Gameday Preview: Houston Cougars vs. UTSA

Finally. It’s football season.

No more talking about what could have been last year. No more talking about what might be this season. No more talking about the chance to play in a brand new stadium.

And for the Houston Cougars, the beginning of season brings an intrastate showdown with the UTSA Roadrunners.

The first game of the 2014 campaign will be played at the beautiful new TDECU Stadium with an 8:00 PM Central Time kickoff on Friday, August 29, broadcasted on ESPNU.

“We’re looking forward to being back on campus,” coach Tony Levine said during this week’s AAC coaches conference call. “We’ve got a chance to be on the field last weekend and see the ball under the lights.” (You can read more about the new stadium by clicking here). “Our young men have been working extremely hard.”

There is quite a bit of hype surrounding UH after the Cougars went 8-5 last season, with not a bad loss in the bunch. John O’Korn is no longer a freshman sensation. He’ll be looked at to avoid a sophomore slump and lead this Cougars offense to the next level. There’s no reason to think the train will come off the track.

The Roadrunners are entering just their fourth season in Division I (I refuse to call it FBS). They are led by former Miami (FL) coach Larry Coker, who won a national championship with the ‘Canes. Last year in San Antonio, Houston had a few problems with UTSA before pulling away in the fourth quarter to win 59-28. UTSA did end up winning seven games last year.

So what can we expect to see out of this year’s group of Roadrunners? Much of the same. UTSA returns a whopping 54 letter winners from 2013, including 21 starters – the most of any team in the country.

“The first thing that jumps out at you is their experience,” Levine said. “It’s actually mind-boggling to look on their depth chart and see how many games their student athletes have played. Whether it’s defensive line or offensive line or secondary or receivers they are very, very, very athletic. They’ve got great speed.”

Like Houston, the Roadrunners are a pass-first team. But quarterback seems to be the only position where they have very little experience. The starting signal caller is senior Tucker Carter, but the Roadrunners may use three quarterbacks Friday night. Carter hasn’t started a single game, and that should give the Cougars defense an opportunity to settle in and rattle Carter’s cage. One positive for the untested QB is the return of all five of the top receivers from last year. And UTSA likes to spread the ball around; 12 different players had double-digit receptions last year.

As impressive of the offense looks on paper, where UTSA struggles is on the other side of the ball. It gave up more than 25 points per game last season. Experience and speed is nice and all, but when you’re lining up against O’Korn and company you better also have a boatload of talent. If the Roadrunners have any chance of pulling off an upset, the defense needs to stay off the field as much as possible.

Houston is coming into this game with few problems from fall camp. O’Korn put on 25 pounds in the offseason, which Levine says will make his QB more “durable” this season. The Cougars bring back a lot of experience on the offensive line to protect O’Korn and he has the majority of his favorite targets back in this fast-paced offense.

Defense will be the question mark all season. Houston led the country in takeaways last year. You can’t expect lighting to strike twice, so the Cougars will have to rely on making stops and not just making picks. The defensive line should be salivating at the chance to get into the UTSA backfield. The secondary will face the tougher test, and hopefully won’t leak like it did a year ago in the Alamodome.

Bottom line: there is no reason this shouldn’t be a routing of the Roadrunners. UTSA has never lost a season opener, but then again, it has only played three of them. That streak comes to an end as Houston christens TDECU Stadium with a big win.

My prediction: Houston 52, UTSA 20

Cougars Quick Hits:

• There are still tickets available to Friday night’s game and season ticket packages available. For more information contact the UH Ticket Office.
• This year’s captains are: senior WR Daniel Spencer, senior DL Joey Mbu, junior RB Kenneth Farrow, senior LB Derrick Mathews, senior OL Bryce Redman, and junior DB Trevon Stewart.
• While the Cougars are set at most positions, Levine says he will use a two-punter system to start the season. Dylan Seibert and Logan Piper will drop back to kick, but neither will likely be used much to start the season thanks to the offense.
• This game is on a Friday, and is the first of five games on the schedule not being played on Saturday. Coach Levine said that will keep the coaches on their toes to prepare the team.