Andrew J. Ferraro
Cougar Sports
As far as football games go, there are three in Cougar history that will forever live in the memory of every fan of the red and white.
As recently as 1996, the Cougars defeated the University of Southern Mississippi at Homecoming, 56-49. It was a shootout that climaxed a year in which Houston came back from the dead, won it's first-ever Conference USA title and earned it's first bowl bid since 1990.
That game was arguably the biggest UH victory of the '90s.
Perhaps the second-biggest win for the Cougars came in the 1977 Cotton Bowl when they defeated Maryland 30-21.
That year, Houston stunned the now-defunct Southwest Conference by winning the conference in its first year of competition in the league. It was the first trip to a New Year's Day bowl for the Cougars.
UH simply manhandled the fifth-ranked Terrapins and cruised to it's highest final ranking ever at No. 4.
But to find the pride and joy of the greatest games in Cougar history, take yourself back to 1967. It is there you'll find the diamond in the rough and a game that will linger forever in the hearts and minds of true Houston Cougar football fans.
In 1967, the Michigan State Spartans were the team to beat. They were No. 1, and everybody was gunning for them. The Spartans had won 19 of their last 21 games, and in their championship season a year before, the only glitch on their record was a 10-10 tie with Notre Dame in the season finale.
With Michigan State's huge offensive line blocking for quarterback Jimmy Raye and fullback Bob Aspia, it appeared that the smaller University of Houston defenders had their work cut out for them.
The Cougars could only hope to contain the plethora of power in the Spartan backfield.
A week after defeating the Florida State Seminoles 33-13 in the season opener, Houston hopped on a charter flight to East Lansing, Mich., where the defending national champions were waiting to test Houston's top-ranked offense.
What would it take to wear down and eventually defeat the champions of college football, and did the Cougars have the answer?
The problem-solving power of the Houston coaching staff had the perfect solution - confidence and speed.
"The guys were really looking forward to the opportunity to play MSU," said UH coaching legend Bill Yeoman in a 1996 interview.
"We were much smaller, yet we had one distinct advantage - we were much faster. The truth is, we weren't going to overpower anybody."
Before the game the teams warmed up, did their drills and prepared for the kickoff in what was supposed to be just another rout by the Spartans, who filled their "Colosseum" with a sea of green and white.
But the Cougars were not intimidated. When the visitors came through the tunnels, the Spartans thought it humorous to point and stare down the opposition as they ran onto the field. For one Spartan, however, that turned out not to be such a good idea.
"Before the game, I told the players, and particularly Jerry Gardner (defensive tackle), not to give an inch, not to change their path to the field, nor theirwalk or anything," Yeoman said. "As Gardner came through the tunnel, when one of the Michigan State kids got a little too close, Jerry forearmed him and dropped him. It was kind of indicative that we would not be intimidated."
The game began as a defensive standoff when both teams punted the ball away on their opening drives. After MSU's second punt, the Cougars had the ball on their own 48.
On second-and-eight, quarterback Dick Woodall handed the ball off to fleet-footed Warren McVea, and he raced 33 yards to the Spartan 23.
"Any time (MSU) got us in a long yardage situation they would loosen up their defense,' Yeoman said.
"When you turn a guy like McVea loose in that situation, as a defensive coordinator, you've already made your first error."
After McVea's long run, the Cougars could not advance any further and were forced to settle for a 44-yard Ken Hebert field goal.
UH had the lead, but not for long. On Michigan State's next possession, Lamar Thomas took a pitch from Raye and ran the ball down the left sideline for a 48-yard touchdown. That would be the Spartans' only lead of the game.
Just before halftime, Raye's pass was intercepted by Houston safety Tom Paciorek and the Cougars struck again.
With just over two minutes remaining in the half, McVea took another handoff from Woodall, ran around right end, cut back across the middle of the field (setting up his blocks each time and watching them fall like dominoes) and went all the way for a 50-yard touchdown that put the Cougars up 10-7 going into halftime.
"McVea was a lot stronger in his legs than anybody thought," Yeoman said. "He would run down the field, set up his blocks and then he was gone. Maybe three guys got their hands on him. He was quick as a gnat and had tremendous strength."
After halftime, the game belonged to Houston. The Cougars held the Spartans on their first possession of the second half and had the ball on their own 24-yard line.
On just the second play of the drive, Woodall called a 323 quick "L" post and hit Hebert as he came across the center of the field. Hebert did the rest as he outran Michigan State's secondary for a 77-yard touchdown and completely silenced all 75,833 in attendance.
At that point the Cougars led 17-7, and the rout was on. The team began to sense an upset.
Just two minutes into the fourth quarter, Woodall threw another bomb.
"On a 323 Strong, (Don) Bean just ran straight down the field, past a guy he'd been outrunning since grade school, and caught the pass for a 77-yard score," said Yeoman.
"The stadium went quiet and my brother was the only loud-mouth you could hear. The idiot stands up on his seat and asks the crowd: 'How do you like that, sports fans?' He was bad, real bad."
When the final gun sounded, the scoreboard read "Houston 37, Michigan State 7." But the scoreboard could hardly justify just how big a win it was for both the Houston team and Cougar fans alike.
"It was so big because of all the media being there," Yeoman said. "We had an enormous press corps there because of all the big games that MSU had played and was supposed to play later on that year (including Southern California and a rematch with Notre Dame).
"It was such a big win for our program because of all the exposure we got."
When the team's Boeing 727 charter touched down in Houston, an enormous crowd flooded the tarmac at Hobby Airport to welcome the team and celebrate.
"It was unbelievable because there were between 10 and 11 thousand people there," Yeoman said. "We had to park about 150 yards away from the terminal because they couldn't corral all the fans.
"It was a real nice trip home after a big win. It was very special."
Lately, big wins have been few and far between for the Cougars. But that cool day in Michigan some 30 years later will live on forever, even in Houston.