Houston coach Dana Holgorsen really wanted to get his media responsibilities out of the way after the Cougars beat Auburn in the Birmingham Bowl.
Holgorsen’s news conference after Tuesday’s 17-13 win followed Auburn coach Bryan Harsin’s. And Holgorsen wasn’t thrilled about how long Harsin talked with the media members in attendance. When Holgorsen was asked to make an opening statement about his team’s victory, he immediately complained about having to wait for Harsin.
“Yeah, need to have separate press conferences during this,” Holgorsen said. “We won the game and I’m just standing out there for 20 minutes, I don’t quite understand that. I’d get that together.”
Holgorsen also wasn’t a huge fan of the food in Birmingham either.
Birmingham was great, Dana Holgorsen says. He mentions the stadium, the bowl committee, and the accommodations.
“The food could have been better.” #GoCoogs
— GoCoogs.com (@gocoogs1) December 28, 2021
Houston’s win could have been better too, but Holgorsen probably isn’t complaining too much about his team finishing the season at 12-2. The Cougars’ win over the Tigers (6-7) was a slog and the game could have turned disastrous in the fourth quarter when an inexplicable throwback pass to quarterback Clayton Tune was intercepted with Auburn leading 13-10.
The Tigers had to punt on their ensuing possession, however, and Houston capped an eight-play drive with a TD pass from Tune to Jake Herslow that turned out to be the game-winning score.
And whatever annoyance Holgorsen had about waiting for his news conference disappeared quickly. He was very proud to be bringing the Birmingham Bowl trophy back to Houston with him on the plane.