Currently: - Game info: 8:00 pm EST Sat Nov 28, 2009
Case Keenum and Houston appeared to hit a major bump in their road to the Conference USA title game, but another superb passing performance coupled with a fortuitous loss by a rival put them back in control of the West Division.
Keenum will try to help the No. 25 Cougars clinch a spot in the conference championship game Saturday night when they host Rice in the matchup for the Bayou Bucket.
The Cougars (9-2, 5-2) suffered a seemingly major setback Nov. 14, falling 37-32 at Central Florida. However, they rebounded in strong fashion last week as Keenum passed for 405 yards and five touchdowns in a 55-14 win over Memphis.
That combined with SMU’s 34-31 loss at Marshall gave Houston control of the division since it holds the tiebreaker on the Mustangs.
“We felt that we haven’t played our best football game yet and honestly I’d say that we’re still striving for that,” said Keenum, who set a team record with 94 TD passes, surpassing David Klingler’s 91.
The junior leads the nation with 4,599 passing yards and is tied with Stephen F. Austin’s Jeremy Moses with 36 touchdowns, while only getting intercepted six times.
Keenum’s outstanding season has earned him a nomination for the Davey O’Brien Award, given to the nation’s top quarterback. He’s up against Colt McCoy of Texas and Florida’s Tim Tebow - the winner of the 2007 O’Brien and Heisman Trophy awards.
“It’s going to be an honor to be there with those guys,” Keenum said. “I look up to Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow not only as football players but the men they are off the field. It’s going to be a special honor for me.”
Keenum can also get Houston back to the Conference USA championship game for the first time since 2006, when it beat Southern Mississippi at home.
If Houston can beat Rice (2-9, 2-5), it’ll clinch the West and set up a Dec. 5 title matchup against either reigning champion East Carolina or Southern Mississippi, teams that will meet earlier Saturday to determine the East winner.
The conference champion will clinch a spot in the Liberty Bowl on Jan. 2.
The Cougars will likely make a run at a bowl appearance behind Keenum, who has three of the top seven receivers in the conference in junior James Cleveland and sophomores Patrick Edwards and Tyron Carrier. The trio have combined for 224 catches, 2,672 yards and 21 scores.
“We have enough to be focused on this week,” coach Kevin Sumlin said. “This week is all about getting the Bucket back.”
Houston holds a 25-10 advantage on Rice for the Bucket, but lost last year’s meeting 56-42 on Nov. 29 after winning the previous three.
The Owls might be primed for an upset after rallying for wins in each of their last two games following nine straight losses to start the season.
They forced six turnovers and got three touchdowns from running back Charles Ross with two coming in the fourth quarter to erase a 12-point deficit and beat Texas-El Paso 30-29 last Saturday. That came a week after Rice fell behind by 14 points in the first quarter before rallying for a 28-20 win over Tulane.
“For two weeks in a row, we’ve sure started slow but we’ve ended well,” coach David Bailiff said. “It’s been a point of emphasis getting a fast start. These last couple of weeks we’ll have to keep emphasizing it as long as we keep winning football games.
“Our players never quit.”
Bailiff may opt to rely on the running game again after Rice accumulated a season-high 172 against the Miners with sophomore Tyler Smith leading the team with a career-high 127. Smith has 315 rushing yards and a touchdown on the season, while Ross has 386 and nine, respectively.
“Ultimately we’re going to try to split with him and Charles,” Bailiff said. “Charles was having some respiratory problems and that’s one of those moments where Tyler took advantage of an opportunity.”
Nick Fanuzzi is coming off one of his worst performances of the season. The sophomore completed 8 of 17 passes for 55 yards and an interception last week.
