The #19 Houston Cougars played their first game in the Astrodome in a month on October 17, 1970. They hosted the Oregon State Beavers, who had beaten the Utah Redskins and former UH coach Bill Meek the week before.
Houston trailed 7-0 just before the half, with no timeouts and Oregon State had possession. On second down, UH’s Kent Branstetter tracked down an outside pitch and stopped the runner for a five-yard loss. Inexplicably, with under a minute to play until halftime, the Beavers called a timeout. That forced them to convert a 3rd and 12 or punt the ball away. UH stopped them on the third down.
With under 20 seconds left, Oregon State went into punt formation. The Houston wedge pushed the offensive line back, and they accidentally deflected their own kick. The punter almost caught the kick on the deflection, but it landed in the arms of UH’s Frank Ditta. Ditta broke a tackle, and it back 52 yards for a touchdown with just five seconds left. UH’s conversion attempt failed, and the Beavers led 7-6 going into the half.
UH scored another TD three plays into the third quarter but again missed on a two-point conversion. Oregon State, an 18-point underdog, stayed with the Cougars. The Beaver offense ran 88 plays, including 71 on the ground. But UH held OSU to three second-half field goals, the first of which was an Oregon State record (47 yards).
Houston led 12-10 in the fourth quarter when QB Moon Mullins fumbled on a pitch, and Oregon State recovered. After the play, Mullins and OSU DL Mark Dipple were disqualified for throwing punches. Oregon State kicked a field goal on the ensuing drive and led 13-12. They added another FG two drives later and were up 16-12.
Terry Peel, substituting for Mullins, had one last drive to make something happen. He threw it to Elmo Wright for 17 yards, and two plays later, Peel connected with Earl Thomas for nine more. After no gain on third, Peel snuck it on 4th and one.
With less than two minutes to play, Oregon State was called for pass interference, moving the ball from the UH 49 to the 21. Two plays after that, on 3rd and 11, Peel found Elmo for a 22-yard touchdown, which would be the game-winner. Carlos Lopez kicked the PAT, and Houston held on, 19-16.
“They just carried it to you,” Bill Yeoman said of Oregon State. “Boy, did they ever come to play.”
“I’m sick we lost, because we deserved to win,” said Oregon State coach Demosthenes Andrecopoulos. “They did everything I asked them to do.”
Before the three completions on the final drive, UH was just 1/16 passing and had four turnovers. Heroics carried the day for the Coogs at the end of each half.
