Teams Often Score

TEAMS OFTEN SCORE 100 points in a basketball game. But in 1968, coach Bill Yeoman and his University of Houston Cougars reached that mark in football.

During the 1964 season, Yeoman experimented with his quarterback taking the snap, faking to the fullback, and continuing down the line of scrimmage—an offense called the veer option attack. The signal caller had the option to pitch the ball to a trailing halfback or keep the pigskin himself. Houston practiced the play the following season but never utilized it in a game.

With five straight losses to open the 1965 campaign, however, the Cougars added the veer option attack and didn’t lose again. Over the next three years, Houston rolled up incredible offensive numbers.

In the final game of the 1968 season, the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes visited the Astrodome. The Cougars dominated, leading 24–0 at halftime. Tulsa opened the third period with a touchdown, but then Houston’s veer shifted into overdrive.

The Cougars added 27 third-quarter points and 49 in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 touchdowns, 13 extra points, and a field goal to reach triple digits. Twelve different UH players scored in the 100–6 victory as Houston totaled 762 offensive yards, including 555 rushing.

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POINT Coach Bill Yeoman developed one of the most productive offenses of all time. Because of its success, hundreds of high school and college teams—including Air Force and Rice—continue to run the largely unchanged veer attack.

Jesus told his followers how to be productive in sharing the gospel. But instead of talking about scoring points, he told a story about planting seeds. Birds ate some seeds. Other plants couldn’t grow because of shallow soil. Thorny weeds choked out some young sprouts. But some seeds fell on good soil, multiplying 30, 60, or 100 times. When we share the gospel with others, some never hear. Others become excited at first, but fall away. Satan chokes out the Word for some. But a few hear about Christ, accept him, and tell others the Good News. They reproduce themselves 30, 60, or 100 times. Now that’s success!

GOAL! Read Jesus’ parable in Mark 4:3-20. God can reproduce your faith when you witness to others.