MOST IMPROVED TEAM IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL 2012 TICKETCITY BOWL hOusTOn FOOTBALL Athletic Communications // 3100 Cullen Blvd. // Houston, TX 77204 // www.uhcougars.com Football Contact: David Reiter // office (713) 743- 9409 // cell (281) 254-9582// [email protected] UH COUGAR SCOREBOARD Sept. 3....UCLA ................W ..........38-34 GAME 14 Sept. 10....at North Texas .......... W ...........48-23 Sept. 17....at Louisiana Tech........ W ...........35-34 Monday, Jan. 2 Sept. 24...Georgia State.........W ...........56-0 Sept. 29....at UTEP ................ W ...........49-42 11 a.m. CDT Oct. 8 .....East Carolina .........W ...........56-3 Dallas, Texas Oct. 22 . .Marshall (HC) .........W ..........63-28 Oct. 27 . .Rice .................W ..........73-34 Cotton Bowl Stadium Nov. 5 .....at UAB................. W ...........56-13 Nov. 10 ....at Tulane .............. W ...........73-17 HOUSTON (12-1, 8-0 C-USA) (Capacity 92,158) PENN State (9-3, 6-2 Big Ten) Nov. 19 ...SMU.................W ...........37-7 Cougars #17/20/19 Nittany Lions #23/24/22 Nov. 25 ....at Tulsa................ W ...........48-16 Dec. 3......Southern Miss ........L ..........28-49 Jan. 2.....Penn State ........ 11 a.m........ESPNU THE COACHES * all times Central Tony Levine ..........................................................INTERIM HEAD COACH ......................................................................Tom Bradley Minnesota, 1996 ......................................................... ALMA MATER ..................................................................... Penn State, 1979 HOUSTON COACHING STAFF 4th year at UH / 1st as Interim, 0-0 ..............................EXP/RECORD .......................................................1st year at Penn State, 1-2 Tony Levine, Interim Head Coach/Inside Receivers Special Teams Coordinator ..............................4th Season FAST FACTS ON THE SERIES Jason Phillips, Off. Coordinator / Wide Receivers ......9th Season Series Record Overall ..................................................................................................................................... Penn State leads 2-0 Brian Stewart, Def. Coordinator/ Cornerbacks .........2nd Season Series Record at Houston .............................................................................................................................. Penn State leads 1-0 B.J. Anderson, Offensive Line ...................................3rd Season Series Record at Penn State .......................................................................................................................... Penn State leads 1-0 Jamie Bryant, Linebackers [B] .................................. 1st Season Series Record at Neutral ...........................................................................................................................................................0-0 Carlton Hall, Defensive Line ...................................... 1st Season First Meeting .............................................................. Penn State 24, Houston 7 (Nov. 14, 1964; at Houston, Texas - Rice Stadium) Kliff Kingsbury, Co-Off. Coordinator/ Quarterbacks ...4th Season Last Meeting ......................................................................................... Penn State 31, Houston 14 (Sept. 17, 1977; at Penn State) Clarence McKinney, Running Backs [B] ...................4th Season Zac Spavital, Safeties [B] .........................................4th Season THE SERIES [B] - denotes coaches in the press box « Houston makes its 21st bowl game appearance in school history and plays its sixth January bowl game when it takes on Penn State in the 2012 TicketCity Bowl at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas ... Houston played in four Cotton Bowls during their member- CAPTAINS ship in the Southwest Conference, winning following the 1976 (Maryland) and 1979 (Nebraska) seasons ... They also faced Joe Patrick Edwards, Sr., WR; Case Keenum, Sr., QB; Marcus McGraw, Montana and Notre Dame in 1978 and Doug Flutie’s Boston College team in 1984. Sr., LB; Derrick Mathews, Fr., LB « Houston and Penn State will meet for the third time and Penn State has won both previous meetings ... Penn State won at Houston (Rice Stadium), 24-7, on Nov. 14, 1964 and then in State College, Pa., 31-14 on Sept. 17, 1977 ... That most recent meeting RADIO (SPORTSTALK 790 AM) pitted No. 9 Houston vs. No. 10 Penn State. Tom Franklin................................play-by-play « Houston is actually looking to snap a little bit of a bowl skid ... The Cougars have won just one bowl game since 1980 ... The 2008 Ted Pardee ..................................... analyst Cougars defeated Air Force, 34-28, in the 2008 Armed Forces Bowl, but are just 1-9 in their last 10 bowl appearances. Chuck Brown....................................sideline « Houston looks for its 13th win of the season, which would extend this season’s school-record total ... The Cougars are also facing a Big Ten foe for the first time since falling at Michigan in 2003. ON THE WEB Official Site ..............................UHCougars.com Twitter.....................................UHCougarFB Facebook.........................HoustonCougarFootball PLAYERS TO WATCH YouTube ................................... UHAthletics CASE KEENUM, QB, SR. Case Keenum finishes a record-breaking collegiate career in the 2012 TicketCity Bowl against Penn State ... Keenum owns virtually every NCAA career passing mark ... He is the all-time leader for passing yardage (18,685), total offense (19,572), completions (1,501), touchdown passes (152), total touchdowns (175), 300-yard games (38) and 5,000-yard seasons (3) ... He is also Houston’s career record holder for victories (36) and has led UH to four consecutive bowl games as a starter. SAmmy BROWN, LB, SR. Sammy Brown is the nation’s leader in tackles for loss this season (28.0) and averages 2.2 stops behind the line of scrimmage per game in Houston’s exciting 3-4 defense ... One of the country’s most improved players, Brown also ranks No. 5 nationally with 12.5 quarterback sacks ... The junior college transfer had two tackles for loss in UH’s most recent contest vs. No. 23 Southern Miss in the Conference USA Championship Game and is the school’s single-season leader for TFLs and is 1.5 sacks shy of that single-season school record as well. UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON FOOTBALL 9 hOusTOn FOOTBALL SCHOOL-RECORD 12 VICTORIES IN 2011 FOR OPENERS Stats Comparison « Houston returns to action on Jan. 2 as it faces Penn State in the 2012 TicketCity Bowl ... It’s the first trip to the bowl for both Houston and Penn State ... The TicketCity Bowl began last year, with Texas Tech claiming a 45-38 victory over Northwestern. Houston Penn State « Houston is playing in its 21st bowl game in school history ... The Cougars are 8-11-1 all-time in postseason play ... The first bowl game 50.8 Points Per Game 19.8 in school history was the Salad Bowl in 1951, with UH winning 26-21 vs. Dayton ... UH has never faced a Big Ten opponent in a bowl 28.3 First Downs 18.6 game, but it did beat Nebraska (then Big Eight and now Big 10), 17-14, in the Cotton Bowl following the 1978 season. 1,018 Rushing Yards 1,973 « Tony Levine will direct the UH program as interim head coach ... Levine takes over for Kevin Sumlin, who left on Dec. 10 to become 155.2 Avg./Game 164.4 the head coach at Texas A&M University ... Levine entered the season as the UH assistant head coach and has appeared on numerous lists 5,769 Passing Yards 2,164 434-613-6 C-A-I 174-349-9 ranking the top assistant coaches in the country. 443.8 Avg./Game 180.3 « This is Levine’s first game as a head coach, however he brings lengthy professional and collegiate coaching experience to the sidelines 7,787 Total Yards 4,137 for the Cougars and had two special team stars, Tyron Carrier (career kickoff returns for TD) and Matt Hogan (consecutive extra points 599.0 Avg./Game 344.8 made in one season) tie/break NCAA records this year. 12-9 Fumbles/Lost 29-13 « Houston is playing its fifth bowl game in the Cotton Bowl Stadium ... UH played at the Cotton Bowl following the 1976, 1978, 1979 15 Total Turnovers 22 and 1984 seasons and is 2-2 in Cotton Bowls. 79-644 Penalties-Yds. 59-510 « How much improvement has Houston made over the years? From 1988-2003, UH played in just one bowl game, but from 2003 through 45-40.9 Punts-Avg. 63-41.6 today, UH has played in seven bowl games, a stretch of seven games in nine years. 26:27 TOP-Game 29:54 97-186 / 52% 3rd Down Conversions 64-174 / 37% « Keenum and the Cougars are approaching the one-year anniversary of when he received word on being granted a sixth year of 23.1 Points Allowed Per Game 15.7 eligibility ... That call came Jan. 14, 2011. 2,233 Rushing Yards Allowed 1,665 « Following the 2012 TicketCity Bowl, UH will be preparing for its final season in Conference USA ... UH will join the BIG EAST Conference 171.8 Avg./Game 138.8 for the 2013-14 season, along with new members Boise State, UCF, San Diego State and SMU ... It will give the league 10 football-playing 2,785 Passing Yards Allowed 1,946 programs and greatly enhance the national exposure for the Cougars, with 10 of the nation’s Top 20 television markets being home to a 251-442-18 C-A-I 193-358-14 BIG EAST program. 214.2 Avg./Game 162.2 « Did you know that Houston is the most improved team in college football this season? ... UH went 5-7 last year, but has improved 5,018 Total Yards Allowed 3,611 seven games on that total en route to its current 12-1 record. 386.0