At the beginning of every football season, you hear most college football coaches say something like, “we’ll learn a lot about our football team during the non-conference schedule.”
Sounds great. You have four games to find out what’s working and what isn’t, which players are stepping up and which aren’t ready for primetime. Here’s the problem this season for Houston:
The Cougars came out in the season opener and got absolutely stomped by UTSA in the grand opening of TDECU Stadium.
Things got turned around in a trouncing of pitiful Grambling State.
On the road at BYU, Houston got down big early only to mount a big comeback at the end of the first half only to fall flat to start the second half only to comeback to make the final score respectable against a team some think could go undefeated.
Then UNLV came to Houston and got run over to the tune of 399 yards.
So here Houston sits at 2-2; and still trying to find its identity in the bye week before starting AAC action.
Most everyone assumed the Cougars would be a pass-first offense with the return of John O’Korn in the shotgun. So far O’Korn has suffered a bit of a sophomore slump with as many interceptions as touchdowns. That is thanks, in part, to an offensive line that hasn’t been able to keep him upright. Instead, UH has found its best success on offense by running the ball, but they haven’t put together a balanced attack yet.
On defense the Cougars are back to creating turnovers, even though some of them have been in garbage time. The defense has been another “Jekyll and Hyde” case – getting run over by UTSA and picked apart by BYU. They do rank second in the AAC in total defense and scoring defense, but the lows are much more memorable than the highs.
Then there are the special teams. Things were so poor against BYU, coach Tony Levine said it was the worst special teams performance he’d seen in 20 years and changes would be made. That’s not a good place to be in week three when you’ve had the spring and fall camps to determine who should be on the field.
So where are all those answers you normally have after the non-conference schedule? Anyone?
We’ve seen several AAC teams step up and show exactly who they are (hello, East Carolina). If Houston can’t find those answers during the bye week and before UCF comes to town, this could be a long and disappointing season for the Cougars.
Cougars Quick Hits:
- Houston will wear throwback uniforms for the homecoming game against Tulane on November 8. The uniforms will be in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Andre Ware winning the Heisman trophy. The uniforms will be auctioned off to support UH student athletes.
- In case you’ve missed it, check out the new “Nissan Heisman House” commercial that features Andre Ware and “Shasta”.
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