TCU Alum Dan Jenkin's gives his take on the All-TCU team.

Anyhow, from the TCU Drug, where the soda fountain and tables and booths were known to hold hostages for six and seven hours at a time, it's only a short walk to the stadium on Saturdays.

That's where I can marvel at Sam Baugh '37 and Davey O'Brien '38 throwing touchdown passes -- and winning national championships for the Purple -- and where I can gaze at Jim Swink '55 continually exploding into daylight, and then watch Bob Lilly '61 turn rival ball-carriers into meat sauce.

SWC Game of the Week: TCU at OU

TCU visits Oklahoma for this week’s SWC Game of the Week. They last met in 2005, which TCU won 17-10, the only home loss for the Sooners in their last 34 home games. That’s 6 seasons. Both teams are ranked this week, with the Sooners hanging onto the #2 ranking and TCU breaking into the top 25 at #24. Neither team has been pushed so far this year, so this could be a classic. The game will be broadcasted on FSN at 6 PM.

THIS WEEK’S GAME:
TCU is 4-0 to start this season, the first time they’ve started 4-0 since 2003. TCU also has a two game win streak in Norman, winning in 1996 and 2005. This will be the highest ranked opponent TCU has faced since falling to #1 Miami in 1992. Gary Patterson is 4-4 vs. ranked teams in his tenure at TCU. Oklahoma leads the all time series 6-4. Senior running back Aaron Brown returned to action against SMU and had 157 all purpose yards (60 receiving, 51 yards rushing, and 46 on kickoff returns.) He will help balance the backfield with QB Andy Dalton who is averaging 5 yards a carry in 6 of the last 8 games. TCU is rushing for 248.8 yards a game, which is 12th nationally, despite not having a single rusher in the top 100 rushing in the nation. Nine out of ten TCU rushers this year are averaging 4 yards a carry. TCU is taking care of the ball as well, with only 1 turnover this season in the first four games. TCU leads the nation in rushing defense (32.5 yards a game) and total defense (183.0 yards a game.) Seven Frogs have combined for 14 sacks this season and TCU is only giving up 9.8 first downs a game. Linebacker Jason Phillips, an All-American candidate, is back in action after having his consecutive game streak end at 39 games. Linebacker Robert Hensen leads the team with 23 tackles. TCU had its 5 game winning streak against the Big 12 snapped last year losing to Texas but they are primed to start a new streak this week.

OU has started the season 3-0 and has scored more than 50 points in each game. QB Sam Bradford is completing nearly 80% of his passes to start 2008, after a redshirt freshman year in 2007 that saw him lead the nation in pass efficiency. In his 16 game career he has thrown 48 touchdown passes and only 10 interceptions. Wide out Juaquin Iglesias has recorded a reception in 35 consecutive games, the nation’s fifth longest streak. Running back Chris Brown became the 66th Sooner to rush for 1,000 yards in his career during the OU opener this year. The offensive line is a big part of OU’s success on offensive, and big they are, averaging 6’-1” tall and 302 lbs. On defensive the Sooners force turnovers, 108 games with one in Coach Bob Stoops 122 games. This may be a key in the game, as mentioned above, TCU has only 1 turnover this season. DE Auston English is 10th in the nation with 1.25 sacks a game, leading a defense that averages 2.4 sacks a game. OU is tough after bye weeks, with a 10-1 record after bye weeks.

SWC MEMORIES PLAYER PROFILE:
Slingin’ Sammy Baugh, the TCU do everything quarterback led the Frogs to a national championship in 1935 with a Sugar Bowl victory over LSU. Baugh was perhaps the first quarterback to be a prolific passer, throwing the ball 587 times in his three varsity seasons for 39 touchdowns and over 2 miles in yardage. He threw as many as 40 passes a game in an era where 10 passes was considered extravagant. The Temple, TX native (raised in Sweetwater) was named to the All-American team in 1935 and 1936 season, his junior and senior seasons. His senior year he led the Frogs to the inaugural Cotton Bowl victory over Marquette 16-6 and a number 5 national ranking. He was also an outstanding punter. In the Sugar Bowl victory over LSU 3-2, Baugh punted 14 times for a 48 yard average, pinning the Tigers inside their 5 yard line several times. As a pro he led the league in punting 4 times. He played professionally with the Washington Redskins and led the league in passing 6 times and still holds several passing records. Washington won 5 division championships and two league championships while Baugh was a player. Baugh is one of three quarterbacks who have led their college and professional teams to national championships. In 1943 he led the NFL in interceptions, showing his talents on the defensive side of the ball as well. Slingin’ Sammy Baugh was truly one of the pioneers of football and help usher in the glory days of the Southwest Conference.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:
Houston at East Carolina (ECU coming off disappointing loss taking them out of BCS contention, but are still shooting for C-USA dominance)
North Texas at Rice (Rice needs this one to stay on track for a bowl game)
SMU at Tulane – Thursday (SMU run and shoot has not produced points the last two weeks, look to get back on track on Thursday in the Big Easy)
Army at Texas A&M (“Army,” “What!” This may be the last win for the Aggies this year. Of course we could say something about the real Army …)
Arkansas at Texas (Make-up will be final tune up for the Horns before conference play starts)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:
SWC Game of the Week:
TCU 48 SMU 7 (TCU hits the Ponies over the head with the Iron Skillet, then take it back to Fort Worth with them.)

Other Games:
Alabama 49 Arkansas 14 (Hogs struggling under new coach Petrino, have make up with the Horns up next)
Connecticut 38 Baylor 21 (Freshman Griffen looks good for the Bears, UConn no slouch at home either)
Colorado State 28 Houston 25 (Another second half comeback falls short, the Coogs have lost 3 in a row now)
Texas 52 Rice 10 (Texas beats Rice, Man lands on moon)
Miami 41 Texas A&M 23 (The Hurricanes route the Aggies at home, Ags look to be in serious trouble this year)
Texas Tech 56 Mass. 14 (Tech wraps up easy non-conference schedule)

STANDINGS:
Conference: Overall:
W L W L
TCU 1 0 4 0
Texas Tech 0 0 4 0
Texas 1 0 3 0
Arkansas: 0 0 2 1
Rice 1 1 2 2
Baylor 0 0 2 2
Texas A&M 0 0 1 2
Houston 0 0 1 3
SMU 0 2 1 3


ON THE BLOG:
Read TCU Alum’s Dan Jenkin’s All-TCU Football team.

FINAL WORD:
Non-conference play is winding down and we will soon be in conference play, meaning we should hopefully have some more evenly matched games. SWC Game of the Week wishes everyone a good football weekend, and hope you can catch the TCU vs. OU game on the tube.

Peruna

From the SMU Band's website, the story of Peruna:

On November 4, 1932, Peruna I made his first appearance at an SMU football game against Texas A&M University. The feisty black Shetland pony, named after a potent "medicine" of the prohibition era, was an immediate success as the ultimate embodiment of the Mustang spirit on the campus. When he was struck and killed by a car on Mockingbird Lane during a 1934 Halloween celebration, the entire University community went into mourning.

Since that time, SMU has been represented by eight Perunas, all of them, except the first being donated and cared for by the generous Culwell family. In 1992, Cully Culwell sold Peruna VII to an anonymous SMU alumnus for continued care in perpetuity.

During the early days of the Mustang Band, Peruna accompanied the organization everywhere, appearing on theater playbills as "the midget wonder horse!"

SWC Game of the Week: TCU at SMU

For the first time in our short history, we had a SWC Game of the Week “Hurricaned” out. Texas will face Arkansas next week in Austin, but this week we will turn our focus to the battle of the Metroplex, TCU at SMU. They will battle of the Iron Skillet Saturday at 7PM and if you have CBS Sports Channel you can watch it on TV.

THIS WEEK’S GAME:
This week we visit an old rivalry, SMU vs. TCU. In the 88 meetings between the two, TCU has won 41 compared to SMU’s victory total of 39. They have tied 7 times. SMU won the last meeting in Dallas 21-10 in 2005. SMU won 15 in a row from 1972 to 1986. TCU beat the Ponies last year 21-7. SMU is one of the youngest teams in the nation, playing 12 true freshmen in their opening loss to Rice. One of those freshmen is quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. He has looked good in stretches and bad in others, seems to be a typical freshman quarterback, but has led SMU to 15th in the nation in passing offense at 308 yards a game. He will look to get the ball in the hands of Emmanuel Sanders. Sanders is on a streak of 4 consecutive games with at least 100 yards receiving and at 128.0 yards per game he is 8th in the nation in receiving yards per game. He has caught a ball in 26 of his 27 college games. Thomas Morstead, the SMU punter, leads CUSA and is third in the nation with 48 yards per game. On defense, linebacker Pete Fleps leads SMU with 24 tackles this week as well as 3 pass breakups and 2 forced fumbles. On the academic front, 97% of the scholarship athletes that entered SMU between 1991 and 2001 have earned their degrees.

Gary Patterson has been quite successful at TCU after taking over for … Fran (remember him?) The Horned Frogs look to be BCS busters again this year and are off to a 3-0 start, the third 3-0 start in the last six years. The previous two yielded 11 win seasons. TCU has outscored it’s opponents 124-24 and has not trailed yet this year. QB Andy Dalton has led the Frogs in rushing in 4 of the last 7 contests and has 4 rushing touchdowns this year to tie Joseph Turner for the team lead. TCU has a balanced attack, rushing for 241.3 yards and passing for 156.7 yards. TCU has won 18 straight games when rushing for more yards than passing. TCU’s 241 yards rushing per game ranks 13th nationally. On defense the Frogs are second in the nation, only yielding 174 yards a game. Defensive ends Matt Panfil and Jerry Hughes have both received MWC defensive player of the week honors. Panfil has 7 tackles for a loss this year including 3.5 sacks while Hughes has 5.5 tackles for a loss and 3 sacks. The pair also have all 4 of TCU’s tackles for a loss.

During the post-World War II college football boom, the SMU and TCU student bodies created a traveling trophy called the Iron Skillet that was presented to the winner of the annual football game between the archrivals. The tradition eventually died, and the skillet was lost. In 1993, however, the tradition was revived as the president of the SMU student body painted the face of the TCU student body president red and blue following the Mustangs’ 21-15 victory in Fort Worth. The engraved skillet is presented to the winning team after each game.

SWC MEMORIES PLAYER PROFILE:
This week we will focus on one of the greatest football players to ever play the game, Doak Walker. Doak was an All American 1947, 1948, and 1949 at SMU. He carried the ball on offense, punted, returned kicks, and kicked extra points. He did it all. He played his freshman year in 1945, missed the 1946 season due to military service, and then won the Heisman Trophy in 1948, the first junior to do so. He was the first college football player to be on the cover of Life Magazine. He graduated from Highland Park High School in 1944 and chose SMU over following his buddy and classmate Bobby Layne to Texas. "Having Doak on our team was like having loaded dice or marked cards. We just felt like we had to do our part and Doak would do the rest. The most amazing thing is that he did it all so effortlessly. He made it look so simple." - Francis Pulattie. Doak and the success of the SMU teams of the post war years drew enormous crowds, so big that SMU moved their home games from campus to the Cotton Bowl. Then the Cotton Bowl couldn’t contain the crowds so they built a second deck, making capacity of 75,000. The Cotton Bowl honored Doak with a plaque that says, “The House that Doak Built.” In 1950 Doak began his NFL career with the Detroit Lions by leading the league in scoring with 128 points. He was a four time All-Pro with the Lions, where he was reunited with Bobby Layne, his high school classmate, and led them to NFL Championships in 1952 and 1953. He retired after only 6 years in the league, still in his prime. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986. The award for the best running back in college football each year is named for him, The Doak Walker Award.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:
Alabama at Arkansas (‘Bama tough opponent for Arkansas, Hogs with extra week off)
Baylor at Connecticut (Baylor 1-0 on Friday’s this year, takes on UConn on this Friday)
Houston at Colorado State (Houston takes on Mountain West)
Rice at Texas (Rice makes annual contribution to the Texas football program)
Miami at Texas A&M (Aggies out for revenge from Miami disaster in 2007)
Mass. at Texas Tech (Texas Tech continues tough non conference slate)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:
SWC Game of the Week:
Texas vs. Arkansas Postponed Due to Hurricane Ike

Other Games:
Baylor 45 Washington State 17 (Baylor blows out Washington State, wins second in a row, game played Friday to avoid Ike)
Air Force 31 Houston 28 (Houston’s comeback comes up short in a game played at SMU’s Ford Field, now the City of Houston begins their comeback)
Vanderbilt 38 Rice 21 (Rice shut out in the 2nd half)
Texas Tech 43 SMU 7 (Tech gets the water off the field, then runs over the Ponies)
TCU 31 Stanford 14 (TCU takes down Stanford with 17 second half points)

STANDINGS:
Conference: Overall:
W L W L
TCU 0 0 3 0
Texas Tech 0 0 3 0
Arkansas: 0 0 2 0
Texas 0 0 2 0
Rice 1 0 2 1
Baylor 0 0 2 1
Texas A&M 0 0 1 1
Houston 0 0 1 2
SMU 0 1 1 2


ON THE BLOG:
Read about SMU’s mascot, Peruna.

FINAL WORD:
We here at SWC Game of the Week wish all those in the path of Ike well, and we wish Houston and Galveston a speedy recovery. The Gulf Coast has produced many great SWC players, too many to list, and we look forward to the next group to be discovered.

Calling the Hogs

From the Arkansas Website, a lesson in calling the hogs. You can even listen in.

A chant of “Woo Pig Sooie” is known worldwide as a Hog Call. Just like any good tradition, there are lots of versions of the Hog Call (even spellings).

A properly executed Hog Call is composed of three “calls,” slowly raising one’s arms from the knees to above the head during the “Woo.” Traditionalists prescribe an eight second “Woo.” The fingers should be wiggled and the “Woo” should build in volume and pitch as the arms rise.

Upon completion of the “Woo,” both arms are brought straight down with fists clinched as if executing a chin-up while yelling, “Pig”. The right arm is extended up and out with the “Sooie.”

A full Hog Call -- the kind one will always hear victorious Razorback teams execute after contests -- requires two more Hog Calls, followed immediately by a “Razor-Backs” yell, coordinated with a pumping motion of the right arm after the third “Sooie.” So, in order, the full Hog Call is:
Woooooooo. Pig. Sooie!
Woooooooo. Pig. Sooie!
Woooooooo. Pig. Sooie!
Razorbacks!

SWC Game of the Week: Arkansas at Texas

The Game of the Century, we’ve all heard about it, Nixon said it was the biggest game since he beat Chairman Mao at Ping Pong. Royal vs. Broyles, Hogs vs. Horns, we’ve been through this before, right? One of the great rivalries of the old SWC will renew itself this year, with the Arkansas Razorbacks traveling down to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns. The rivalry heated up some in the early 2000’s when the Longhorns and Hogs played a home and home series and faced each other in the Cotton Bowl, Longhorn fans might remember Houston Nutt flashing the upside down horns. These are the match-ups that get us here at SWC Game of the Week excited.

THIS WEEK’S GAME:
This week’s revisits an old SWC rivalry. Texas leads the all time series 55-21, including 27-11 in games played at Memorial Stadium in Austin, however Arkansas has won 3 of the last 4 games in Austin, including an upset of then #5 Texas in 2003, on Sept. 13th, the day of this years game. Arkansas has played Texas more than any other opponent. New coach Bobby Petrino has the Hogs off to a 2-0 start, however they have been shaky in those two games. The offense is trying to replace running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones (now with the Dallas Cowboys to keep your Texas connections alive.) These two have helped Arkansas lead the SEC in rushing in 4 of the last 5 years. However, Razorback QB Casey Dick has posted two 300+ passing yard games in 2008, becoming the first Arkansas player to do so. Tight end DJ Williams has been a favorite target this year, hooking up with Dick for a 76 yard touchdown pass against La Monroe last week. He recorded 124 yards and 2 touchdowns that game. Tailback Michael Smith, now seeing some playing time after McFadden and Jones have left, rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns last week, to try to keep the Razorback tradition of rushing greats alive. Up front the Hogs have senior center Jonathon Luigs, the Rimington Trophy winner from last year, given to the nation’s best center. On defense redshirt freshman linebacker Jerry Franklin leads the team with 19 tackles in the first two games. Arkansas has struggled some on defensive, giving three players (DE Jake Bequette, CB Tramain Thomas, and safety Dallas Washington) their first start of their careers against La Monroe. Arkansas has played 15 true freshmen this year, and they will need to grow up in a hurry to be successful this week.

Texas returns junior QB Colt McCoy, who has looked sharp early on in 2008. He is on all kinds of award watch lists, including the Davey O’Brien Award for the nation’s best quarterback. McCoy has two seniors to throw to, Quan Cosby and Jordan Shipley. Cosby posted a career high 154 yards and a touchdown against UTEP last week. Texas must replace 6 key starters on offensive, with the biggest perceived weakness being the running backs. Senior Chris Ogbonnaya, Sophomore Vondrell McGee and Redshirt Freshman Fozzy Whitaker are the three candidates to replace Jamaal Charles. Fozzy had a bit of a break out game against UTEP rushing 12 times for 72 yards. The guys on the line are led by one lone senior, Cedric Dockery (Outland Trophy watchlist) but are routinely bigger than everyone else. Under offensive coordinator Greg Davis (who Longhorn fans are not always pleased with) the Longhorns have averaged 33.8 points a season. On defense the Longhorns are led by insane defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, coming over from Auburn. After two awful seasons in pass defense he was brought over to add energy to the defense. He’s done that, ripping his headset off, cutting his head, and coaching his players up on the sidelines while blood was dripping down his face. Against UTEP he was seen running out on the field after a stop like a mad man, running and jumping on his players. SWC Game of the Week doesn’t like to editorialize, (yeah right) but this behavior is a bit ridiculous. Since we feel a coach behaving like this detracts from his players (the ones making the plays) we will oblige by not mentioning any of the Longhorn defenders. I mean, we’re distracted. Unfortunately, after two games Texas ranks 93rd in passing defense.

Arkansas has 23 players from Texas and will be ready to try to knock off a Texas team they will feel does not respect them. Texas will have the advantage of superior talent and a sold out crowd of 92,000+ in a newly renovated DKR Texas Memorial Stadium. This game will air on regional ABC at 2:30 CST. A wildcard is our friend Ike, out in the Gulf, which could change gametime, or make it a wet one. Stay tuned.

SWC MEMORIES PLAYER PROFILE:
This week we will look back at Lance “Bambi” Alworth, for the Arkansas Razorbacks. He was an all around athlete at Brookhaven, Mississippi and was the first Hog to letter in three sports in the same school year, 1961 (track, baseball and football.) He was an All American halfback in 1961 and played offense, defense, returned kicks and punted. (Of course he played the tuba at the half in the band.) He led the nation in punt returns in 1960 and 1961 with a career averaging of 13.5 yards. Arkansas was the SWC champion once and co-champion twice while he was a varsity athlete. They played in the Cotton, Gator and Sugar bowls. In 1961-62 he was voted the most outstanding amateur athlete in the state of Arkansas. He was president of his senior class at Arkansas in 1961, an Academic All American and the winner of the Southwest Conference Sportsmanship Award. (Man, I want my daughter to marry this guy…) Although offered baseball contracts with the Pirates and Yankees, he choose to play football after leaving college and starred with the San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys. He scored 87 touchdowns and was fourth all time in receiving yards over a ten year career (1962-1972) when he retired. It was his rookie year in the NFL where he earned the nickname Bambi. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1984.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:
Washington State at Baylor (Washington State was beat by OK State, but Bears are not quite the Cowboys, 5 point underdog at home)
Air Force at Houston (Another good non conference game for the Coogs)
Rice at Vanderbilt (One of these teams will be 3-0 after this game, amazing if you think about it. It would be the first time at 3-0 for Rice since 1953)
SMU at Texas Tech (Will Tech get 100? It might take 100 to win this one)
Stanford at TCU (Win over BCS conference school will look good for TCU)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:
SWC Game of the Week:
OSU 56 UH 37 (UH can’t hold half time lead, OSU rolls in the second half)

Other Games:
Arkansas 28 Louisiana Monroe 27 (Arkansas squeaks by, now packs for Austin)
Baylor 51 Northwestern State 6 (Now Baylor, be nice, you know what it’s like to be on the other end of these things)
Rice 42 Memphis 35 (Rice is 2-0, and 2-0 in CUSA, offense looks great!)
SMU 47 Texas State 36 (SMU wins first for June Jones Era, defense could still use some work.)
Texas 42 UTEP 13 (UTEP pumped, full house, Miner pride, but Texas has the good football players)
Texas A&M 28 New Mexico 22 (Aggies hold on in the end, Jared Johnson plays QB for Ags after McGee hurt in first series)
TCU 67 SFA 7 (TCU blows out SFA, shows they are in a separate class)
Texas Tech 35 Nevada 19 (Will the Red Raiders bend don’t break defense hold in conference play?)

STANDINGS:
Conference: Overall:
W L W L
Rice 1 0 2 0
Arkansas: 0 0 2 0
Texas 0 0 2 0
TCU 0 0 2 0
Texas Tech 0 0 2 0
Houston 0 0 1 1
Texas A&M 0 0 1 1
Baylor 0 0 1 1
SMU 0 1 1 1

ON THE BLOG:
Learn how to “Call the Hogs,” as all good Arkansas fans do.

FINAL WORD:
With Ike heading towards the Texas Coast, we here at SWC Game of the Week wish all those in the path of this hurricane well.

Cotton Eyed Jim

Good article in the Dallas Morning News on Jim "Hoss" Brock and the Cotton Bowl of the SWC.

He worked for TCU and SMU in media relations but was most famous as the man who, like Field Scovell before him, convinced schools to come to Dallas on New Year's Day to play in the Cotton Bowl, the greatest sales job in local history.

UH Hand Sign

From the UH web site, the origins of the University of Houston hand sign:

In Texas, all of the major universities have adopted a hand sign which signifies to all other Texans where your loyalties lie. The Cougar Hand Sign is no different. Although the original hand sign was the "V" for Victory until 1965, events conspired and a new hand sign was adopted. The inaugural football game between University of Houston and University of Texas during the 1953 campaign witnessed the birth of a blood rivalry between the state's two largest universities at that time. However, it also led to the adoption of another Cougar Hand Sign. During her transport from Houston to Austin, one of the fingers on Shasta's paw was severed when the cage door was closed. As the University of Texas partisans and players caught wind of the accident, they mimicked the animal by bending their thumb over the ring finger against their palm. This gesture implied that the Cougars were invalids. The Cougars would go on to lose the game 28-7.

The cougar faithful, still mindful of the stinging defeat suffered 15 years earlier, never forgot the taunting that they received. The next time the two teams faced off (1968... a whole 15 years later), UH tied UT 20-20. At that point, the students thought there might be a bit of magic in that sign, and the hand sign was adopted replacing the "V".

In 1976, the Cougars first football season in the Southwest Conference, the Coogs & Horns met for the third time ever. The Coogs put a beating on the Longhorns that they have yet to forget 30-0 (a.k.a.the "Dad's Day Massacre") in front of the largest crowd to assemble in Memorial Stadium at that time. That victory ended the Longhorns famed winning streak, and the embarrassment also signaled the end of legendary UT Coach Darryl K. Royal's career. After that victory, the Cougar Hand Sign became firmly entrenched.

*Important Note: Only one hand is to be held aloft when making the Cougar Hand Sign.

I don't think Texas is lining up to play UH today either.

SWC Game of the Week: UH at OK State

“I’m a MAN, I’m 40!” OSU coach Mike Gundy may never live this quote down. I don’t think we here at SWC Game of the Week can let that one slide by, do you? So, this week, as the Houston Cougars travel north to Stillwater (Oklahoma A&M was an original member of the SWC) to do battle, we will remember that at 40, you do indeed become a man.

THIS WEEK’S GAME:

This week’s game features the Houston Cougars traveling to play a Big 12 foe, the Oklahoma State Cowboys. T Boone Pickens is fired up, got the windmills twirling, and so should you! Oklahoma State is coming off an impressive win at Washington State while the Cougars started with a blowout win over Southern. For the Cougars this is an opportunity to take a shot at the big boys from the Big 12. Houston leads the all time series 9-8-1 and won in Houston two years ago 34-25. Case Keenum will start at QB for the Coogs after splitting time with Blake Joseph last year. He got off to a good start with a 392 yard passing effort last week, completing his first 14 throws. Receiver Mark Hafner should have a break out season for the Coogs and 7 catches for 103 yards against Southern. L.J. Castile, a converted QB, is also being counted on for big contributions from the wide out spot. UH this year has switched to a 4-3 defense. Up front they will have Phillip Hunt, returning this year after a 10.5 sack season last year. While thin at LB, Coach Sumlin is looking for speed which is lacking, the Coogs should have one of the best safety duos in CUSA with free safety Kenneth Fontenette and Ernest Miller. First year coach Kevin Sumlin believes the Cougars should compete for the Conference USA Championship every year and he may get one his first year.

OSU will be looking for revenge for the 2006 loss in Houston. The Cowboys also have 18 players on their roster from the city of Houston, so they will be playing for some bragging rights back home. In the interesting stat of the week, OSU last season rushed for 3,161 yards and passed for 3,161 yards, achieving exact offensive balance. The Cowboys had the #7 offense in the nation last season and this year will again be led by junior signal caller Zac Robinson who took over for Bobby Reid last season. Robinson can look for All-Big 12 tight end Brandon Pettigrew and sophomore wideout Dez Bryant. Over the last two years, OSU has averaged 41.3 points at T Boone Pickens stadium. On the defensive side of the ball OSU only surrendered 196 yards to Washington State last week, the lowest output against the Cowboys in two years. OSU struggled on defensive last season but has brought in five junior college transfers. One of the big concerns was the push up front, but last week they recorded 10 tackles for a loss of yards. Orie Lemon, first time starter at linebacker led the Cowboys with 10 total tackles.

This should be an interesting game, testing how ready UH is for the big time. Any game featuring two players from Anchorage, Alaska squaring off against each other (OSU DL Tonga Tea Jr and UH OL Jaryd Anderson) is worth watching.

SWC MEMORIES PLAYER PROFILE:

Wilson Whitley came to the University of Houston from Brenham, TX as a three time All State and two time All American defensive lineman. As a Coogar he started his college career as he ended his high school career, starting on a team that went 11-1. He made the All-American team as a sophomore, second on the team in tackles. He also had 6 sacks, a blocked kick and two fumble recoveries. His senior season would be a big one. The year was 1976 and Houston was competing for the first time in the SWC. Houston would win the SWC crown that season, with Whitley anchoring the defensive. The defensive held 5 opponents to 10 points of fewer that season. Wilson was a consensus All-American and won the Lombardi Award, presented to him in Houston by President Gerald Ford. He recorded 5 sacks and 50 tackles that season and had 8 tackles in his last game, an upset victory over previous unbeaten Maryland in the Cotton Bowl. Despite only playing one season in the SWC, Whitley was named SWC defensive player of the decade. Whitley was the 8th player taken in the NFL draft, selected by the Cincinnati Bengals. He played alongside fellow Lombardi award Ross Browner for 6 season, including a Super Bowl appearance. He suffered an untimely death at the age of 37 due to a heart condition. He was a 1998 inductee into the UH Hall of Honor and a 2007 inductee into the National College Football Hall of Fame.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:

Louisiana Monroe at Arkansas (Arkansas looking to be 2-0 heading into Austin)
Northwestern State at Baylor (Should be Briles first win)
Rice at Memphis (Rice starts with two conference games, look to keep the offense rolling)
Texas State at SMU (Should be the first win of the June Jones Era, Mitchell to remain at QB)
Texas at UTEP (They’ve been waiting for this one in El Paso a long time. So long they forgot about Buffalo last week)
Texas A&M at New Mexico (Can you have a must win as the second game of a sure to be mediocre season?)
SFA at TCU (TCU should be the better of the two purple teams)
Texas Tech at Nevada (Tech should roll)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:

SWC Game of the Week:
Rice 56 SMU 27 (SMU may have the run and shoot, but the Owls show their fire power as well. Clements to Dillard x3!)

Other Games:
Arkansas 28 Western Illinois 24 (What can you say about the Hogs? They have to be included…)
Wake Forest 41 Baylor 13 (Briles start with Baylor is pretty familiar to Bear fans, but maybe they will be Wake someday)
Houston 55 Southern 3 (Don’t think this one counts for much, but it looks nice on paper)
Texas 52 Florida Atlantic 10 (McCoy and company off to usual start)
Arkansas State 18 Texas A&M 14 (Ouch, I mean ouch. Aggie fans are hurting, but there is always next year!)
TCU 26 New Mexico 3 (Former Fran faceoff #1 for this year features the later team winning)
Texas Tech 49 Eastern Washington 24 (You must be good when you win big but that is not enough.)

STANDINGS:

	Conference:		Overall:
	W	L	W	L
Rice	1	0	1	0
Arkansas:	0	0	1	0
Houston	0	0	1	0
Texas	0	0	1	0
TCU	0	0	1	0
Texas Tech	0	0	1	0
Texas A&M	0	0	0	1
Baylor	0	0	0	1
SMU	0	1	0	1

ON THE BLOG:

All SWC teams seem to have a hand sign, log onto the SWC Blog to read about the University of Houston’s hand sign.

FINAL WORD:

We’ve got one week behind us, a big upset in Aggieland, some blowouts and some close games. We’re closer to some interesting showdowns. SWC Game of the Week wishes everyone a great football watching weekend!