Houston Cougars crush Rice 33-7 and reclaim the Bayou Bucket

 

Written by Maanav Gupta, SFL Staff Writer | Photo by Oscar Herrera, SFL Photographer

On the 50th anniversary of the first matchup between Houston and Rice, the Cougars won the Bayou Bucket Classic in dominant fashion 33-7 with a complete team performance to win their first game of the season as Willie Fritz earned his first win as UH head coach. Houston now leads the Bayou Bucket 34-12 in all-time matchups. 

UH was finally able to get the running game going early. Freshman Rashawn Sanford had a strong 34-yard run. However, the Cougars ended up missing the 31-yard field goal on a bad snap. On the next drive, a 65-yard run from junior running back Stacy Sneed gave UH the 7-0 lead. It was a two-play, 75-yard drive in just about 30 seconds. Right after, Houston had a 75-yard punt return touchdown from junior wideout Mekhi Mews who was almost untouched after some incredible moves. 

The Cougars scored two touchdowns in under two minutes to take a 14-0 advantage over Rice through one quarter. The Houston defense did not allow much for the Owls so far with only 34 yards allowed compared to 115 for UH. 

After a couple of series, Rice had a muffed punt at the Owls 44-yard line. UH took advantage and had another big play. The Cougars scored a one-play touchdown drive with a 44-yard screen pass to junior wide receiver Stephon Johnson from senior quarterback Donovan Smith. Holder Liam Dougherty held the laces out as the extra point was no good. 

Houston went into halftime with the 20-0 lead. UH had 217 total yards compared to 59 for Rice and the Owls only crossed midfield once. The Cougars had a long 14 play drive that took up almost eight minutes, but ultimately were not able to convert on 4th and one on the Rice four yard line as Sanford had a loss of three on the carry.

On the ensuing Rice possession, the pass was tipped up into the air by Strong and intercepted by Jalen Garner at the Rice four-yard line. The UH offense was able to take advantage as Smith took it in for the one-yard touchdown run. The Cougars went for two, but failed as the pass to tight end Maliq Carr was short. 

Houston took a 26-0 lead into the fourth quarter.  

Quarterback Donovan Smith had his second rushing touchdown of the game with a 37 yard rush up the middle. This was a seven play drive which extended the Cougars dominance over the Owls to 33-0. Rice ended the shutout with a late touchdown drive that went 70 yards in 12 plays, as senior running back Dean Conners had the four-yard TD. 

“Everybody played smart on the field,” said head coach Willie Fritz. “I showed a video of the end of the game last year and Rice went out there about it being their city. I told them this is a big ball game, they got a circle, we need to double circle it and that’s how we practiced.”

Senior linebacker Michael Batton experienced a loss in this matchup last season and sensed the Owls frustration. “They were demoralized…we took their soul, that's what we planned to do.” The Cougars dominated in total yards with 379 compared to only 159 for the Owls. Houston also ran for 237 yards and gave up only 75. 

Senior linebacker Jamal Morris loved the energy that Fritz brought to the locker room and wants to bring that every week. Morris detailed the locker room celebration. “A mix of dancing, singing, yelling, jumping. Willie is pretty mature, but he was getting up there, he got that energy.”

After showing who runs Houston, the Cougars will look to build off this to win two in a row as Big 12 conference play begins next Saturday on the road vs Cincinnati.