Re: NCAA 2004: Prestige to Challenge
Houston (0-0) at Maine (0-0)
The Cougars should be able to beat Maine. Should be able to. The stadium was virtually silent as there was a low turnout. Houston took an early 3-0 lead. UH stopped Maine on 3rd & short. A long drive and a John Thorburn run gave the Cougars a 10-0 lead late in the 1st. Maine made a surge but came up short once again and had to punt. They returned an INT for a TD to make it 10-7. Anderson was up to his old tricks. Another INT for a TD made it 14-10. Holy ****!!! On their next drive, Thorburn took it up the gut to put the Cougars back on top 17-14. However, on the drive, Aaron Anderson injured his ankle. It was not long before they determined the seriousness of the injury. It was a high ankle sprain and would cost Anderson 4 weeks. This meant walk-on freshman QB Austin Smith would have to get the job done. He was the only other quarterback. Good thing they had a 17-14 lead. On his only pass play before the half, Smith was taken town for a sack.
HALFTIME: 17-14, Houston leads
The injury to Anderson appeared as though it was going to have devastating effects. Smith was nowhere near as good as Anderson. On Maine's next drive, Freshman LB Jason Mullins intercepted the ball at the 40. Maine's offense was doing pretty poorly as well, and they were unable to move the ball at all. Hey, what do you know? Austin Smith led the Cougars to a field goal on the next drive to put them ahead 20-14. A new strategy was tried: a mixture of Austin Smith and John Thorburn at QB. Thorburn wasn't too bad, although mostly all he did was sneak the ball. But the mix proved to be a solid combination. That is, until WR B.J. Morgan fumbled near the goaline to foil a confidence-building drive. No matter as the defense continued to gel, and finally Jason Mullins intercepted his second ball and brought it back to Maine's 17 yard line, just about where Houston left off the last time. This time the ending was happier as Smith hit TE Chance Brown from 6 yards out to give Houston a comfortable 27-14 lead with 3 minutes left in the game. On 4th down, Maine's TE made an acrobatic catch and streaked 70 yards for the score. 27-21. Two minutes left in the game. Thorburn at QB efficiently ran out the clock.
FINAL: Houston wins 27-21!
PLAYER of the GAME
RB John Thorburn - no doubt about it! As a rusher, he had 40 attempts for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns. Then, when Anderson went down and Austin Smith wasn't doing much, he aided at the QB position, going 2/2 for 39 yards. An outstanding ballgame for this young man.
SURPRISE of the GAME
Has to be the heartbreaking injury to Aaron Anderson. Though it'll only cost him 4 weeks, he was really looking forward to proving something this season. Hopefully he'll be able to once he gets back in the starting lineup.
Mentionable Performances
QB Austin Smith - 102.8, 9/19, 86 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
QB Aaron Anderson - 75.4, 11/23, 123 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT - 7 rushes for 30 yards
TE Chance Brown - 15 rec, 180 yards, 1 TD
Straight From the Coach
"This injury to Anderson is a real nightmare. Austin Smith showed flashes of stability but overall was too inconsistent on the field. Times like these I wish we didn't have two straight weekends of games coming up. We'll have to make do, I suppose. The combo of Smith and Thorburn seemed to be a viable option. Thorburn's speed with Smith finishing off the drives through the air is a possible scheme that we might have to try out. We'll see what happens. At least we started out with a win."
Houston Cougars: 1-0 - They won, but it cost them QB Anderson
Next Game: at San Diego State (0-0)
Houston (0-0) at Maine (0-0)
The Cougars should be able to beat Maine. Should be able to. The stadium was virtually silent as there was a low turnout. Houston took an early 3-0 lead. UH stopped Maine on 3rd & short. A long drive and a John Thorburn run gave the Cougars a 10-0 lead late in the 1st. Maine made a surge but came up short once again and had to punt. They returned an INT for a TD to make it 10-7. Anderson was up to his old tricks. Another INT for a TD made it 14-10. Holy ****!!! On their next drive, Thorburn took it up the gut to put the Cougars back on top 17-14. However, on the drive, Aaron Anderson injured his ankle. It was not long before they determined the seriousness of the injury. It was a high ankle sprain and would cost Anderson 4 weeks. This meant walk-on freshman QB Austin Smith would have to get the job done. He was the only other quarterback. Good thing they had a 17-14 lead. On his only pass play before the half, Smith was taken town for a sack.
HALFTIME: 17-14, Houston leads
The injury to Anderson appeared as though it was going to have devastating effects. Smith was nowhere near as good as Anderson. On Maine's next drive, Freshman LB Jason Mullins intercepted the ball at the 40. Maine's offense was doing pretty poorly as well, and they were unable to move the ball at all. Hey, what do you know? Austin Smith led the Cougars to a field goal on the next drive to put them ahead 20-14. A new strategy was tried: a mixture of Austin Smith and John Thorburn at QB. Thorburn wasn't too bad, although mostly all he did was sneak the ball. But the mix proved to be a solid combination. That is, until WR B.J. Morgan fumbled near the goaline to foil a confidence-building drive. No matter as the defense continued to gel, and finally Jason Mullins intercepted his second ball and brought it back to Maine's 17 yard line, just about where Houston left off the last time. This time the ending was happier as Smith hit TE Chance Brown from 6 yards out to give Houston a comfortable 27-14 lead with 3 minutes left in the game. On 4th down, Maine's TE made an acrobatic catch and streaked 70 yards for the score. 27-21. Two minutes left in the game. Thorburn at QB efficiently ran out the clock.
FINAL: Houston wins 27-21!
PLAYER of the GAME
RB John Thorburn - no doubt about it! As a rusher, he had 40 attempts for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns. Then, when Anderson went down and Austin Smith wasn't doing much, he aided at the QB position, going 2/2 for 39 yards. An outstanding ballgame for this young man.
SURPRISE of the GAME
Has to be the heartbreaking injury to Aaron Anderson. Though it'll only cost him 4 weeks, he was really looking forward to proving something this season. Hopefully he'll be able to once he gets back in the starting lineup.
Mentionable Performances
QB Austin Smith - 102.8, 9/19, 86 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
QB Aaron Anderson - 75.4, 11/23, 123 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT - 7 rushes for 30 yards
TE Chance Brown - 15 rec, 180 yards, 1 TD
Straight From the Coach
"This injury to Anderson is a real nightmare. Austin Smith showed flashes of stability but overall was too inconsistent on the field. Times like these I wish we didn't have two straight weekends of games coming up. We'll have to make do, I suppose. The combo of Smith and Thorburn seemed to be a viable option. Thorburn's speed with Smith finishing off the drives through the air is a possible scheme that we might have to try out. We'll see what happens. At least we started out with a win."
Houston Cougars: 1-0 - They won, but it cost them QB Anderson
Next Game: at San Diego State (0-0)
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