This game went about as expected, which is to say it was a beatdown.
The Good: The Cougars thoroughly dominated the game in all aspects - Ryan runs through some of the numbers - and were able to empty the benches on both offense and defense. Nine different Cougars scored touchdowns, including highly-rated freshmen such as QB Keisean Henderson (who passed for two scores as well) and RB John Hebert. Ten different players accounted for Houston's 388 rushing yards; this is mainly because Houston stopped passing the ball after their first score of the second half. Both coaching staffs and the officiating crew agreed to shorten the fourth quarter to eight minutes.
The Bad: Southern did not bring their famous band, the Human Jukebox, to this game. Aren't the bands the entire reason we sign these SWAC schools to play - and get beaten up by - us? You'd think the band's presence would be a stipulation in our contract with Southern.
Oh, and power glitch that briefly caused the stadium's lights to go out towards the end of the first half. It didn't affect the game, but it could have been really embarrassing had it been a nationally-televised game against a major opponent.
What It Means: Southern coach Marshall Faulk was none too pleased that his program had to play this game. "That wasn't really a game, that was kind of a preseason crash-dummy test for Houston to work on all the good plays," he said, and he's not wrong. Glorified scrimmages like these are played because we need an easy opponent for our players to gain reps and experience against and they need a paycheck (in this case, $450,000 and 125 pizzas) to keep their programs afloat. It didn't feel good back in the 90s and 00s when those weak UH teams had to go play against the likes of Michigan, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, USC or LSU (although one time that didn't really work out for the Tigers) for money, and it can't feel good for Southern now, especially in the era of unlimited transfers and NIL money.
Now the real fun begins, as the Cougars travel to Lubbock to face the 13th-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders on Friday night.
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