The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education instructor of the university and former head football coach, John R. Bender after one of his former teams, Washington State later adopted the mascot and nickname. The teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision as members of the Big 12 Conference.
The Houston Cougars football program is an NCAA Division I FBS football team that represents the University of Houston. The team is commonly referred to as "Houston" or "UH". The UH football program is a member of the Big 12 Conference. Since the 2014 season, the Cougars have played their home games on campus at TDECU Stadium, which was built on the site formerly occupied by Robertson Stadium, where they played home games from 1941 to 1950 and from 1997 to 2012. Over the history of the program, the Cougars have won eleven conference championships and have had several players elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, including a Heisman Trophy winner.
The Houston–Rice rivalry is a crosstown college rivalry between the Houston Cougars of the University of Houston and Rice Owls of Rice University. The universities are located approximately five miles from one another. It is one of the few NCAA Division I crosstown rivalries, especially between institutions that field Division I Football Bowl Subdivision teams.
The 2009 Houston Cougars football team, also known as the Houston Cougars, Houston, or UH, represented the University of Houston in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the 64th year of season play for Houston. The team was coached by second year head football coach, Kevin Sumlin. The team played its home games at Robertson Stadium, a 32,000-seat stadium on campus in Houston. The Cougars finished the season 10–4, 6–3 in CUSA play, were co–champions of the west division and lost to East Carolina 38–32 in the CUSA Championship Game. They were invited to the Armed Forces Bowl where they lost to Air Force 47–20. It was the second consecutive year that they had played Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl.
The 2010 Houston Cougars football team represented the University of Houston in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the 65th year of season play for Houston. The team was coached by third-year head football coach Kevin Sumlin, and played its home games at Robertson Stadium—a 32,000-seat stadium on campus in Houston. The program is a member of Conference USA in its West Division. Although ranked favorably early in the season, the team finished with a 5–7 record, after season-ending injuries to starting quarterback Case Keenum and other key players.
The 2013 Washington Huskies football team represented the University of Washington in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team, coached by fifth-year head coach Steve Sarkisian, was a member of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference. Sarkisian left the team to become the head coach at USC following the Apple Cup. The team was led by quarterbacks coach Marques Tuiasosopo following Sarkisian's departure. The Huskies played their home games at their on-campus home of Husky Stadium.
The 2011 Houston Cougars football team represented the University of Houston in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the 66th year of season play for Houston. The program was a member of Conference USA in its West Division.
John O'Quinn Field at TDECU Stadium is an American football stadium on the campus of the University of Houston. The stadium serves as the home of the Houston Cougars football team, which represents the University of Houston in collegiate football and previously the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL.
The 2012 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by first year head coach Jim L. Mora and played its home games at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. They were members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference. The Bruins won the conference's South Division and played in the Holiday Bowl, where they lost 26–49 to Baylor. UCLA finished the season 9–5, including 6–3 in conference play, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 482 to 386.
The 2012 Washington State Cougars football team represented Washington State University during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by first-year head coach Mike Leach, the Cougars played their home games on campus at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington. They were members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference and finished the season 3–9 overall, 1–8 in Pac-12, and last place in the North Division.
The 2012 Rice Owls football team represented Rice University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by sixth year head coach David Bailiff and played their home games at Rice Stadium. They were a member of the West Division of Conference USA. They finished the season 7–6, 4–4 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for third place in the West Division. They were invited to the Armed Forces Bowl where they defeated Air Force.
The 2013 California Golden Bears football team represented the University of California, Berkeley in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. This was Cal's first year of being led by the head coach Sonny Dykes. Cal's athletic director Sandy Barbour stated that it was his emphasis on offense that was the primary factor in the decision. Dykes was hired from Louisiana Tech, and was known for his reliance on the pass heavy and high scoring Air Raid offense, that utilized a shotgun formation with four wide receivers. Cal finished this season with a 1–11 record, with Dykes becoming the first head coach since the University began playing football in 1886 to fail to defeat a single D-1 opponent in a season that has lasted at least five games. The Bears lost to Stanford by 50 points, the largest margin ever in the 119-year history of the Big Game. During the season, the team was featured on The Drive, a weekly documentary series on the Pac-12 Network.
The 2013 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder during the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by first-year head coach Mike MacIntyre, the Buffaloes played their home games on-campus at Folsom Field in Boulder and were members of the Pac-12 Conference. Head coach Mike MacIntyre was hired after the firing of Jon Embree concluding the 2012 season.
The 2013 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by second year head coach Jim L. Mora and played its home games at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. They were members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference. The Bruins finished the season 10–3, including 6–3 in conference play to finish second in the South Division, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 480 to 301.
The 2013 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah during the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was headed by ninth year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their home games in Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. They were members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference.
The 2013 Virginia Tech Hokies football team represented the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Hokies were led by 27th-year head coach Frank Beamer and played their home games at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia. They were members of the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 8–5, 5–3 in ACC play to finish in a three-way tie for second place in the Coastal Division. They were invited to the Sun Bowl where they lost to UCLA. The team's 93 game consecutive sellout streak ended on September 7, 2013 against Western Carolina with an announced attendance of 61,335.
The 2013 Houston Cougars football team represented the University of Houston in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the 68th year of season play for Houston. The season marked the first for the Cougars as a member of the American Athletic Conference. Due to construction of the new TDECU Stadium during the 2013 season, the team played its home games at other locations in Houston.
The 2013 New Mexico State Aggies football team represents New Mexico State University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by first–year head coach Doug Martin and played their home games at Aggie Memorial Stadium. They competed as an independent. They were a football–only member of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) from 2014 to 2017.
The 2014 California Golden Bears football team represented the University of California, Berkeley in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bears were led by second-year head coach Sonny Dykes and played their home games at Memorial Stadium. They were members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference. When compared to 2013, Cal improved to 5–7, starting out with a 4–1 start, but losing six of their last seven games. It averaged 38.3 points per game, second-best in the Pac-12 and 11th-best in FBS, generating a program-record 459 total points for the season. However, the Golden Bears lost 367.2 passing yards per game along with 42 total passing touchdowns, both of these numbers ranked last out of 128 FBS teams. From Week 3 to Week 5, the Bears played three consecutive high-scoring games that were won or lost in the final seconds. The Bears lost on a Hail Mary to Arizona 49–45, but beat Colorado 59–56 in double overtime in their next game. The following week, Dykes faced his former Air Raid mentor Mike Leach and the Washington State Cougars. California allowed an FBS record 734 passing yards to Cougars' senior quarterback Connor Halliday, but still won 60–59 when WSU missed a 19-yard field goal with 15 seconds to play. They finished 3–6 in Pac-12, in fourth place in the North Division.
The 2014 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by third-year head coach Jim L. Mora and played its home games at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. They were members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference. The team was featured in the Pac-12 Network's The Drive program.
