and Coaches ' Poll top 25 rankings , but continued to receive votes . Mississippi State . Houston attempted to begin rebuilding after the UTEP upset in Starkville , Mississippi meeting with the Mississippi State Bulldogs . It was the fifteenth meeting between the two teams , where the Cougars held a 8 – 6 record over the Bulldogs who first competed against each other in 1956 . The last time Mississippi State had defeated Houston was in 1972 , as the Cougars had won the last two meetings . The game was nationally televised on ESPNU . The Bulldogs were able to contain Houston ' s offense to 17 points in three quarters and enter the fourth quarter in a tie game . The Cougars offense scored two touchdowns in rapid succession with six and four minutes to go in the game , and then conceded a touchdown run to Anthony Dixon with 1 : 22 to play . However the Cougars were able to recover a Mississippi State onside kick try and went on to win the game . Following the win , the Cougars regained a place in the top 25 list for both the AP Poll and Coaches ' Poll with a ranking of # 23 . Tulane . Houston completed its three game road trip in New Orleans , Louisiana against the Tulane Green Wave . With a record of 5 - 1 after completing the game , Houston was off to the best start of a season since 2003 . Having competed against each other for the first time in 1968 , the Cougars held a 10 - 4 all - time record against Tulane , and had won their last seven games against the Green Wave . Heavily favored Houston started off the game slowly against Tulane ' s pass defense which stood as the best in Conference USA at the time , and the Cougars went into halftime leading only 9 - 6 against the Green Wave . However in the second half the offense exploded for 20 unanswered points in the third quarter and 15 points in the fourth while conceding 10 , and Houston left the Superdome a 44 - 16 winner . Following the game , Houston rose to # 17 in the AP Poll and to # 18 in the Harris and Coaches ' Polls . When the initial BCS ranking came out the following Sunday Houston secured the # 17 spot , marking the first week the Cougars were ranked in the BCS poll . SMU . The Cougars returned to play in Houston for the first time since its September victory over Texas Tech to face the SMU Mustangs in their homecoming game . Another former Southwest Conference opponent , SMU was coached by second - year head coach June Jones . It was the 25th meeting between the teams , where Houston held a 15 - 9 - 1 record in the all - time series . The game was nationally televised on the CBS College Sports network . Houston took advantage of two SMU turnovers early in the game and utilized an effective running game to take a 24 - 3 lead into halftime . SMU ' s turnover issues continued into the second quarter as Houston kept going to freshman Charles Sims on the ground . Sims finished the game with 15 carries for 105 yards and two touchdowns . Case Keenum finished with comparatively light duty , only collecting 233 yards and two touchdowns on 36 completions as Houston dispatched SMU 38 - 15 . Following the victory , Houston moved up to # 15 in the AP poll and to # 16 in the Coaches ' and Harris polls , but moved down to # 18 in the BCS poll . Southern Miss . The Cougars continued the 2009 season with a Halloween showdown versus conference rival Southern Miss . Houston came into the game at 7 - 1 and on its best start since 1990 , in the days of the Southwest Conference . The two teams last met in the 2006 Conference USA Football Championship . The game turned into a shootout early as neither defense proved able to slow down quarterbacks Martevious Young and Case Keenum . Southern Miss led early 13 - 7 at the end of the first quarter , but Houston collected 23 points on three touchdowns and a returned blocked extra point to go into halftime leading 30 - 22 . The game slowed down somewhat in the second half as Houston extended the lead to 40 - 22 in the fourth quarter , but Southern Miss ' s Young led the Golden Eagles to a late game comeback , scoring three touchdowns in eight minutes to tie the game at 43 with only 57 seconds left . However , Houston ' s Keenum calmly led the Cougars down the field in a scene reminiscent of the Texas Tech game and needed only 36 seconds to complete a game - winning touchdown drive . Keenum passed for a career record 559 yards that day . Houston escaped out of Robertson Stadium that day with a 50 - 43 victory . The following day , Houston found itself ranked 13th in the AP poll , 15th in the Coaches ' , 14th in the Harris , and 15th overall in the BCS poll , an improvement in all rankings . Tulsa . The 8 - 1 Cougars took to the road the following week to take on the ever - dangerous Tulsa Golden Hurricane . Houston came into the game with an 18 - 16 record all time versus Tulsa . The game took mostly the form of the previous game against Southern Miss , where neither team ' s defense were effective against potent passing attacks . The Cougars utilized a strong first half from wide receiver James Cleveland to go into halftime leading 24 - 21 . Houston ' s defense nearly collapsed completely in the third quarter as Tulsa QB G . J . Kinne tore the Cougars apart in the air and on the ground , scoring three individual touchdowns in the third quarter . Houston ' s offense were able to keep up mostly with Tulsa , and the quarter ended with a 38 - 34 score favoring Tulsa . Tulsa ' s defense solidified somewhat in the fourth quarter , holding Houston out of the end zone on a goal line stand early and making Houston settle for a 26 yard field goal with eight minutes to play . Tulsa ' s offense then churned out one last scoring drive with three and a half minutes to play to bring the score to 45 - 37 . Houston needed a touchdown with a two point conversion on its last drive to tie the game . Keenum again led the Cougars down the field and threw a third touchdown pass to James Cleveland to bring UH to 45 - 43 , but Keenum was sacked on the two point conversion attempt . With only 21 seconds to play , Houston attempted a last gasp onside kick attempt which was successfully recovered by Tim Monroe . Keenum quickly brought the offense 27 yards down the field in three plays and then retired to give walkon freshman kicker Matt Hogan a chance to win the game on his leg . It was the first time Hogan had tried a field goal longer than 50 yards , but he booted the field goal down the middle as Houston escapes being upset once again , winning 46 - 45 . The victory was the first one by game - winning field goal in school history . After the thrilling comeback , the Coaches ' poll moved Houston to # 12 , the Harris to # 13 , and the BCS ranking remained unchanged at # 15 . Central Florida . With visions of a possible top 10 ranking in the near future , the 9 - 1 Cougars traveled to Orlando , Florida to play the Knights of Central Florida . UCF had met Houston only two times before , each team winning a game . The game began as though heavily favored Houston would win in less dramatic fashion than normal , easily taking a 10 - 0 lead to the second quarter . However , in the second quarter UCF began going to the ground and exploiting serious weaknesses in the run defense exposed by games against Texas Tech and UTEP . UCF ground out yards and jealously kept the ball out of the hands of the dangerous Houston offense . Unable to cope with the punishing ground game , Houston scored only one kickoff return touchdown in the next two quarters and UCF took a 23 - 17 lead into the fourth quarter . UCF scored two more touchdowns , one rushing and one passing , early in the fourth to move to 37 - 20 while grinding down clock and keeping the ball in UCF possession . Houston ' s offense broke out only with three and a half minutes to play by way of a touchdown pass , and then another one with only ten seconds to play to bring the game to 37 - 32 . However this time , Houston would not recover the last second onside kick and UCF completed the upset . The victory by UCF was the first against a Top 25 ranked opponent in school history . After the loss , Houston dropped far in the polls to # 22 in the Coaches ' and # 23 in the Harris , with the BCS dropping Houston further to # 24 . Not only had any vision of a BCS Bowl for the Cougars disappeared , even the possibility of a conference title began to come into doubt as the loss put SMU in the lead for the CUSA West division title . Memphis . Houston returned home to Robertson Stadium to lick their wounds the following week , and the 1 - 9 Memphis Tigers were in town . Houston struck first , quickly , and often in the first half ; Keenum completed 29 passes for 405 yards and 5 touchdowns before retiring just after halftime . Houston took a commanding 42 - 14 lead into halftime , and Houston tacked on two more touchdowns by way of a touchdown pass from backup quarterback Cotton Turner and a Charles Sims touchdown run to easily win 55 - 14 . Memphis ' s two touchdowns came by way of running back Curtis Steele , indicating Houston had not fixed their major ground game issues . With the victory and a loss by SMU to Marshall earlier in the day , Houston ended the week as leader of CUSA West with only one game to play . Houston ' s ranking recovered slightly the following day ; the Coaches ' and Harris polls placed the Cougars at # 20 and the BCS at # 23 . Rice . The final game of the season was a Thanksgiving renewal of the rivalry with Rice , with the two teams playing for the Bayou Bucket . Houston came into the game with a 27 - 9 record versus the crosstown Owls . Much like the Memphis game , Houston ' s offense scored at will versus the Rice defense . Case Keenum scored only two touchdowns on 323 yards passing before hitting the showers at halftime , his Cougars leading 59 - 0 . The game slowed down somewhat in the third quarter , and Houston extended its lead to 65 - 0 before Houston ' s reserves conceded two touchdowns . Houston ' s reserves added two touchdowns of their own , and the Cougars defended the Bayou Bucket 73 - 14 . The 73 points was the most scored by any team in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS season . The victory also sealed a CUSA West title for the Cougars - though SMU won earlier in the day , Houston owned the tiebreaker by way of defeating the Mustangs in October . Houston ' s ranking improved two spots in all polls ; the Coaches ' and Harris polls placed the Cougars at # 18 and the BCS at # 21 . East Carolina ( C - USA Championship ) . The Cougars , representing CUSA West , traveled to Greenville , North Carolina for the Conference USA Championship against defending champion East Carolina . ECU employed the same strategy used by conference mates UTEP and UCF in their upsets of the Cougars - run the football often and grind the clock . Alongside that , the ECU run defense stopped the Cougar running game completely cold ( only 30 yards total rushing ) , leaving Houston to rely on the skills of Case Keenum to carry them through . The Cougar passing game did have success for a while as Houston led at halftime 19 - 14 , but the Pirate defense became more and more stifling as the day wore on , finally Keenum threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter which after translating to two ECU rushing touchdowns put the game out of reach . ECU became the first school to successfully defend a Conference USA title by a score of 38 - 32 . With this loss , the Cougars dropped to # 25 in the Harris and Coaches ' polls and out of the BCS poll completely . Later in December , it was announced Houston accepted an invitation to play in the 2009 Armed Forces Bowl . Air Force ( Armed Forces Bowl ) . The 2009 Armed Forces Bowl was a rematch of the previous year ' s matchup between Houston and Air Force , which was itself a rematch of a 2008 regular season game . Houston won the bowl the previous season . Houston ' s inability to stop a running game was exploited worst of all by Air Force , who features a running - heavy triple offense . Air Force running backs marched up and down the field and chewed up 41 minutes of game time while the Air Force ' s pass defense , statistically # 1 in the nation , sat back and intercepted Case Keenum ' s passes seemingly at will - Air Force collected six interceptions in all , a career worst for Keenum . Air Force led comfortably 24 - 6 at halftime and Houston proved little resistance in the second half , losing in all 47 - 20 . Houston had now lost nine of ten bowl games dating back to 1980 . The loss removed Houston from every end - of - season poll .