American college football season
The 2018 Houston Cougars football team represented the University of Houston in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season . The Cougars played their home games at TDECU Stadium in Houston, Texas , and competed in the West Division of the American Athletic Conference . They were led by second-year head coach Major Applewhite . They finished the season 8–5, 5–3 in AAC play to finish in a three-way tie for the West Division championship. After tiebreakers, they did not represent the West Division in the AAC Championship Game . They were invited to the Armed Forces Bowl where they lost to Army by a score of 14-70, in the process tying records for the most points given up (70) and the largest margin-of-loss (56) in NCAA bowl game history.[1]
On December 30, Houston fired Applewhite after 2 seasons.[2]
Previous season [ ]
The Cougars finished the 2017 season 7–5, 5–3 in AAC play to finish in second place in the West Division. They were invited to the Hawaii Bowl where they lost to Fresno State .
Preseason [ ]
Award watch lists [ ]
Listed in the order that they were released
AAC media poll [ ]
The AAC media poll was released on July 24, 2018, with the Cougars predicted to finish in second place in the AAC West Division.[13]
Media poll (West)
Predicted finish
Team
Votes (1st place)
1
Memphis
171 (23)
2
Houston
146 (4)
3
Navy
129 (3)
4
SMU
72
5
Tulane
68
6
Tulsa
44
Schedule [ ]
Date Time Opponent Site TV Result Attendance September 1 11:00 a.m. at Rice * CBSSN W 45–2726,390
September 8 11:00 a.m. Arizona * ABC/ESPN2 W 45–1832,534
September 15 3:00 p.m. at Texas Tech * FOX L 49–6353,484
September 22 7:00 p.m. Texas Southern * ESPN3 W 70–1429,970
7:00 p.m. Tulsa ESPN W 41–2629,823
October 13 6:00 p.m. at East Carolina CBSSN W 42–2029,851
October 20 2:30 p.m. at Navy CBSSN W 49–3633,924
October 27 2:30 p.m. No. 21 South Florida ABC/ESPN2 W 57–3631,631
November 3 6:00 p.m. at SMU ESPNU L 31–4523,654
November 10 6:00 p.m. Temple CBSSN L 49–5930,862
7:00 p.m. Tulane ESPN W 48–1724,209
11:00 a.m. at Memphis ABC L 31–5227,790
December 22 2:30 p.m. vs. Army * ESPN L 14–7044,738
*Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from AP Poll (and CFP Rankings , after October 30) - Released prior to game All times are in Central time
Schedule Source: [14]
Roster [ ]
Game summaries [ ]
at Rice [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Cougars
3
14
14
14
45
Owls
7
17
3
0
27
[15]
Arizona [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Wildcats
0
0
10
8
18
Cougars
21
10
7
7
45
[16]
at Texas Tech [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Cougars
21
7
14
7
49
Red Raiders
14
21
14
14
63
Texas Southern [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Tigers
0
0
7
7
14
Cougars
14
28
7
21
70
Tulsa [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Golden Hurricane
13
0
10
3
26
Cougars
7
10
0
24
41
at East Carolina [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Cougars
14
7
7
14
42
Pirates
0
3
3
14
20
at Navy [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Cougars
7
14
14
14
49
Midshipmen
10
14
0
12
36
South Florida [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 21 Bulls
0
21
15
0
36
Cougars
14
14
15
14
57
at SMU [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 17 Cougars
0
14
3
14
31
Mustangs
10
21
7
7
45
Temple [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Owls
14
14
21
10
59
Cougars
7
7
21
14
49
Tulane [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Green Wave
6
3
0
8
17
Cougars
14
17
10
7
48
at Memphis [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Cougars
7
14
10
0
31
Tigers
3
14
14
21
52
vs. Army (Armed Forces Bowl) [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Cougars
0
7
0
7
14
No. 22 Black Knights
14
28
14
14
70
Players drafted into the NFL [ ]
Rankings [ ]
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll
Pre
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Final
AP
RV
RV
RV
NR
NR
NR
NR
RV
RV
RV
17
RV
NR
RV
NR
NR
Coaches
RV
RV
RV
RV
NR
NR
NR
RV
RV
RV
17
RV
NR
NR
NR
CFP
Not released
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
Not released
References [ ]
^ "Army West Point dominates en route to 70-14 victory" . Armed Forces Bowl . Retrieved 28 December 2018 .
^ Sallee, Barrett. "Houston fires coach Major Applewhite after just two seasons with the Cougars" . cbssports.com . Retrieved December 30, 2018 .
^ "2018 Watch List | Lott IMPACT Trophy | Honoring College Football's Defensive Best" . lottimpacttrophy.org . Retrieved 2018-07-17 .
^ "Rimington Trophy Press Release" . May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018 .
^ "2018 Bednarik Award Watch List" . July 16, 2018. Archived from the original on July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018 .
^ "2018 Maxwell Award Watch List" . July 16, 2018. Archived from the original on July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018 .
^ "2018 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List" . July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018 .
^ "22018 OUTLAND TROPHY WATCH LIST UNVEILED" . July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018 .
^ "Ray Guy Award preseason watch list unveiled" . July 25, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018 .
^ "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List" . July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018 .
^ Carbone, Al (July 27, 2018). "Walter Camp Football Foundation Announces 2018 Player of the Year Preseason "Watch List" " . Retrieved July 30, 2018 .
^ "2018 Nominations The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award" (PDF) . August 16, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018 .
^ "UCF Tabbed as Favorite in 2018 Preseason Media Poll" . TheAmerican.org . Retrieved 24 July 2018 .
^ "2018 Houston Cougars Football Schedule" . FB Schedules. Retrieved April 27, 2018 .
^ "Houston vs. Rice - Game Summary - September 1, 2018" . ESPN . Retrieved September 8, 2018 .
^ "Arizona vs. Houston - Game Summary - September 8, 2018" . ESPN . Retrieved September 8, 2018 .
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