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1952 Houston Cougars football team

1952 Houston Cougars football
University of Houston's classic athletics logo
MVC champion
Conference Missouri Valley Conference
Ranking
Coaches No. 19
1952 record 8–2 (3–0 MVC)
Head coach Clyde Lee (5th year)
Offensive scheme Split-T
Home stadium Rice Stadium (70,000)
Seasons
← 1951
1953 →
1952 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#19 Houston $ 3 0 0     8 2 0
Tulsa 3 1 0     8 2 1
Oklahoma A&M 2 2 0     3 7 0
Detroit 1 3 0     2 7 0
Wichita State 0 3 0     3 6 1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from Coaches' Poll

The 1952 Houston Cougars football team, also known as the Houston Cougars, Houston, or UH, represented the University of Houston in the 1952 college football season as a member of the NCAA. It was the 7th year of season play for Houston. The team was coached by fifth-year head coach Clyde Lee. The team played its games off-campus at Rice Stadium, which had been built in 1950. The Cougars finished the season ranked as #19 by the Coaches Poll. It was the first time Houston finished a season as a nationally ranked team. Another first for the program was a conference championship, as the Cougars earned a perfect 3–0 record in Missouri Valley Conference play.

Following the season, Houston defensive tackle J. D. Kimmel was voted as the program's first All-American. Kimmel had been drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the 1952 NFL Draft prior to the season's beginning, and would later be drafted into the Houston Cougars Hall of Honor in 1973. Four other Houston players were also taken in the 1952 NFL Draft.

The Houston Cougars met with in-state rival Texas A&M for the first time as they hosted the Aggies at off-campus Rice Stadium in Houston. Texas A&M was a member of the Southwest Conference, and was led by second-year head coach Raymond George. With an attendance of 54,000, it was the second-largest crowd that Houston had competed for at the time, only surpassed by the 55,000 from the previous season's opener against #9 Baylor. It was the third time that the Houston Cougars faced a Southwest Conference opponent in its history, and was a continuation of the losing streak against the conference. This followed the rejection of Houston along with Texas Tech by the conference in their bids to join just months earlier. While Texas A&M was slightly favored, Houston was considered to have one of the best teams in the history of its program.Army transfer and Texarkana native J.D. Kimmel was a draftee in the previous NFL Draft, and eventually went on to have a career in the professional league.


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