It’s a Good Time to Be the Houston Cougars

The Houston football official Twitter account says it all:

With 3 straight wins, #ItsGood2Be a Houston Cougar. Join us Saturday at 2:30 pm for Homecoming! #GoCoogs pic.twitter.com/qdA8FXgqBG

— Houston Football (@UHCougarFB) November 3, 2014

With three wins in a row, not only is it a good time to be a Cougar, but it’s a good time to be in first place. Yes, you read that right, first place. Sure, there are five teams in the AAC tied at the top with a 3-1 conference record, but none have the momentum of this pride of Coogs.

Houston has not only vaulted to the top of the AAC standings, but UH is now the No. 2 team in the AACFootballFever.com Power Rankings, just a few points behind ECU, who has dominated the top spot all season long. For many it’s hard to believe the Cougars are in this spot, especially considering how this season started with an embarrassing loss to UTSA and the conference opener against UCF.

Nowadays that seems like a distant memory.

The 2014 turnaround seemed to reach a crescendo Saturday with a 27-3 thumping at USF. It was the second-straight road win for the Cougars, and was a true showcase of how the Coogs have been able to build momentum.

On offense, it’s been a new ground-and-pound mentality. Once Greg Ward, Jr. took over at quarterback, it was clear the Cougars wanted to create a new identity and establish the run. Against USF it was mission accomplished; Houston had 217 yards on the ground and three rushing touchdowns. Both Kenneth Farrow and Ryan Jackson averaged more than four yards per carry.

“If we don’t go out there and we don’t get a rhythm on the ground it’s kind of hard for us, it kind of makes us one-dimensional,” said Farrow after the game. “We gotta make sure we continue to have that success.”

Throw in Ward, who oh by the way completed 15-of-19 passes against the Bulls, and UH has a three-headed monster on the ground. That kind of success typically leads to good things in November and beyond.

But let’s be honest, as much as the offense has contributed to this winning streak, Houston hangs its hat on the defense. And it has been simply stifling.

Since halftime of the Memphis game, the “Third Ward” defense has given up just 16 points in 10 quarters. The three-point effort by USF was the Bulls’ lowest scoring output since October of last season. And thanks to a fourth quarter interception, the Cougars extended their streak to 31 straight games forcing a turnover — the longest in the nation.

So why not extend that other streak?

Head coach Tony Levine was quick to say Saturday his focus isn’t on first place, but the next game against Tulane. Farrow toed the company line as well. But that won’t stop me from peeking at the schedule, coach. The next three games are against Tulane, Tulsa, and SMU: all in the bottom half of the conference. Without ECU on the schedule, it could all come down to a December 6 showdown in Cincinnati.

In my one-on-one interview with Linebacker Efrem Oliphant, he told me, “We have to take it one game at a time and it comes down to playing Houston football.”

With this new-found formula of success, Houston could very well be defined as “first-place football.”