Houston Cougars fool Louisville Cardinals with fake punt (Video)
By John Buhler
The Houston Cougars are holding nothing back in a big Thursday night game against the Louisville Cardinals. Watch Houston stun Louisville on a fake punt.
The Houston Cougars may have lost their College Football Playoff hopes earlier in the season with a pair of losses in conference play, but Tom Herman’s Group of 5 football team is holding nothing back in its Week 12 home game against the No. 5 Louisville Cardinals.
Rather than punt the ball to Jaire Alexander, Houston punter Dane Roy connects on a 15-yard pass to Byron Simpson on a fake punt to extend the Cougars’ drive in the first half.
Houston would go on to score on a Greg Ward, Jr. tipped pass to running back Duke Catalon. After made PAT, the Cougars would lead the Cardinals, 17-0 early in their Thursday night primetime game.
Houston may have faded since its hot start of the 2016 college football campaign, but Herman is every bit as good of an in-game tactician as Louisville’s Bobby Petrino. Both are fantastic offensive-minded head coaches, possibly looking for new gigs next season.
This would be a devastating loss on the road for No. 5 Louisville. The Cardinals are one of only a handful of teams in Division I football that has a legitimate shot to make it to the 2017 College Football Playoff.
Louisville would presumably have to make at as an at-large team, as the Cardinals would need the Clemson Tigers to lose to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons this weekend to win the ACC Atlantic. However should Louisville fall on the road to Houston on Thursday night, that loss would certainly signify the end of the Cardinals’ College Football Playoff hopes.
Next: Best college quarterback born in every state
The Cardinals will need to play with better effort in the second half. They have a ton to play for and are not doing a good job of that in Houston on Thursday night.