PCW
09-05-2008, 04:56 AM
Case Keenum could feel the pocket getting squeezed as Southern defenders closed in on him.
His feet started dancing, and in the past they probably would have darted off on another spectacular run, the kind that last season won Keenum Conference USA’s Freshman of the Year award.
But that was then. In this year’s season opener against Southern, operating the Cougars’ new air-it-out, Texas Tech-style offense, Keenum was trying to heed his coaches and make a play with his arm.
So Keenum calmly juked and dodged, buying just enough time for Mark Hafner to break free. Keenum found Hafner for a 14-yard gain to the Southern 1-yard line, and one play later Andre Kohn plunged in for the first of what would be many Houston touchdowns.
“My parents (Steve and Susan Keenum) were telling me that there was a lady sitting beside them in the stands yelling, ‘Run, boy!’” said Keenum, laughing. “Then everybody around them started yelling, ‘Run!’ I wound up completing a pass to Mark (Hafner), who almost scored.
“The lady sat down and said, ‘Oh. OK, good pass.’ Everyone was expecting me to run.”
Not anymore.
Hit on first 14 attempts
The “new” Keenum got off to a near-perfect start in Saturday’s 55-3 victory over Southern, completing his first 14 passes en route to one of the best opening-game performances in school history.
Despite sitting out the fourth quarter, Keenum passed for 392 yards and five touchdowns, both career highs.
Those first-game numbers are exceeded only by David Klingler’s dismantling of Louisiana Tech in 1991, in which he passed for 510 yards and nine touchdowns in a 73-3 victory.
“It’s fun to throw it around like that,” Keenum said. “It’s fun, with coach (Dana) Holgerson’s play-calling. I’m just getting used to it now, but it’s going to be a lot of fun in the future, and I’m looking forward to it.
Heading into Saturday’s game at Oklahoma State, everyone seems to agree that despite being an imperfect specimen — at least when the classic quarterback is discussed — Keenum will mature into a perfect man for the Cougars’ new offense.
“He’s not very tall (6-1), he’s not very big and he doesn’t have the strongest arm,” UH coach Kevin Sumlin of Keenum. “He’s just a football player. He’s very intelligent and he throws catchable balls.
“He knows his strengths and limitations. He gets the ball out on time, and that’s because maybe he doesn’t have the strongest arm.”
Holgorsen, who spent eight years in Lubbock working with coach Mike Leach to mold the Red Raiders’ attack, laughs when Keenum’s relative lack of arm strength comes up in conversation.
It’s not all about arm strength
Talk with Holgorsen, Cougars offensive coordinator, and he’ll run down the Red Raiders’ stunning string of prolific quarterbacks — Kliff Kingsbury, B.J. Symons, Sonny Cumbie, Cody Hodges and now Graham Harrell.
Holgorsen will then point out that despite having the fewest physical assets, Kingsbury remains at the top of the Texas Tech career passing charts.
“Kliff Kingsbury had the weakest arm of the group, and he threw for the most yards of all of them (12,429),” Holgorsen said. “It’s not about that (arm strength). It’s about being smart and understanding why the play is designed a certain way and where the ball needs to go when the play is called.
“The biggest thing we look for (in a quarterback) is a heady guy who has an understanding of where you’re trying to go with the ball. Luckily enough, (Keenum) has that. He understands the game of football and knows where the ball needs to go based on what kinds of defenses are thrown at us.”
Kingsbury, now doing offensive quality control work for the Cougars, thinks Keenum’s ability to break down defenses with his feet will make him an even bigger threat in the passing game.
“Definitely,” Kingsbury said. “That’s a huge asset, being able to scramble around like that. You don’t want him trying to cross the line of scrimmage because we don’t want our quarterbacks to take a lot of hits.
“But you do want him to move because on every play there are four or five guys out on a route. So move around, find an open guy and keep the drive alive. Just make the smart play.”
Yes, talk with the coaches long enough, and that’s the one word that inevitably pops up — “smart.”
Indeed, perhaps Keenum’s biggest strength is his ability to keep a cool head, which allows him to make the smart play. That was evident against Southern.
And that will be especially necessary Saturday at rowdy Boone Pickens Stadium.
“He’s not going to go out every week and complete 14 (passes) in a row,” Sumlin said. “I hope he does, but I know better than that. There are going to be days when things aren’t going to be going exactly like you want them to, and that’s where I think his demeanor is going to help our team.
“He’s an even-keel guy and a workman-like guy, and I think that’s going to help us when we play in hostile environments like this.
“I think that’s one of the reasons his teammates voted him team captain.”
michael.murphy@chron.com
His feet started dancing, and in the past they probably would have darted off on another spectacular run, the kind that last season won Keenum Conference USA’s Freshman of the Year award.
But that was then. In this year’s season opener against Southern, operating the Cougars’ new air-it-out, Texas Tech-style offense, Keenum was trying to heed his coaches and make a play with his arm.
So Keenum calmly juked and dodged, buying just enough time for Mark Hafner to break free. Keenum found Hafner for a 14-yard gain to the Southern 1-yard line, and one play later Andre Kohn plunged in for the first of what would be many Houston touchdowns.
“My parents (Steve and Susan Keenum) were telling me that there was a lady sitting beside them in the stands yelling, ‘Run, boy!’” said Keenum, laughing. “Then everybody around them started yelling, ‘Run!’ I wound up completing a pass to Mark (Hafner), who almost scored.
“The lady sat down and said, ‘Oh. OK, good pass.’ Everyone was expecting me to run.”
Not anymore.
Hit on first 14 attempts
The “new” Keenum got off to a near-perfect start in Saturday’s 55-3 victory over Southern, completing his first 14 passes en route to one of the best opening-game performances in school history.
Despite sitting out the fourth quarter, Keenum passed for 392 yards and five touchdowns, both career highs.
Those first-game numbers are exceeded only by David Klingler’s dismantling of Louisiana Tech in 1991, in which he passed for 510 yards and nine touchdowns in a 73-3 victory.
“It’s fun to throw it around like that,” Keenum said. “It’s fun, with coach (Dana) Holgerson’s play-calling. I’m just getting used to it now, but it’s going to be a lot of fun in the future, and I’m looking forward to it.
Heading into Saturday’s game at Oklahoma State, everyone seems to agree that despite being an imperfect specimen — at least when the classic quarterback is discussed — Keenum will mature into a perfect man for the Cougars’ new offense.
“He’s not very tall (6-1), he’s not very big and he doesn’t have the strongest arm,” UH coach Kevin Sumlin of Keenum. “He’s just a football player. He’s very intelligent and he throws catchable balls.
“He knows his strengths and limitations. He gets the ball out on time, and that’s because maybe he doesn’t have the strongest arm.”
Holgorsen, who spent eight years in Lubbock working with coach Mike Leach to mold the Red Raiders’ attack, laughs when Keenum’s relative lack of arm strength comes up in conversation.
It’s not all about arm strength
Talk with Holgorsen, Cougars offensive coordinator, and he’ll run down the Red Raiders’ stunning string of prolific quarterbacks — Kliff Kingsbury, B.J. Symons, Sonny Cumbie, Cody Hodges and now Graham Harrell.
Holgorsen will then point out that despite having the fewest physical assets, Kingsbury remains at the top of the Texas Tech career passing charts.
“Kliff Kingsbury had the weakest arm of the group, and he threw for the most yards of all of them (12,429),” Holgorsen said. “It’s not about that (arm strength). It’s about being smart and understanding why the play is designed a certain way and where the ball needs to go when the play is called.
“The biggest thing we look for (in a quarterback) is a heady guy who has an understanding of where you’re trying to go with the ball. Luckily enough, (Keenum) has that. He understands the game of football and knows where the ball needs to go based on what kinds of defenses are thrown at us.”
Kingsbury, now doing offensive quality control work for the Cougars, thinks Keenum’s ability to break down defenses with his feet will make him an even bigger threat in the passing game.
“Definitely,” Kingsbury said. “That’s a huge asset, being able to scramble around like that. You don’t want him trying to cross the line of scrimmage because we don’t want our quarterbacks to take a lot of hits.
“But you do want him to move because on every play there are four or five guys out on a route. So move around, find an open guy and keep the drive alive. Just make the smart play.”
Yes, talk with the coaches long enough, and that’s the one word that inevitably pops up — “smart.”
Indeed, perhaps Keenum’s biggest strength is his ability to keep a cool head, which allows him to make the smart play. That was evident against Southern.
And that will be especially necessary Saturday at rowdy Boone Pickens Stadium.
“He’s not going to go out every week and complete 14 (passes) in a row,” Sumlin said. “I hope he does, but I know better than that. There are going to be days when things aren’t going to be going exactly like you want them to, and that’s where I think his demeanor is going to help our team.
“He’s an even-keel guy and a workman-like guy, and I think that’s going to help us when we play in hostile environments like this.
“I think that’s one of the reasons his teammates voted him team captain.”
michael.murphy@chron.com