Overtime — UH vs. UTEP

THE DAILY COUGAR

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27 , 2012 ®

OVERTIME

COVER STORY //////////////////////

LEVINE’S VISION The Cougars’ first-year head coach focuses on long-term

//////////////////////// INSIDE

Turnover woes cost Cougars // 3 //////////////////////////////////////

Hayden steps into leadership role // 5 ////////////////////////////////////////

The Daily Cougar

2 \\ Saturday, October 27, 2012

CAREERS IN: JOURNALISM GRAPHIC DESIGN MARKETING ADVERTISING PHOTOGRAPHY PUBLISHING COMMUNICATIONS

START HERE. FEATURING: SATURDAY & SUNDAY stadium buffet FREE NY STRIP STEAKS from 12 noon to 5pm MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SPECIAL 20 for 20! $20 for 20 Buffalo Wings and an Ice cold pitcher of domestic or imported draft beer

Free cover for students and guest with UH ID Always Hiring waitstaff, reception and door personnel

www.RitzHouston.com | 10520 Gulf Freeway Houston Tx, 77034 | 713.944.6445

WE’RE HIRING FOR: STAFF WRITERS OPINION COLUMNISTS COPY EDITORS CARTOONISTS PHOTOGRAPHERS ADVERTISING Fill out an application at thedailycougar.com/apply i i h S d P bli i

EDITOR’S NOTE

Young Cougar squad replicates election season flip-flopping At the peak of election season, all the flip-flopping done by the Cougars football this season seems appropriate.

After dropping the first three games of the season, UH Andrew stormed back, Pate showcasing the hope and change we all were looking for — then in a pivotal conference road game against SMU, fell flat on its face.

“Thursday night was extremely disappointing,” head coach Tony Levine said. “When you play an opponent and you turn over the ball nine times, you rarely, if ever, give yourself a chance to win.”

A young group of players have tried to fill the shoes of a veteran squad who produced the greatest season in school history a year ago. The Cougars’ starting offense consists of only one senior, and nine freshmen have taken the field in total.

One message the head coach tried to make clear, though, was that the progression of the program is on par, despite the 3-4 record which opened the 2012 season.

Along with coaching a young team, the biggest issue is eliminating the penalties and turnovers, as evidenced by last week’s loss to the Mustangs.

“That’s a game you can learn from,” said quarterbacks coach Travis Bush. “It wasn’t them just totally whooping our (butt) and us playing horribly bad. We had a handful of really bad plays that were crucial in the ballgame.”

Which version of the team shows up this week is anyone’s guess. Throughout the past seven games, we’ve seen the good and the bad, and the ups and the downs. However, if anyone can come back from a miserable 30 point defeat to an in-state rival, it is this year’s Cougars.

THE DAILY COUGAR

OVERTIME SECTION EDITORS Andrew Pate Christopher Shelton COPY EDITORS Aryan Baktash Samantha Wong COVER PHOTO Nine Nguyen PRODUCTION Andres Garcia Farah Hasnie

ABOUT Overtime is produced by The Daily Cougar, the official student newspaper of the University of Houston.

No part of the publication in print or online may be reproduced without the written consent of the Director of the Student Publications Department. To contact Student Publications, call (713) 743-5350.

CONTACT Editorial 713-743-5360 Advertising 713-743-5340 Student Publications Room 7, UC Satellite University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-4015

FOOTBALL SCHEDULE TEXAS STATE

L, 30-13 LOUSIANA TECH

L, 56-49 @ UCLA

L, 37-6 RICE (RELIANT STADIUM)

W, 35-14 NORTH TEXAS

W, 44-21 UAB

W, 39-17 @SMU

L, 72-42 UTEP

Oct. 27 @EAST CAROLINA

Nov. 3 TULSA (HOMECOMING)

Nov. 10 @MARSHALL

Nov. 17 Your perfect

all nighter companion.

®

TULANE

Nov. 24

Saturday, October 27, 2012 // 3

The Daily Cougar

Turnovers cost Cougars in losing season

The Cougars have thrown 13 interceptions through seven games this season. | Rebekah Stearns/The Daily Cougar

Christopher Shelton Assistant sports editor

Nine turnovers and a 30-point loss to SMU baffled head coach Tony Levine.

“I’ve never been a part of that or seen that before, where they score four offensive touchdowns from the end of the second quarter to less than three minutes into the third quarter and the game goes from being 14-14 to 45-14. The game got away from us in a short amount of time,” Levine said.

The Cougars said they hope to

respond better to adversity this week.

Quarterbacks coach and play caller Travis Bush said the team will continue to stay positive on the sideline.

He said UH will try not to compound mistakes by committing others.

Bush said there are positives to take away from the loss to SMU. He said the Cougars made some good plays that showed up on the game tape.

“You show them, especially from this film. I think eight turnovers in the game, we are still down by 17 and they went through the third. After all of that, we are still in a position to have a chance to win the game,”

Bush said.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback David Piland was taken out of the game with a head injury but will play this week against UTEP. He was cleared to play on Tuesday after passing all the necessary concussion tests. Piland said the turnover margin is key to victory.

“It’s just one of those focus issues.

Dropping a punt or the special teams deals — we are going to have that cleaned up,” Piland said. “We have to do a better job of, one, taking care of the ball, and two, overcoming adversity. We will do a better job of that this week.”

The Daily Cougar

4 \\ Saturday, October 27, 2012

Levine guides youthful squad Andrew Pate Sports editor

Following the departure of former head coach Kevin Sumlin, Tony Levine took the helm with the Cougars on Dec. 22. After defeating No. 22 Penn State in the Ticket City Bowl, Levine confronted the challenges of being the man in charge. The Daily Cougar caught up with Levine to get his thoughts on the season seven games in.

The Daily Cougar: How would you evaluate your first seven games as head coach this season?

Tony Levine: One thing about being a head football coach, or a head coach of any sport, is building a successful program and maintaining its consistency, which is a process that takes time. It’s something that does not happen overnight, and we’re working extremely hard every day. In establishing that consistency, while you’re focusing on the present, you’re also spending a great deal of time on the future — the recruiting aspect of it. A lot of people are not pleased with our current record of 3-4, and I would be at the top of that list, but I like where the direction of our program is headed in the immediate future and in the long-term.

TDC: At what point did you know you wanted to be a head coach?

TL: I’ve always wanted to coach. I determined I wanted to be a head coach when I got into coaching. In my first year coaching, I was a high school assistant, and our head ninth grade coach as a 22-year old — really that gave me my first taste of coaching. That’s when I knew I wanted to be a head coach.

TDC: Talk about your coaching staff and what it was like putting together a staff for the first time.

TL: It was one of the toughest things to do as a head coach. You’ve got to hire nine full-time assistants, half a dozen graduate assistants and quality control coaches, a strengths coach and a strengths staff, a support staff, director of player personnel, director of football operations and a director of recruiting. What made it difficult, in no particular order, what that I was not looking to hire my friends. I wanted people who were the best for our program, people who wanted to be here, men who had great character and I thought were great teachers.

If they were married, they were great husbands. If they had kids, they were great fathers and they would care a lot about our program. I think the guys we’ve got in our program all fit those parameters.

TDC: Mentally, as a head coach, what helps you keep a positive attitude through the long days and tough times?

TL: What I look to — and I told this to one of my assistants today — is number one, being around our players and their energy, enthusiasm and outlook is something very positive on a day-to-day basis. Then, knowing what the future is going to look like.

When I say future, I mean immediate future, as in a month from now, and distant future as in a year, two years or three years from now. People that follow our program, while they want instant gratification, you know we are going to be successful — it’s going to be in the near future and consistently in the not so distant future.

First-year head coach Tony Levine has compiled a 4-4 record dating back to his hiring on Dec. 22. In his first game as head coach, the Cougars defeated No. 22 Penn State, 30-14 in the Ticket City Bowl. | Rebekah Stearns/The Daily Cougar

Head coach Tony Levine speaks to his team following the conclusion of Wednesday’s practice. The Cougars’ primary focus against UTEP will be eliminating turnovers. | Nine Nguyen/The Daily Cougar

Saturday, October 27, 2012 // 5

The Daily Cougar

Hayden provides senior leadership Assistant sports editor

Before he was fist-pumping in the end zone for scoring a 75-yard interception return last week, senior corner D.J. Hayden was thinking of ways to make a big play. “They were running hitches all game. I told Zach (McMillian) if they do another hitch, I’m going to jump it,� Hayden said. “I looked at the quarterback the whole time. He was about to throw the hitch. I caught it and took it to the house.�

Though the Cougars lost the game 72-42, Hayden’s interception gave them a chance, cutting a 24-point SMU lead to 17. Hayden said he knew the team needed energy.

Hayden’s size allows him to make plays, said defensive backs assistant coach Zac Spavital. “He’s a big physical guy, so when teams want to isolate receivers we can put him on that receiver and we can match him up one to one.

He has the ability to cover guys up and he’s big and strong, so he can go up against the small guys and he can go up against the big guys,�

Spavital said.

Since transferring from Navarro

Junior College last year, Hayden caused 10 turnovers.

Hayden is on pace to intercept more passes this season. Throughout the past seven games, Hayden had two interceptions. Last season, he had two interceptions and forced five fumbles, including one in each team’s final five games.

Schematically, Hayden and junior corner Zachary McMillian’s ability to play man-to-man allows the defense to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks and stop the running game by putting an extra safety in the box, Spavital said.

Against Louisiana Tech, Hayden locked up against Quinton Patton — who has nine touchdowns this season and was named to the 2011 Biletnikoff Award Watch List — to four catches for 36 yards. North Texas receiver Brelan Chancellor averaged 20 yards per reception.

Hayden held him to four catches for 44 yards. “It allows us to put another guy in a box of safety and be able to help us stop the run a little bit just knowing that we have guys on the outside that can man-up receivers without any help from the top,�

Spavital said.

Hayden said he hopes his impact

ADVERTISING PHOTOGRAPHY PUBLISHING COMMUNICATIONS

START HERE.

Fill out an application at thedailycougar.com/apply or visit the Student Publications OfďŹ ce in Room 7, UC Satellite.

Questions? E-mail editor@thedailycougar.com

id ht

eas from

DON’T STRESS FOR MID TERM TESTS, ENROLL IN TUTORING NOW! FREE TUTORING

Learning Support Services Room N109 Cougar Village (Building # 563) Schedule available at www.las.uh.edu Mon–Thurs 9AM - 9PM Friday 9AM - 6PM Saturday 1PM - 5PM Sunday 1PM - 7PM

WORKSHOPS FALL 2012

Location: / $PVHBS 7JMMBHF CVJMEJOH

Length: NJOVUFT 1MFBTF CF PO UJNF /P BENJUUBODF BĹŚFS NJOVUFT QBTU UIF IPVS Register: “8PSLTIPQ 4JHOVQu BU www.las.uh.edu/lss 0O MJOF SFHJTUSBUJPO JT OFDFTTBSZ UP PCUBJO B TQPU Problems registering? Call Dr. Laura Heidel at 713-743-5439 or Lorraine Schroeder at 713-743-5463

CATCH UP

-FBSOJOH 4VQQPSU 4FSWJDFT r 1FFS UVUPSJOH r -FBSOJOH 4USBUFHJFT DPVOTFMJOH r 4UVEFOU 4VDDFTT 8PSLTIPQT

WEEK

TOPIC

TIME #1

TIME #2

9

Procrastination

Wed. 10/24 @ 11AM

9

Studying for natural science courses

Mon. 10/29 @ 3PM

Fri. 11/2 @ 1PM

10

Studying for Math/Statistics/Accounting

Tues. 10/30 @ 1PM

Fri. 11/2 @ 3PM

10

Time management–School/Life balance

Mon. 11/5 @ 11AM

Tues. 11/6 @ 3PM

11

Analytical Reasoning

Wed. 11/14 @ 11AM

Thurs. 11/15 @ 1PM

12

Boosting memory

Tues. 11/20 @ 2PM

Tues. 11/20 @ 4PM

13

Reducing test anxiety

Tues. 11/27 @ 5PM

Fri. 11/30 @ 4PM

14

Overcoming procrastination

Mon. 12/3 @ 3PM

Thurs. 12/6 @ 4PM

15

Coping with finals

Tues. 12/4 @ 3PM

Wed. 12/5 @ 1PM

www.las.uh.edu

STAY ON TARGET Retention Programs r $IBMMFOHFS 1SPHSBN

Wed. 10/31 @ 4PM

WE’RE HIRING FOR: STAFF WRITERS OPINION COLUMNISTS COPY EDITORS CARTOONISTS PHOTOGRAPHERS ADVERTISING

too just like they will,� Hayden said. “I try to help them as much as I can on and off the field. I just try to be a big brother.�

S

MARKETING

like McMillian and freshman safety Trevon Stewart. “They look at me almost like their role model. I make mistakes

LA

GRAPHIC DESIGN

at UH extends longer than his twoyear tenure. Though he said he’s not perfect, he tries to influence younger players in the secondary

Learning Assessment Services

CAREERS IN: JOURNALISM

D. J. Hayden makes a hit against UAB as Phillip Steward looks on. | Rebekah Stearns/The Daily Cougar

Bri g

Christopher Shelton

GET AHEAD University Testing Services r "DDVQMBDFS r $SFEJU CZ FYBN r "EWBODFE 1MBDFNFOU r *OUFSOBUJPOBM #BDDBMBVSFBUF r (3& r 1MBDFNFOU UFTUT

GET INVOLVED Parent Education Project

ONLINE FACULTY/ COURSE EVALUATION http://accessuh.uh.edu 6TF ZPVS NZ6) 1FPQMF4PĹŚ *% PS $PVHBS/FU *% UP MPHJO

The Daily Cougar

6 \\ Saturday, October 27, 2012

THEBIGBOARD AP TOP 25 RK

// College football at a glance

C-USA MATCHUPS

TEAM

RECORD

PTS

1 Alabama (59)

7-0

1499

2 Oregon

7-0

1424

Southern Miss at Rice

3 Florida (1)

7-0

1380

Memphis at SMU

C-USA

SATURDAY

NETWORK

TIME

EAST

W

L

W

L

CBSSN

12 p.m. CT

UCF

3

0

5

2

TW TEXAS

2 p.m. CT

East Carolina

4

1

5

3

Marshall

1

2

3

4

4 Kansas State

7-0

1333

Navy @ East Carolina

FCS

2:30 p.m. CT

5 Notre Dame

7-0

1241

Southern Miss at Rice

CBSSN

7:00 p.m. CT

6 LSU

7-1

1172

7 Oregon State

6-0

1106

8 Oklahoma

5-1

9 Ohio State

8-0

10 USC

6-1

944

11 Florida State

7-1

872

Houston

2

1

3

4

Tulane

1

2

1

6

UTEP

1

3

2

6

Rice

0

4

2

6

Memphis

1

2

1

6

UAB

0

3

1

6

Southern Miss

0

3

0

7

1065

WEST

W

L

W

L

1028

Tulsa

5

0

7

1

SMU

2

1

3

4

12 Georgia

6-1

745

13 Mississippi State

7-0

739

14 Clemson

6-1

713

15 Texas Tech

6-1

653

16 Louisville

7-0

620

17 South Carolina

6-2

591

18 Rutgers

7-0

539

19 Stanford

5-2

300

20 Michigan

5-2

421

21 Boise State 22 Texas A&M 23 Ohio

6-1 5-2 7-0

258 252 181

24 Louisiana Tech

6-1

106

25 West Virginia

5-2

76

Others receiving votes: Toledo 49, Texas 33, Wisconsin 31, TCU 29, Nebraska 24, Penn State 18, North Carolina State 13, Oklahoma State 12, Arizona 7, UCLA 7, Tulsa 6, Arizona State 5, Northern Illinois 5, Cincinnati 3

SAY WHAT?

A lot of people are not pleased with our current record of 3-4, and I would be at the top of that list, but I like where the direction of our program is headed in the immediate future and in the long-term.”

— Tony Levine, UH head coach on the direction of the program

TV GUIDE SATURDAY, OCT. 27

NETWORK

TIME (CT)

Tennessee at South Carolina

ESPN

11 a.m.

Iowa at Northwestern

ESPN2

11 a.m.

Kentucky at Missouri

ESPNU

11 a.m.

Temple at Pittsburgh

ESPN3

11 a.m.

Ball State at Army

CBSS

11 a.m.

Indiana at Illinois Northern Illinois at Western Michigan Ole Miss at Arkansas

BTN ESPN3 SEC/ESPN3

11 a.m.

11 a.m.

11:21 a.m.

NC State at North Carolina

ESPN3

11:30 a.m.

Maryland at Boston College

ESPN3

1 a.m..

Utah State at UTSA

ESPN3

2 p.m.

Colorado at Oregon

Pac-12

2 p.m.

UCLA at Arizona State

FX

2 p.m.

BYU at Georgia Tech

ESPN3

2 p.m.

Florida vs. Georgia

CBS

2:30 p.m.

Texas Tech at Kansas State

FOX

2:30 p.m.

USC at Arizona

CBS

2:30 p.m.

Tennessee at Georgia

ESPN2/ABC

2:30 p.m.

Duke at Florida State

ESPNU

2:30 p.m.

Kent State at Rutgers

ESPN3

2:30 p.m.

Boise State at Wyoming

CBSS

2:30 p.m.

Ohio at Miami (Ohio)

ESPN3

2:30 p.m.

Michigan State at Wisconsin

ABC/ESPN2

2:30 p.m.

Purdue at Minnesota

BTN

2:30 p.m.

Eastern Michigan at Bowling Green

ESPN3

2:30 p.m.

North Texas at Middle Tennessee

ESPN3

2:30 p.m.

Ohio State at Penn State

ESPN

3:30 p.m.

Washington State at Stanford

Pac-12

5:15 p.m.

Texas A&M at Auburn

ESPNU

6 p.m.

Syracuse at South Florida

ESPN3

6 p.m.

Massachusetts at Vanderbilt

ESPN3

6 p.m.

Louisiana Tech at New Mexico State

ESPN3

7 p.m

Notre Dame at Oklahoma

NBC

7 p.m.

Michigan at Nebraska

ESPN2

7 p.m.

Mississippi State at Alabama

ESPN

7:30 p.m.

Oregon State at Washington

Pac-12

9:15 p.m

11 players. 100 yards.

140 characters at a time.

Follow @thedailycougar for live game updates

COUGAR FLASHBACK

1990 Houstonian

#16 HOUSTON 95, #20 SMU 21

Cougars rout SMU On Oct. 21 1989, Andre Ware led an offensive attack that nearly put up 100, defeating SMU by 74 points.

Ware set five NCAA records in one half of play finishing with 517 yards passing. In one quarter, Ware finished with 340 yards and five touchdowns. In total, the quarterback set 26 NCAA records in 1989.

The Cougars also set a Las Vegas record too.

The pregame 59 1/2 point spread was the largest seen of its time.

— Chris Shelton

Saturday, October 27, 2012 // 7

The Daily Cougar

20 Valencia (SS) 2

23 Stewart (FS) 10 McMillian (CB)

Hayden (CB)

42

90

Steward (LB)

Riser (DE)

92

54

Daniels (LB)

Mbu (DT)

95

49 Mathews (LB)

Scypion (DT)

44 Pulliam (DE)

DEFE ENSE OFFE ENSE 74

19

64

Harper (LT)

Cloud (LG)

58

Redman (C)

8

Piland (QB)

76

Ashworth (RG)

69

Oragwu (RT)

81 McDuffey (WR)

3 Greenberry (WR)

88 Maxwell (WR)

Ros (WR)

5

TEAMLEADERS

Sims (RB)

UNDERTHEHELMET

2012 stats, UH vs. UTEP starters

// Getting to know the Cougars

Hobby

Goal

Favorite Movie

Time with family

Stay tight with team

Forrest Gump

PASSING

Player

Cmp Att. Yards Cmp% TD

Int

Rat

David Piland

202

334

2,264

60.5

10

9

121

Nick Lamaison

110

212

1,361

51.9

10

5

116.6

Kris Johnston

RUSHING

Player

Att.

Avg.

Yards

TD

Long

Charles Sims

122

5.71

697

6

53

Nathan Jeffery

94

4.4

433

0

71

FIND A BETTER JOB.

RECEIVING

Player

Rec.

Avg.

Yards

TD

Long

Daniel Spencer

36

14.19

511

3

74

Jordan Leslie

40

15.4

618

4

61

read the classifieds.

THE DAILY COUGAR IN PRINT OR ON THE WEB

®

The Daily Cougar

8 \\ Saturday, October 27, 2012

THEOPPOSITION UTEP seeks to salvage season against Cougars Edwin Delgado UTEP Prospector

After a much needed homecoming win, the Miners will attempt to get their first road win of the season against the Houston Cougars Oct. 27, at the Robertson Stadium. “It is the most important game that we are playing, there is no question about it,� UTEP head coach Mike Price said. “Everyone is going to play as hard as they can and as long as they can. I’ll guarantee it.�

The Cougars lead the series between the two schools 5-4 all-time, and 5-2 since UTEP joined Conference USA in 2005.

The Miners won a crucial game at

home Oct. 20 against Tulane to keep their bowl aspirations alive and they are seeking to get back-to-back victories for the first time in 2012.

For a second straight week, senior quarterback Nick Lamaison only played one half as he re-aggravated a hamstring injury. During his one half of play he completed 11 of 16 attempts for 157 yards and two touchdowns, both to senior wide receiver Mike Edwards.

The Cougars are coming off a nine-turnover performance against SMU, which they lost 72-42.

The toughest challenge the Miners will face is the Cougar offense, which is the third best offense in the country in passing yards averaging

364 per game. “They pass an awful lot, they are going to run the offense a lot, they ran 97 plays in the game and got beat by 30 points,� Price said. “We would have to score more than 24 points to beat Houston I would think, but I don’t know how I’m going to do that.�

Houston sophomore starting quarterback David Piland is now in charge of the offense and so far he has completed 60 percent of his attempts for a total of 2,264 yards and 10 touchdowns, but he had to leave the game with an injury and is uncertain if he will be able to play against the Miners.

The backup quarterback for the Cougars, senior Crawford Jones has

a 50 percent completion average and has thrown for 252 yards so far.

For Price, regardless of who is the signal caller, he wants play similar to how SMU played Houston defensively. “SMU came after them and blitzed a lot and knocked their quarterback out of the game, and put heated pressure in the next two backups,� Price said. “It doesn’t make a difference (if Piland plays) we have to put pressure on him, mix up the coverage on him and all quarterbacks, some people think the senior backup (Jones) is better.�

UTEP will have to keep up with Houston’s no-huddle offense, which Price said runs a play nearly every 14

Examine the Evidence M aking the decision to attend law school is huge. Deciding which one to go to can be intimidating. Our program offers:

t BO FYDFQUJPOBM GBDVMUZ t UIF CFTU BEWPDBDZ QSPHSBN JO UIF OBUJPO t BO BXBSE XJOOJOH MFHBM SFTFBSDI BOE XSJUJOH QSPHSBN t B CSPBE BOE ĘFYJCMF DVSSJDVMVN UIBU JODMVEFT FYUFOTJWF DMJOJDBM TLJMMT QSPHSBNT t DPOTJTUFOUMZ BGGPSEBCMF UVJUJPO SBUFT t B IFMQGVM BOE LOPXMFEHFBCMF TUBGG t B EPXOUPXO MPDBUJPO JO QSPYJNJUZ UP NBKPS MBX ĕSNT BOE DPSQPSBUJPOT GPS FOIBODFE KPC PQQPSUVOJUJFT

We rest our case.

seconds. “They are a big play offense we have to take angles,� Price said. “I think it’s going to be very difficult to play man defense with them because if they break it, it’s going to go for a long way.�

The Cougars are averaging 174 rushing yards per game. Running backs junior Charles Sims and freshman Kenneth Farrow have combined for 921 yards and 10 touchdowns. “We need to win this game, we need to win in Houston,� Price said. “We need to save our season and this game is going to save it, every play in our playbook will be available. You are going to see everything we do. We are going to give it our very best effort.�

We misspell on purpose.

Just to keep you alert.

Your welcome.

Let us know when we mess up. e-mail editor@thedailycougar.com

Feed back

%FBEMJOF GPS GBMM BENJTTJPO JT 'FCSVBSZ

Help us see things from your perspective!

Online editor@thedailycougar.com Twitter @thedailycougar Facebook.com/thedailycougar

On the phone Call 713.743.5362 to speak to the Editor in Chief

SOUTH TEXAS

In person Stop by our office Room 12, UC Satellite

COLLEGE OF LAW/ HOUSTON

713-646-1810

Houston’s Oldest Law School

www.stcl.edu

THE DAILY COUGAR

ÂŽ