Houston Opens Investigation After Football Player Bizarrely Slaps Opponent After Demoralizing Loss

Houston football's 2022 regular season did not end on a high note. Rather, it ended with something of a slap in the face— literally.

On Saturday night, the Cougars hosted the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in H-Town with an eight-win record on the line. After getting ahead 24-20 at halftime, they were out-scored in the second half and lost to the visitors 37-30.

Following the game, as is standard, players from both teams met at midfield to shake hands with the opponents and catch up with cross-state friends. Among them, Houston senior linebacker Donavan Mutin and Tusla senior defensive back Bryson Powers, former high school teammates, were chopping it up.

As they looked back on old times and broke down the game that had just gone final, Cougars wide receiver Samuel Brown walked up. He proceeded to point at Powers and slap him in the face before walking away.

Although the context is unclear, the (pretty weak) slap seemingly came out of nowhere.

Both Powers, who got slapped, and Mutin, who watched the slap go down, were baffled. The former was also pretty pissed, and understandably so.

Here's a lengthier look at the Houston/Tulsa postgame slap exchange:

In response to 'The Slap Heard Around Houston,' as I have named it, Cougars vice president for athletics Chris Pezman and head football coach Dana Holgorsen released a joint statement. They have opened an investigation and will proceed accordingly.

This type of conduct is taken very seriously, and the behavior is not reflective of our values or the standards of our program. We are in the process of gathering more information and will take the appropriate steps moving forward.

Brown's slap is not a good look out of context. More than likely, it also isn't a great look in context.

Either way, Houston is on the case. Should the incident warrant punishment, it will be issued.