UH Players Wear 'Houston' On Front, Back Of Jerseys

HOUSTON, TX — Sports coaches at the amateur levels often tell their players to compete for the name on the front of their jerseys, not the back. Well, the Houston Cougars played for both on Saturday in their 38-3 thrashing of crosstown rival Rice to win the Bayou Bucket. In addition to "Houston" across the chest of the red jerseys Saturday night at TDECU Stadium, they wore the same name "Houston" on the back of the jerseys where a player's name would normally be.

Playing their first home game of the season, UH paid homage to the hometown that got devastated by Hurricane Harvey last month. harvey crashed into the Texas coast as a Category 4 storm, leveling the Coastal Bend and dumping more than 50 inches of rain in Houston and the Golden Triangle.

The Rice-Houston rivalry looked anything but one on Saturday as the Cougars scored early, and often, in the route. Quarterback Kyle Allen was nearly flawless, completing 31-of-33 passes for 309 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Cougars rushed 37 times for 130 yards and three touchdowns. Houston scored all its points in the first half, taking a 38-3 lead into halftime. The Cougars piled up 484 total yards.

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"I’m excited about our win and excited to keep the Bayou Bucket. I’m very proud of the way our guys came out ready to play," first-year Houston coach Major Applewhite said. "They are good people and it meant a lot to them to play for their city. This wasn’t something coaches just threw on the back of their jerseys, they took a lot of pride in this. I was very proud of the way they played in the first half.

"I challenged our second stringers in the locker room after the game. It’s a long season, there’s nine games left, this was their opportunity to go out and show us where they were. It also shows them where they are in terms of competitive experience and competitive shape. We’re going to need them down the stretch. We have a good conference and a good side of our conference. We still need a lot of improvement, but I’m happy to be 2-0."

Houston's first game of the season at UT-San Antonio was cancelled because of Harvey. The Cougars went on the road to beat the Pac 12's Arizona, 19-16, in Major Applewhite's head coaching debut. Saturday was Houston's 16th-straight home win.

Houston (2-0) will host Texas Tech (2-0) on Saturday at 11 a.m. The game will be broadcast live nationally on ABC. Neither team is ranked in the newest college football top 25 poll, but both have received votes in the poll.

Rice (1-2) will host Florida International University (1-1) at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.