A crowd of 33,133 - the largest in Texas State Bobcat program history - was on hand to witness a beatdown.
The Good: True freshman receiver D'Eric King caught a touchdown pass, threw a touchdown pass and returned a kickoff for touchdown - the first player in program history to achieve such a program trifecta. The 61-point margin of victory was Houston's largest since the Run-and-Shoot days (they beat Louisiana Tech, 73-3, in 1991). The defense held the Bobcats to a paltry 142 yards total offense and just 33 rushing yards. The Cougars did not have any turnovers and, more remarkably, did not commit a single penalty in the entire game.
The Bad: Kicker Ty Cummings missed two extra points. Backup running back Mulbah Car suffered an injury (that looked a lot worse than it actually turned out to be) and will be out for a few weeks.
The Ugly: Texas State (the school, not the team) was clearly unprepared for the crowds that attended this game. Parking was a nightmare; we ended up in a remote lot on I-35 that did not allow tailgating (boo!) and we ended up making the mile-long walk to the stadium when it became apparent that the shuttle bus service was not working as planned (double boo!). Concession lines in the stadium were long and slow; we missed two UH touchdowns while standing in line for a beer.
That said, the fact that they sell beer at Bobcat Stadium is a plus, and the stadium itself is cozy and has good sight lines. They need to adjust the lighting, however; the playing field seemed kind of dim and the ribbon boards along the stadium walls should never be brighter than the lights themselves.
On the way back to the car after the game, we stopped at In-N-Out Burger (which is expanding into Texas but has not made their way into Houston yet). The burgers and fries were actually pretty good, but I can't say that they're better than Whataburger.
What it Means: Not all that much, truthfully. The Coogs did what they were expected to do against an inferior opponent (although it's still interesting to think that this same Texas State program handed the Cougars one of their most catastrophic losses just a few years ago - how times have changed!).
The Coogs' two-game road trip is over, and tomorrow night they host Connecticut in a nationally-televised ESPN game. UConn was the only team to beat Houston last year, so it's time for some revenge.
No comments:
Post a Comment