1957 Houston Cougars football team
| 1957 Houston Cougars football | |
|---|---|
 |
|
|
MVC champion
|
|
| Conference | Missouri Valley Conference |
| 1957 record | 5–4–1 (3–0 MVC) |
| Head coach | Hal Lahar (1st year) |
| Offensive scheme | Split-T |
| Home stadium | Rice Stadium (70,000) |
| 1957 Missouri Valley Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Houston $ | 3 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Texas State | 1 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tulsa | 2 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cincinnati | 1 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wichita State | 0 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1957 Houston Cougars football team, also known as the Houston Cougars, Houston, or UH, represented the University of Houston in the 1957 college football season as a member of the NCAA's University Division. It was the 12th year of season play for Houston. The team was coached by first-year head coach Hal Lahar. The team played its games off-campus at Rice Stadium, which had been built in 1950. Houston won its third conference championship, as the Cougars earned a perfect 3–0 record in conference play. It was the first time a conference championship was achieved by a first-year coach for Houston. Despite losing several key starting players and switching head coaches, Houston was considered a favorite for the conference championship prior to the season's start. Following the season, three of Houston's players from the 1957 roster were drafted in the 1958 NFL Draft. Three more 1957 players were also taken in the 1959 NFL Draft.
The pre-season marked a head coaching change for the Cougars, as head coach Hal Lahar was successfully lured from Colgate on January 18, 1957.
Miami, coached by tenth-year Hurricanes veteran Andy Gustafson, traveled to Rice Stadium to compete against Houston for both of the teams' season opener game. It was the first meeting between the two teams. Miami, an NCAA University Division Independent, was heavily favored to win the game, and were nationally ranked as #14 in the AP Poll.
Both teams struggled offensively, as there were 11 fumbles throughout the game. Miami's longest drive was for only 27 yards. The single score in the game came near the end of the second quarter period when junior Houston halfback rushed for 23 yards with key blocks from senior fullback Owen Mulholland and junior guard Burr Davis. Halfback Mike Michon converted the point after touchdown. Miami responded by taking the ball to Houston's 23-yard line in the second quarter, but ran out of time to complete a successful score. In the fourth quarter, Houston halfback Don Brown ran for 75 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but this was retracted by officials due to a holding penalty.
...
Wikipedia