No player at Houston will ever wear the No. 7 again after this college football season. The football program will retire the uniform number in honor of all-time program greats Case Keenum and David Klingler. A formal retirement ceremony will be held October 29 at halftime of a home game against UCF.
Mark your calendars! #HTownTakeover to retire No. 7 on Oct. 29 to honor @casekeenum7 & David Klingler. Full info: https://t.co/6PcYOlnRmq pic.twitter.com/rc4aq3VDEJ
— Houston Football (@UHCougarFB) October 19, 2016
Klingler still owns a good handful of NCAA records to this day despite playing in the early 1990s, including the record for most touchdown passes in a single game (11 vs. Eastern Washington in 1990) and the record for most passing touchdowns in a single quarter (eight vs. Louisiana Tech in 1991). His record for most average passing yards per game of 467.3 ypg in 1990 also remains an NCAA record. Klingler was named the Southwest Conference Player of the Year in 1990 and would go on to be drafted sixth overall in the 1992 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Keenum also spent some time rewriting the record book during his run at Houston under former Houston coach and current Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin. The Conference USA MVP in 2009 and 2011 led the Cougars to a 13-1 season in 2011 and ended the year with a bowl victory over Penn State. He was a two-time Sammy Baugh Trophy winner at Houston and was the NCAA leader in total offense in 2008 and 2011 and a part of the nation’s top offense in 2009.
The No. 7 will be the third jersey number to be retired by th Houston program. Houston retired No. 11 in 1989 in honor of Andre Ware. The No. 78 was retired in 1976 for Wilson Whitley. There are two Houston players currently wearing the No. 7 this season: Marquez Stevenson and Patrick Rosette. Both will have new uniform numbers in 2017.