WylieBulldog92
11-25-2008, 08:19 AM
You can’t spell comeback without the “C” and the “K.”
Ditto for Case Keenum.
It’s certainly appropriate since Keenum and heart-stopping comebacks appear to be cosmically intertwined this year. Indeed, Keenum has made a habit of engineering ridiculous, heart-stopping comebacks throughout this season, and he needed another one Saturday afternoon at Robertson Stadium.
Actually, trailing UTEP by 19 points late in the third quarter, Keenum and the Cougars needed not only their biggest comeback of the season, but the greatest in school history.
And sure enough, they got it.
With a crowd of 18,135 looking on, Keenum scored on a one-yard keeper in the final minute, the Cougars’ fourth touchdown of the final period, to escape with a crazy 42-37 victory over UTEP.
“Wild would be an understatement,” said Cougars’ coach Kevin Sumlin of the comeback. “Are we still playing? UTEP came in here and played lights out. They were on a mission.”
As were the Cougars.
The win kept the Cougars (7-4 overall, 6-1 in C-USA) in the driver’s seat for the West Division title, needing only a win next week at crosstown rival Rice to host the C-USA championship game. (It's set for Saturday at 2:30 p.m.; CBS College Sports is carrying the game.)
“We have the city championship coming up this week (against Rice),” Sumlin said. “I think it’s great for the city that it should come down to this for the West. It’s going to be a big game – not only for Conference USA, but for the city.”
Saturday’s wild, up-and-down game wasn’t decided until a final “Hail Mary” pass by UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe, who passed for 362 yards and four touchdowns, fell to the turf in the Cougars’ end zone as time expired.
“It was just a big sigh of relief,” said senior safety Kenneth Fontenette of his reaction to seeing Vittatoe’s final pass fall incomplete. “We got out of here with the win.”
Barely.
The team that played like it had everything on the line – and it did – in a blowout of nationally ranked Tulsa almost flatlined against the Miners, who entered the game with a .500 record.
But UTEP (5-6, 4-3) rode Vittatoe and receiver Kris Adams (111 receiving yards, three touchdowns) to a 28-9 lead late in the third quarter. That’s when Keenum and the Cougars went to work.
Keenum, who finished with 480 passing yards, connected on 23 of 24 passes in the second half, including all three of his scoring strikes – to Bryce Beall (15 yards), Tyron Carrier (62 yards) and Kierrie Johnson (16 yards) to spearhead a Cougar assault of 700 total yards.
“That was huge,” said Keenum of the comeback. “We had a couple of big drives in there, some championship drives. That’s what it takes. Real good programs win games like this.”
It helps to have good players like Bryce Beall and Tyron Carrier. It may have been Senior Day at Robertson Stadium, but it was those two big-play freshmen who made the biggest plays on offense.
Beall, a true freshman running back, had a monster day, rushing for 167 yards and racking up 96 more receiving. Beall scored two touchdowns, including a key 71-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Link (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/college/6127255.html)
Ditto for Case Keenum.
It’s certainly appropriate since Keenum and heart-stopping comebacks appear to be cosmically intertwined this year. Indeed, Keenum has made a habit of engineering ridiculous, heart-stopping comebacks throughout this season, and he needed another one Saturday afternoon at Robertson Stadium.
Actually, trailing UTEP by 19 points late in the third quarter, Keenum and the Cougars needed not only their biggest comeback of the season, but the greatest in school history.
And sure enough, they got it.
With a crowd of 18,135 looking on, Keenum scored on a one-yard keeper in the final minute, the Cougars’ fourth touchdown of the final period, to escape with a crazy 42-37 victory over UTEP.
“Wild would be an understatement,” said Cougars’ coach Kevin Sumlin of the comeback. “Are we still playing? UTEP came in here and played lights out. They were on a mission.”
As were the Cougars.
The win kept the Cougars (7-4 overall, 6-1 in C-USA) in the driver’s seat for the West Division title, needing only a win next week at crosstown rival Rice to host the C-USA championship game. (It's set for Saturday at 2:30 p.m.; CBS College Sports is carrying the game.)
“We have the city championship coming up this week (against Rice),” Sumlin said. “I think it’s great for the city that it should come down to this for the West. It’s going to be a big game – not only for Conference USA, but for the city.”
Saturday’s wild, up-and-down game wasn’t decided until a final “Hail Mary” pass by UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe, who passed for 362 yards and four touchdowns, fell to the turf in the Cougars’ end zone as time expired.
“It was just a big sigh of relief,” said senior safety Kenneth Fontenette of his reaction to seeing Vittatoe’s final pass fall incomplete. “We got out of here with the win.”
Barely.
The team that played like it had everything on the line – and it did – in a blowout of nationally ranked Tulsa almost flatlined against the Miners, who entered the game with a .500 record.
But UTEP (5-6, 4-3) rode Vittatoe and receiver Kris Adams (111 receiving yards, three touchdowns) to a 28-9 lead late in the third quarter. That’s when Keenum and the Cougars went to work.
Keenum, who finished with 480 passing yards, connected on 23 of 24 passes in the second half, including all three of his scoring strikes – to Bryce Beall (15 yards), Tyron Carrier (62 yards) and Kierrie Johnson (16 yards) to spearhead a Cougar assault of 700 total yards.
“That was huge,” said Keenum of the comeback. “We had a couple of big drives in there, some championship drives. That’s what it takes. Real good programs win games like this.”
It helps to have good players like Bryce Beall and Tyron Carrier. It may have been Senior Day at Robertson Stadium, but it was those two big-play freshmen who made the biggest plays on offense.
Beall, a true freshman running back, had a monster day, rushing for 167 yards and racking up 96 more receiving. Beall scored two touchdowns, including a key 71-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Link (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/college/6127255.html)