Let’s be honest, the term “must-win game” is a complete cliche. Unless you are in the national championship game, there really is no such thing as a must-win.
That being said, this is as close as it comes for Houston this early in the season. Yes, you read that right, a September game against UNLV is absolutely huge for the Cougars.
Now I’ll try to explain myself in 400 words or less.
The first three games of the season have been a roller coaster for the Cougars. Expectations were high before Houston dropped like a lead balloon in the debut of sparkling new TDECU Stadium to UTSA. Thank goodness for Grambling State being absolutely pitiful. Last week at BYU was a microcosm of the season; the type of roller coaster you need to be “this tall” to ride.
Now UNLV is coming to town. It’s the last game before Houston has to run the AAC gauntlet, and the Rebels have not exactly set the world on fire. Their only win was a 13-12 snoozer at home against Northern Colorado; they got pounded by Arizona and gave up 48 points to Northern Illinois last week in Vegas.
UNLV should be low-hanging fruit; but the reason this is a “must-win” game for the Cougars is more about themselves and less about the opponent.
Houston has shown flashes of greatness in the run game. Sophomore John O’Korn finally looked like freshman John O’Korn in Provo last week, but he hasn’t put together a complete performance. The defense gave up huge tracks of land to BYU last week but in spots looked like a team poised to pitch a shut out.
Notice a theme?
The Cougars need consistency, and it needs to happen right now. After UNLV, two of the next three games are UCF and Temple. Those are the types of teams Houston needs to beat if they want to end the year in the upper third of the AAC. It needs to start with consistent play on both sides of the ball, something we haven’t seen yet.
So if you’re watching the game Saturday, or checking out the box score afterwards, don’t just pay attention to the numbers. Dig a little deeper – see if the Cougars are able to sustain drives. Will they go through spurts where they can’t score or give up a bunch of yards on consecutive drives? Will the offensive line and play calling give O’Korn time to get into a rhythm? Can they finally find the answer on special teams?
These are all very important for Houston moving forward, and it starts with the must-win against the Runnin’ Rebels.
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