2015 Armed Forces Bowl Recap

Houston Cougars win 2015 Armed Forces Bowl 

Houston Cougars come roaring back to beat Pittsburgh Panthers 35-34.

by Omar Lusk

The weather did not stop the fans of the Houston Cougars and Pittsburgh Panthers from showing up to the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.  The Panthers were looking to finish off their season with a winning record being 6-6.  The aggressive game plan was put on display with a fake punt on their initial drive. Converted Wideout Greg Ward Jr rattled of a huge 26 yard gain to take the Cougars in to Panther territory. The running game seemed to have a formidable foe today called Rain.  #35 Ken Farrow had 2 rushes for negative yards due to slippery turf, and a sack by Pitts #4 Bam Bradley kept the Cougs off the board for their 1st drive.  Pitt entered the red zone for the first time on a 17 yard catch on 3rd down to get Pitt's drive alive.  At the end of the 1st Quarter the score was 0-0.

58 seconds into the 2nd Quarter #24 James Connor put the first points in the game.  The Panthers converted a 92 yard as the cold rain increased the poor field conditions. The Third Ward defense headed back to the sidelines to lick their wounds as the Pitt sideline came to life in the cold rain.  Greg Ward takes the Cougars to the Red Zone on a 20 yard QB keeper up the middle to the 18 yard line.  A suplex by #54 Tyrique Jarrett for the Panthers resulted in a Personal Foul call that moved the Cougars up to the 4 yard line.  Followed by a group Touchdown by Ken Farrow & the offensive line to complete a 76 yard drive.  The turf monster made an appearance for the Cougars grabbing #39 Kyle Bullard causing him to miss the extra point. The Panthers wasted no time rolling back down the field, on the arm of #16 Chad Voytik.  Voytik found his receiver Tyler Boyd for twice on their 70 yard scoring drive. Mixing up the plays kept the Third Ward Defense of the Cougars from keying in on the Panther offense.  1:27 left in the 2nd quarter the Panthers took the lead 14-6 with Issac Bennett getting the 12 yard TD. The Panthers closed the half with a 52 yard Field Goal by #12 Chris Bluitt to lead 17-6.

The Cougars received the ball after halftime and started their 1st drive with more misdirection plays.  A penalty along with a smart Pitt defense forced the Cougars to punt with 11:45 left in the 3rd. With a  4 and 1 on the Houston 36 yard line James Conner rushed for a crucial 1st down. A designed QB keeper allowed Voytik deep in to Cougar territory after an Unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for tossing a ball into a defender's helmet in celebration.  Voytik continued his push for MVP with needle threading pass to #86 Holtz for a 16 yard TD between two Third Ward Defensive Backs with 5:10 left in the 3rd. 24-6.  After another sloppy  by the Cougars, the Panthers began moving down the field with short and intermediate routes.  Tyler Boyd continued to catch any and everything thrown his direction and put his team in the Houston Red Zone to end the 3rd Quarter 24-6 in favor of the Panthers.

The Panthers offensive line continued to dominate the interior battle allowing James Conner to rush for his 2nd TD of the day giving the Panthers a 31-6 lead with 13:58 left in the 4th. As the Cougar fans began to leave the stadium their team found a since of new life, or new legs.  The Cougars marched down the field with #1 Gary Ward Jr gaining 31 yards to put the Cougars into Panther territory.  Kenneth Farrow crested the 100 yard rush mark with bruising 8 yard run, leaving Lafayette Pitts laying in the end zone. 31- 13 Panthers.  The Panthers put in backup Running Back Chris James in on their next drive, running the Panthers into Houston territory. Once in the Red Zone the Panthers fizzled out and put up a Field Goal to add to their lead of 34-13 with 6:14 left in the 4th.  The Cougars came out on their last drive with the same explosive momentum to start and capped an electric drive off with a 8 yard Touchdown to Greenberry to change the score to 34-20.  The Cougars lined up in the cold rain to attempt an onside kick to be recovered by Tyler White to give the Cougars the ball on their own 43.  Leaving the Pitt crowd in silent shock.  Ward & the Cougars marched down the field again to find # Demarcus Ayers again for a Touchdown narrowing the lead to 7 with 1:39 left in the game. 34-27. Then the unspeakable happens on the onside kick.  The ball bounces off a Pitt receiver and right into the arms of Ken Farrow to give the Cougars another shot of life.  The Panthers defense looked deflated as they looked across the football. Greg Ward continued to create magic in the last 4 minutes of the game finding Greenberry for a 38 yard gain to put the Cougars 25 yards from Pay Day. A great route to the far corner of the end zone to Greenberry brought the Cougars within 1. The Ward to Greenberry connection made one more stop in Ft. Worth to give the Cougars the lead 35-34 with 38 seconds to go.  

Coach Herman said, "The 2 point conversion play was the first play We worked on in practice." The Panthers managed to drive down in Cougar territory, but the Third Ward Defense saved the day.

The Cougars shocked the world after making the biggest 4th Quarter come back in Bowl History.  Coach Herman finishes his first season as a Coach with his 1st win and a Bowl win.  Not too bad for a guy who got the job less than a month ago.  The Cougars showed in the 4th quarter what College Bowl season and College Bowl games are about.  2 onside kicks and a 2 point conversion in 4 mins of regulation to take their first lead and win The Armed Forces Bowl.  Consecutive 8-5 seasons will definiaetly give the Cougars momentum heading in to spring football.  I look for Houston to finish in the Top 25 next CFB season.

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