The 2010 Houston Cougars football team (also known as the Houston Cougars, Houston, or UH) represented the University of Houston in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the 65th year of season play for Houston. The team was coached by third-year head football coach Kevin Sumlin, and played its home games at Robertson Stadium—a 32,000-seat stadium on campus in Houston. The program is a member of Conference USA in its West Division. Although ranked favorably early in the season, the team finished with a 5–7 record, (4–4 in C-USA play) after season-ending injuries to starting quarterback Case Keenum and other key players.
Previous season
The 2009 Houston Cougars team defeated the nationally ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys in their first match-up. Following the victory, the Cougars were ranked by the AP Poll for the first time in more than twenty years. The Cougars played the Texas Tech Red Raiders in front of a record-breaking 32,114 sold-out crowd at Robertson Stadium.
Pre-season
Recruits
Houston's 2010 recruiting class was highly rated relative to its previous seasons. Rated as the No. 45 best recruiting class in the nation ahead of TCU and behind Oregon State by Rivals.com, the 2010 class was Houston's highest-ever ranking by the site. Scout.com ranked Houston as #54, which was the highest Houston had been ranked since 2003, and the 3rd-highest-ever ranking by the site.
This was also the highest-rated recruiting class in Conference USA by both sites for the season. In terms of position, Houston ranked No. 13 in the nation by Scout.com for best average ratings of quarterbacks recruited. This reinforced the team's depth in the position, as senior Case Keenum was scheduled to compete in his last season in 2010.
Coaching staff
Top 25 rankings
During the pre-season, Houston was ranked in several notable top 25 polls. Sports Illustrated placed Houston at No. 21 in its power rankings list. Lindy's Sports ranked Houston as #23, and Phil Steele ranked the team as #24. Just outside the top 25, Sporting News ranked Houston as #26, and in the Coaches' Poll as #27.
Awards & award watch lists
Case Keenum
Davey O'Brien Award watch list
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award watch list
Manning Award watch list
Maxwell Award
Walter Camp Award watch list
Conference USA Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Conference USA Preseason offensive first team selection
Jamal Robinson
Conference USA Preseason defensive first team selection
James Cleveland
Fred Biletnikoff Award watch list
Conference USA Preseason offensive first team selection
Marcus McGraw
Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list
Lombardi Award watch list
Conference USA Preseason defensive first team selection
Patrick Edwards
Fred Biletnikoff Award watch list
Tyron Carrier
Fred Biletnikoff Award watch list
Paul Hornung Award watch list
Conference USA Preseason Special Teams Player of the Year
Conference USA Preseason special teams first team selection
Roster
Schedule
Denotes the largest crowd to have watched a football game at Robertson Stadium in its current capacity, and the largest Houston had ever hosted on-campus. This broke the record set during last season versus Texas Tech. Denotes a tie for largest crowd to have watched a football game at Robertson Stadium in its current capacity, and a tie for the largest Houston had ever hosted on-campus. This matched the attendance of the previous week.
Game summaries
Texas State
As a season opener, Houston met with Texas State of the Southland Conference (a Division I FCS conference) for the fourth time in history. However, the two teams had not competed against each other in over six decades, with the last game being in 1948. Texas State had been undefeated against Houston, and were led by fourth-year head coach Brad Wright.
Attendance was at an all-time high for Robertson Stadium, as 32,119 fans watched the game. The record-setting crowd at the stadium surpassed the previous season record against Texas Tech. This marked the largest home-opening crowd to watch the Cougars play since 37,652 fans watched Houston face California at the Astrodome on September 6, 1997. Quarterback Case Keenum set school records for both career passing yards and career pass attempts, surpassing then-current Philadelphia Eagles starting quarterback Kevin Kolb.