The 2017 Houston Cougars football team represented the University of Houston in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cougars played their home games at TDECU Stadium in Houston, Texas, and competed in the West Division of the American Athletic Conference. They were led by first-year head coach Major Applewhite. They finished the season 7–5, 5–3 in AAC play to finish in second place in the West Division. They were invited to the Hawaii Bowl where they lost to Fresno State.

Quick Facts Houston Cougars football, Hawaii Bowl, L 27–33 vs. Fresno State ...

2017 Houston Cougars football
Hawaii Bowl, L 27–33 vs. Fresno State
Conference	American Athletic Conference
Division	West Division
Record	7–5 (5–3 American)
Head coach	Major Applewhite (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Brian Johnson (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Mark D'Onofrio (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Clay Jennings (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	TDECU Stadium
Seasons ← 2016 2018 →

Close

Houston announced its 2017 football schedule on February 9, 2017. The 2017 schedule originally consisted of six home games and six road games in the regular season, but the road game versus UTSA was canceled. The Cougars hosted AAC foes East Carolina, Memphis, Navy, and SMU, and traveled to South Florida, Temple, Tulane, and Tulsa.^[1]

The Cougars hosted two of their three non-conference opponents, Rice from Conference USA (CUSA) and Texas Tech from the Big 12 Conference. They traveled to Arizona from the Pac-12 Conference. Houston was originally scheduled to travel to UTSA of CUSA but that game was canceled.

More information Date, Time ...

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2[a]	6:00 p.m.	UTSA*	Alamodome San Antonio, TX		canceled[a]
September 9	9:30 p.m.	at Arizona*	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	ESPNU	W 19–16	43,334
September 16	7:00 p.m.	Rice*	TDECU Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)	ESPN3	W 38–3	38,900
September 23	11:00 a.m.	Texas Tech*	TDECU Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)	ABC/ESPN2	L 24–27	36,383
September 30	11:00 a.m.	at Temple	Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia, PA	ESPNU	W 20–13	24,024
October 7	6:00 p.m.	SMU	TDECU Stadium Houston, TX	CBSSN	W 35–22	31,153
October 14	2:45 p.m.	at Tulsa	H. A. Chapman Stadium Tulsa, OK (rivalry)	ESPNews	L 17–45	19,198
October 19	7:00 p.m.	No. 25 Memphis	TDECU Stadium Houston, TX	ESPN	L 38–42	30,001
October 28[b]	2:45 p.m.	at No. 17 South Florida	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ESPNU	W 28–24	32,316
November 4[b]	11:00 a.m.	East Carolina	TDECU Stadium Houston, TX	CBSSN	W 52–27	29,810
November 18	3:00 p.m.	at Tulane	Yulman Stadium New Orleans, LA	ESPNews	L 17–20	19,026
November 24	11:00 a.m.	Navy	TDECU Stadium Houston, TX	ESPN	W 24–14	29,252
December 24	7:30 p.m.	vs. Fresno State*	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI (Hawaii Bowl)	ESPN	L 27–33	20,546
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game All times are in Central time

Close

^{^[a]} The game between Houston and UTSA originally scheduled for September 2 at the Alamodome in San Antonio was initially postponed due to the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. However, on Wednesday, September 6, 2017, officials from the two schools agreed that the previously postponed game would not be made up during the season.^[2][3]

^{^[b]} As a result of Hurricane Irma, Houston played at USF on Saturday, October 28 (instead of November 4), and hosted ECU on Saturday, November 4 (instead of October 28).

Schedule Source:^[4]