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Garrett Davis had just won his second interception of the game and Ed Oliver, a spectator at the University of Houston, wanted to join the game.
"I had to celebrate," Oliver said with a smile.
The whole discussion about UH's new attack on group score is true. But the Cougars took 45 minutes Saturday to remind them that they can also play in defense.
UH took the lead and crushed Arizona 45-18 in the return of former coach Kevin Sumlin. D 'Eriq King had six touchdowns – four assists and two runs – while the Cougars scored the first 38 points of the game.
Oliver, the UH's defensive tackle in the United States, gave a glimpse of what could happen when he said earlier this week that preparations for quarterback Khalil Tate in Arizona and the Heisman Trophy had been "something Special".
"It seemed very special to me," said Oliver after the Cougars eliminated a Power Five school for the seventh time in the last eight meetings.
Sumlin, who abruptly left UH before the end of the 2011 season, received a handful of screams from the announced crowd of 32,534 at the TDECU stadium. The Wildcats, playing in the Pac-12, started the game for the first time since 1981.
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A UH attack that was slow to start in the first game of the season at Rice did not have such problems against Arizona. The Cougars (2-0) scored touchdowns on three consecutive possessions to lead the game, led 31-0 at half-time and drew a large number of starters in the third quarter before retiring after 38-16.
King scored 17 of his 34 yards and four career touchdowns. He added 1 and 4 yard touchdown passes. For the second week in a row, the Cougars averaged 45 points and nearly 600 yards in total.
Marquez Stevenson added his third-highest touchdown of the season – a 24-yard lead in the first series of the game – and dropped on what would have been a 81-yard score. Romello Brooker, Bryson Smith and Keith Corbin all added touchdown passes while the Cougars showed a Wildcats side that missed three starters.
"This offense is trying to involve everyone, everyone is touching," King said. "Just finding different ways to get our leaders to play is a big thing for the offensive coordinator (Kendal) Briles and why I think this attack is pretty good."
The defense was not too bad either.
UH did not sell any points until it was 3:16 in the third quarter. Arizona had five punts, two turnovers, a missed field placement and a fourth failed conversion among the top nine.
"The game plan was to contain No. 14 (Tate)," said Davis, who intercepted the game to beat Arizona last season. "This is a Heisman candidate, an elusive quarterback, the contain was going to be one of our keys to victory."
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In a clash between the candidates of the first season of the season of Heisman, Oliver finished with five tackles (one half for the defeat), four quarterback pressures and a break-off. Arizona routinely brought two-team blocks against the player who could be No. 1 in the NFL 2019 draft.
Tate twisted his leg in the first quarter and said the injury did not affect him the rest of the match. He was 24 of 45 for 341 yards with two interceptions. Tate, one of the most electrifying runners in college football last season, had just seven shot attempts for 8 yards, earning him 16 wins in two games.
"It was never against me against him," Oliver said. "That was how we would stop it as a whole."
Davis said that facing a tempo attack and a double threat quarterback (King) every day in practice helped prepare the Cougars.
"It's a bit unrealistic to do it in practice – we were used to it," Davis said of UH's attack. "They go so fast in practice that it slows down in the game. You can not go that fast in the game."
In addition, Davis said the Cougars enjoyed the warmth and moisture of an 11-hour departure. Arizona played 100 games for 531 yards, as opposed to 80 for UH for 551 yards.
"It's hot in Arizona, but not like Houston," he said. "I think the heat has a little influence on them, we managed to run, fly and catch the running back every time we had the chance."
After allowing 16 consecutive points, UH's defensive starters re-entered the game in the middle of the fourth quarter. On four consecutive games, the Cougars stopped Arizona at the 1-yard line.
"To be honest, I thought they scored on one of them," Oliver said. "I'm just glad they did not call a touchdown to play physically in the red zone."
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