Calm Case leads the Cougars

HOUSTON (AP)—No. 13 Houston runs a no-huddle offense. The Cougars bunch up one time before each series and quarterback Case Keenum tells his offense all it needs to know.

“He looks us in the eyes and says: ‘We’re going to go score, but we’ve got to get this first first down first,”’ receiver James Cleveland said.

That cool confidence is the best of Keenum’s many splendid qualities and the biggest reason the Cougars (7-1) are off to their best start since 1990.

“I try to have that calm demeanor,” Keenum said. “I think the quarterback needs to be the steady hand out here. Not too high when things are good and not too low when things are bad.”

Keenum, a junior, leads the nation in five offensive categories and is coming off a career-high 559 yards passing in a 50-43 win over Southern Miss. With that performance, he has the top two passing games in the Football Bowl Subdivision this season.

The victory put Houston atop the Conference USA West division standings for the first time this season as the team prepares for Saturday’s game at Tulsa.

The Southern Miss game highlighted Keenum’s poise. The Golden Eagles tied the game with 57 seconds left and Keenum completed five straight passes capped by a 28-yard touchdown throw with 21 seconds remaining to give Houston its fourth straight win.

It was the second time in his career he’d thrown five touchdowns in a game, putting him with Andre Ware and David Klingler as the only Cougars to achieve the feat. It was the fourth time in his career he’s led the Cougars to a win when they were tied or trailing in the last minute of a game.

“I think he gives our team a sense of calm, meaning that we’re never out of a game and we always have a chance to win with him playing quarterback, no matter how much time is left or what the situation is,” coach Kevin Sumlin said.

Sumlin never worries about how Keenum will handle pressure. The Cougars run the no-huddle offense no matter what.

“He’s a leader on the field and there’s not a whole lot of looking back on the sidelines,” Sumlin said. “A lot of no-huddle offenses will do that from time to time, but he has the ability to see things. Even when he makes mistakes he’ll come off the field and be able to explain what happened and doesn’t make the same mistake over and over again.”

Sumlin, who is in his second year with the Cougars, has been impressed with Keenum’s development since he arrived in Houston.

“I think he got better over the course of last year as he really started to understand the offense,” Sumlin said. “Over the course of the summer he really took a step from just being player and quarterback to player, quarterback and leader and being able to teach other guys and help other people along.”

Keenum is 285 of 398 for 3,293 yards and 25 touchdowns with five interceptions this season. He has thrown for 300 yards 20 times in his career and has at least one touchdown pass in a school-record 24 straight games.

He’s so far ahead of second place in yards passing a game and total offense that, barring injury, it is unlikely anyone could pass him this season.

Pretty good for a player who got exactly one scholarship offer after a high school career at Abilene Wylie where he threw for 6,783 yards and 48 touchdowns and ran for 2,000 yards and 41 more scores.

“I don’t dwell on that,” Keenum said. “I thank the Lord for giving me that opportunity and I thank (former Houston) coach (Art) Briles and the guys who were here at that time for giving me that opportunity because I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them. Just to be given that chance to come play football and do it as a job really is a dream come true.”

Polite and modest, Keenum doesn’t like talking about himself and deflects almost every question about his eye-popping numbers by talking about the team. He said he checks his statistics “a little bit,” but instead of being impressed by them he thinks of ways they could be better.

“I’ve got to be honest with myself looking at the film because there’s stuff that we leave out there and throws that I don’t make, and times where I could make it easier on the receiver,” he said.

Houston is gaining the most yards in the country with more than 563 a game and its 41.63 points are second only to the 41.75 points Texas is scoring. The Cougars still lament their mistakes and setbacks, namely the loss to UTEP.

“We can always get better,” Keenum said. “We’re striving for that perfect game and the perfect play, the perfect drive and you don’t always get it but that’s what we’re striving for every week.”

Keenum remains in the Heisman Trophy conversation, but the loss to UTEP certainly didn’t help his chances. Of course, his coach and teammates think he should be invited to New York as one of the finalists for the award.

“I think his level of play is as good as there is in the country,” Sumlin said.

If Keenum’s thinking about the Heisman, he won’t acknowledge it.

“That sort of stuff just takes care of itself when you go out and compete and have fun,” he said. “A lot of different people make it about a lot of different stuff. The most important thing is making it about those 60 minutes on Saturday.”