Muammar Al Khadafi

What a difference a week makes.   Last week I was griping on these electronic pages about how bad my local NFL squad stunk up the joint in Baltimore and was wondering which Texans team would show up in Nashville to play the Tennessee Traitors (oops Titans).

The Texans team that showed up in liberty white jerseys and showed out was one that rolled up 518 yards of total offense and held the Titans to 148 yards of offense.  

They had Matt Schaub throw for 296 yards and two touchdowns, had two 100 yard rushers in Ben Tate and Arian Foster, held the ball for 38 minutes, had a 27-0 lead at halftime and the defense pick off two passes with one being a pick six.   This Texans team also rolled up the largest margin of victory in the history of the franchise to cap off a 41-7 rout and capture first place in the AFC South in the process.

Arian Foster in addition to rushing for 115 years had 119 receiving yards courtesy of a second quarter 78 yard TD pass reception from Schaub.   He became the first Texan player to have 100 yards receiving and rushing in the same game. It was also the second time in three years the Texans have beaten the Traitors at LP Field.       

There were a lot of Texans firsts and I have to give them some love for their exemplary play in this game.  It was also a very satisfying for Texan fans gridiron beatdown of one of the NFL squads we love to hate.

Take a bow Texans, pop your collars and enjoy this victory that moves you to 4-3 for the season and snaps a two game losing streak. 

Now if y'all can just keep up the momentum from the successful conclusion of this pigskin business trip by winning at Reliant Stadium this coming Sunday against Jacksonville.

This was the first game in the 2011 NCAA season that the University of Houston Cougar footballers have played while ranked, and oh yeah did I forget to mention that it was homecoming as well?

In front of the fourth largest crowd to attend a game at Robertson Stadium the number 21 ranked Cougars scored early and often to handle their football business and maul the Marshall Thundering Herd 63-28.

Um UH, can y'all teach your pro counterparts on Kirby Drive how to close out games in the second half?   I'm just sayin'.

But back to the Cougars. Case Keenum only needed 130 yards to pass Hawaii's Tommy Chang and the become the all time NCAA offensive leader and eclipsed that record in the first quarter.
 
A 70 yard touchdown bomb to Patrick Edwards a mere eight seconds into the start of the game got the scoring party started to stake UH to an early 7-0 lead.   Marshall fought back to tie the score at 7-7 but UH responded with another lighting strike drive capped off by a 12 yard TD to Tyron Carrier to bump the lead to 14-7. 

After the Herd scored seven seconds into the second period to once again tie the game at 14-144, the Cougars broke the game open with three unanswered touchdowns and a critical defensive stop of Marshall's Tron Martinez on a fourth and goal on the 1 yard line just before halftime that allowed the Cougars to take a 35-21 lead into the locker room.

After Marshall quarterback AJ Graham scored on a 6 yard run to narrow the gap to 35-21 early in the third quarter, the Cougars put the game away with another Keenum TD strike to Justin Johnson and a Derrick Matthews 20 yard pick six

Keenum was 24 of 28 for 376 yards and six touchdown before yielding to his backup Cotton Turner who also tossed a TD pass in mopup duty.

The Cougars move to 7-0 and 3-0 in the C-USA West Division and have a short week.  They have a Thursday night Bayou Bucket showdown with our crosstown rivals Rice at the Rob and the Owl.faithful haven't let us forget who won last year's game. 

You know the Owls would like nothing better than to do unto us what they did last year and ruin what is shaping up to be a very special season here on Cullen Blvd.

It's homecoming weekend for my fave college football team and the University of Houston Cougars find themselves at 6-0 for the first time since the 1990 season.

They are one of ten unbeaten NCAA FBS squads left in the nation, are ranked number 19 in the BCS poll, number 21 in the AP one, number 20 in the USA today coaches poll and tied for C-USA West Division lead.

We've had more intense media scrutiny at Cullen Blvd since the announcement of the rumored Big East invite and having ESPN's camera around campus filming our homecoming festivities.and the Cougar footballers.  Even quarterback Case Keenum is finally getting some media love that will hopefully translate into some Heisman votes for him.

But rolling into town is a Marshall Thundering Herd team that is 3-4 on the season but tied for the C-USA East Division lead with a 2-1 record after knocking off our crosstown rivals Rice 24-20.

Herd senior defensive lineman and C-USA Defensive Player of the Week Vinny Curry was a one man wrecking crew in that game that compiled 3.5 sacks, had nine tackles with 4 of them being for losses, forced a fumble and recovered another one.

The Coogs offensive line will get one of their major tests of the season.  They will probably be making sure they are aware of where Mr. Curry is at all times in this game before they unleash their NCAA number one ranked offense upon the Herd. 

Case Keenum is on a quest to rewrite the NCAA and University of Houston record books.  He only needs 130 yards of total offense to break Timmy Chang's of Hawaii's record in that category.  

He needs 11 more touchdown passes to set the new NCAA standard in that category which is also held by Timmy Chang and needs 1,178 passing yards the rest of the season to pass Chang and become the NCAA's all-time passer.

The Coogs will also be wearing throwback uniforms from the style when we were in the dearly departed  SWC kicking butt, taking names and going to the Cotton Bowl on the regular.as Southwest Conference champions 
  

Game will be at 3:30 PM CDT tomorrow at Robertson Stadium, and hope my boys are 7-0 when they're done.

The Texans find themselves in familiar territory at an underachieving 3-3 after being predicted in some quarters to win this division and the fan base being frustrated over that underachieving

The pressure on the Texans to just win ratchets up with their upcoming visit to Nashville's LP Field to play the Tennessee Traitors (oops Titans) with first place in the division at stake.

Naw, I still ain't forgotten nor will I forgive Bud moving the Oilers to Nashville.  

We now return you back to your regularly scheduled TransGriot Texans Watch post..

Next to the Arlington Cowchips and the Indianapolis Colts, this is the team that Texans fans get up for and love to loathe. As evidenced by the fight between Andre Johnson and Courtland Finnegan in last November's 20-0 Texan beatdown of the Traitors, the players on both squads don't like each other either.

You can also bet that first year Titans coach Mike Munchak also wants a win against the Texans as badly as some guy named Kenneth Stanley Adams does.

Coach Gary Kubiak noted there may be a possibility that Andre Johnson could play in this game, which if he can after suffering a hamstring injury in the October 4 win against Pittsburgh would be welcome news. 

The offense has struggled to score points in the second half since he left and they've wasted two great defensive performances against Oakland and Baltimore because of it.

Y'all know what to do Texans.  No excuses. Just win and keep on winning.

Time for me to get in 60 minute hate mode for the Traitors on Sunday.