1969 Houston Cougars football team

1969 Houston Cougars football
University of Houston's classic athletics logo
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl Champions
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl vs. #12 Auburn, W 36–7
Conference Independent
Ranking
Coaches #14
AP #12
1969 record 9–2
Head coach Bill Yeoman (8th year)
Offensive coordinator Bill Yeoman (8th year)
Offensive scheme Houston Veer
Defensive coordinator Melvin Robertson (5th year)
Home stadium Astrodome (53,000)
1969 NCAA University Division independents football records
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#2 Penn State   –       11 – 0 – 0
#17 West Virginia   –       10 – 1 – 0
#12 Houston   –       9 – 2 – 0
#5 Notre Dame   –       8 – 2 – 1
Buffalo   –       6 – 3 – 0
Rutgers   –       6 – 3 – 0
Villanova   –       6 – 3 – 0
Florida State   –       6 – 3 – 1
Colgate   –       5 – 3 – 1
Air Force   –       6 – 4 – 0
West Texas A&M   –       6 – 4 – 0
Boston College   –       5 – 4 – 0
New Mexico State   –       5 – 5 – 0
Southern Miss   –       5 – 5 – 0
Syracuse   –       5 – 5 – 0
Army   –       4 – 5 – 1
Virginia Tech   –       4 – 5 – 1
Georgia Tech   –       4 – 6 – 0
Miami (FL)   –       4 – 6 – 0
Pittsburgh   –       4 – 6 – 0
Dayton   –       3 – 7 – 0
Northern Illinois   –       3 – 7 – 0
Tulane   –       3 – 7 – 0
Utah State   –       3 – 7 – 0
Idaho   –       2 – 8 – 0
Navy   –       1 – 9 – 0
Xavier   –       1 – 9 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1969 Houston Cougars football team, also known as the Houston Cougars, Houston, or UH, represented the University of Houston in the 1969 college football season. It was the 24th year of season play for Houston. The team was coached by eighth-year head coach Bill Yeoman who would later be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001. The team played its home games in the Astrodome, a 53,000-person capacity stadium off-campus in Houston. Houston competed as a member of the NCAA in the University Division, independent of any athletic conference. It was their tenth year of doing so. After completion of the regular season, the Cougars were invited to the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl where they defeated the Auburn Tigers. Following the overall season, several players were selected for the 1970 NFL Draft.

Pre-season

Top 25 rankings

Houston was nationally ranked in the AP Poll for the pre-season with the #7 spot.[1] It was the first time that Houston had received votes in the pre-season for that poll since the 1953 season, and was the highest pre-season ranking for the team ever. Outside of the 1967 season, it was the highest that Houston had ever been ranked in the poll.

Schedule

Date Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
September 20 at Florida* #7 Florida Field • Gainesville, Florida L 59–34   53,807[2]
September 27 at Oklahoma State* Lewis Field • Stillwater, Oklahoma L 24–18   23,500[2]
October 4 Mississippi State* Astrodome • Houston, Texas W 74–0   36,207[2]
October 11 at Arizona* Arizona Stadium • Tucson, Arizona W 34–17   32,800[2]
October 25 #17 Mississippi* Astrodome • Houston, Texas W 25–11   48,049[2]
November 1 Miami* Astrodome • Houston, Texas ABC W 38–36   25,498[2]
November 8 at Tulsa* Skelly Stadium • Tulsa, Oklahoma W 47–14   17,750[2]
November 15 at North Carolina State* #18 Carter–Finley Stadium • Raleigh, North Carolina W 34–13   31,000[2]
November 22 Wyoming* #19 Astrodome • Houston, Texas W 41–14   35,389[2]
November 29 Florida State* #18 Astrodome • Houston, Texas W 41–13   36,508[2]
December 31 #12 Auburn* #17 Astrodome • Houston, Texas (Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl) HTN W 36–7   55,203[2]
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from Coaches Poll.

Game notes

Florida

Houston opened the 1969 season ranked as #7 in the Pre-season AP Poll. For its first game, the team traveled to Gainesville, Florida to compete against Florida of the Southeastern Conference at Florida Field. Led by tenth-year head coach Ray Graves, Florida had not lost a season opener for the past three years, while Houston had not lost a season opener for the past four years.[3] It was the first time in history that the two teams had met.[2] The victory by the Gators was considered a major upset, as the #7-ranked Houston quickly fell to an unranked position following the game, while Florida rose to #12 in the AP Poll.[4] Following the game, Florida eventually went on to earn a 9–1–1 overall record, and after the defeat of Tennessee in the Gator Bowl, a #14 national ranking the poll to finish the season.[5]

Poll rankings

Week-to-Week Rankings[6]
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week.
Poll Pre Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Final
AP 7 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 18 19 18 19 17 12

Coaching staff

Head coach Bill Yeoman coaches Houston
Name Position Alma mater (Year) Year at Houston
Bill Yeoman Head coach/offensive coordinator Army (1948) 7th
Melvin Robertson Defensive coordinator West Texas State (1950) 5th
Melvin Brown Offensive backs coach Oklahoma (1954) 8th
Billy Willingham Offensive line coach TCU (1951) 4th
Barry Sides Offensive line coach/defensive ends coach Houston (1968) 1st
Ben Hurt Defensive line coach Middle Tennessee (1957) 5th
Howard Tippett Linebackers coach East Tennessee State (1958) 3rd
Joe Arenas Wide receivers coach Nebraska-Omaha (1951) 7th
Carroll Schultz Freshmen coach Louisiana Tech (1948) 8th
Bobby Baldwin Freshmen coach Houston (1958) 5th

References

  1. ↑ "Houston 1969 AP Football Rankings". College Poll Archive. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 "2009 Houston Cougars football media guide: Year-by-Year results". Houston Cougars athletics. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  3. ↑ "Cougars, Gators Gamble Opening Game Streaks". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. 1969-09-19. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
  4. ↑ Moran, Sheila (1969-09-23). "Houston Drops Out of College Ratings". The Daily Courier. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
  5. ↑ "Gutty Florida Defence Stops Tennessee 14–13 in Gator Bowl". Ottawa Citizen. 1969-12-29. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
  6. ↑ "1969 Final AP Football Poll". AP Poll Archive. Retrieved 2010-05-04.