30 years ago today, Houston beat SMU for its first win in 53 weeks, 38-15. The 0-5 Cougars had not won a game since winning at SMU on October 15, 1994.
In the 1995 game, UH scored three touchdowns in the final 2:48 to blow open a game in which SMU had drawn within 2 points.
Kim Helton’s Cougars had played the nation’s second-toughest schedule to that point. According to AP rankings from the week of the UH/SMU game, Houston had played #3 Florida, #5 USC, #7 Kansas, and #21 Baylor. UH would soon face #22 Texas A&M #16 Texas, and #25 Texas Tech.
UH led 3-0 after the first quarter, but SMU was on the move. Early in the second, the Ponies drove to the one-yard line before Houston held on 4th and goal. The Cougars then put together a 99-yard touchdown drive, ending in a five-yard scoring run from Antowain Smith.
UH was in command at the half and led 17-0 while SMU had just 91 yards. That score held until there were just 6.5 minutes to play.
And then all hell broke loose.
SMU finally scored with 6:28 left in the game, making it 17-7. The Mustangs recovered an onside kick and went eight plays before scoring again. SMU converted on a two-point attempt and were now within 17-15.
After the kickoff, the Houston Cougars went wild and scored 21 points. To put that in perspective, UH scored more than 21 points only once in the previous 730 days (21 games).
Antowain Smith took a pitchout around the left side and scored on a 65-yard run. After stopping SMU on four plays, Bryant Henderson broke loose and went in for a touchdown from 30 yards out. Five plays later, James Reddish picked off a Pony pass and returned it 78 yards for a final score.
Houston had scored 24 points in the previous eight quarters, but scored 21 in just 144 seconds to turn an ugly game into a blowout win. Smith finished with 133 yards and two touchdowns and Chuck Clements had 271 yards and a passing TD.
SMU went 9/29 on third and fourth down (5/10 on 4th down). They were 0/10 on third down in the second half. The Mustangs had the ball for over 38 minutes in the game. The win ended the longest losing streak in the nation (11 games).
As a junior in high school, this was the first UH game I ever attended, thanks to the generosity of Harry Traverso. Mr. Traverso was a member of UH’s first baseball team in 1947.
