UH romps past Arizona, Sumlin
QB accounts for 6 TDs, gets lift from defense in propelling Cougars to rout in Sumlin’s return
QB D’Eriq King accounts for six scores as Houston gives former coach Kevin Sumlin a rude homecoming in a 45-18 rout.
Garrett Davis had just nabbed his second interception of the game and Ed Oliver, a bystander on the University of Houston sideline, wanted to join the party.
“I had to celebrate,” Oliver said with a grin.
All the talk about UH’s new score-in-bunches offense is true. But the Cougars took 45 minutes Saturday to offer a reminder they can also play defense.
UH jumped out to a big lead and crushed Arizona 45-18 in former coach Kevin Sumlin’s homecoming. D’Eriq King accounted for six touchdowns — four passing and two rushing — as the Cougars scored the game’s first 38 points.
Oliver, UH’s All-America defensive tackle, gave a preview of what was possibly to come when he said early in the week that preparation for Arizona and Heisman Trophy hopeful quarterback Khalil Tate had been “something special.”
“Looked pretty special to me,” Oliver said after the Cougars knocked off a Power Five school for the seventh time in the last eight meetings.
Sumlin, who abruptly left UH before the end of the 2011 season, received a smattering of boos from the announced crowd of 32,534 at TDECU Stadium. The Wildcats, who play in the Pac-12, are off to a 0-2 start for the first time since 1981.
Firing on all cylinders
A UH offense that was slow to start in the season opener at Rice had no such trouble against Arizona. The Cougars (2-0) scored touchdowns on three straight possessions to begin the game, led 31-0 at halftime and pulled many of the starters in the third quarter before trotting them back out after the Wildcats pulled within 38-16.
King was 17-of-34 for 246 yards and career-high four touchdowns and added touchdown runs of 1 and 4 yards. For the second week in a row, the Cougars averaged 45 points and nearly 600 yards total offense.
Marquez Stevenson added his team-high third touchdown of the season — a 24-yard catch on the game’s opening series — and had a drop on what would have been an 81-yard score. Romello Brooker, Bryson Smith and Keith Corbin all added touchdown catches as the Cougars exposed a Wildcats secondary that was missing three starters.
“This offense tries to get everybody involved, everybody touches,” King said. “Just finding different ways to get our playmakers the ball is a big thing for (offensive coordinator Kendal) Briles and why I think this offense is pretty good.”
The defense wasn’t too shabby, either.
UH did not surrender any points until 3:16 remained in the third quarter. Arizona had five punts, two turnovers, a missed field goal and a failed fourth-down conversion among its first nine drives.
“The game plan was to contain No. 14 (Tate),” said Davis, who had a game-clinching interception to beat Arizona last season. “He’s a Heisman candidate, elusive quarterback. Containing him was going to be one of our keys to victory.”
In a matchup of early season Heisman candidates, Oliver finished with five tackles (one-half for loss), four quarterback pressures and one pass breakup. Arizona regularly brought double-team blocks against the player some believe could be the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Tate tweaked his lower leg in the first quarter and said the injury did not affect him the rest of the game. He was 24-of-45 for 341 yards with two interceptions. One of college football’s most electrifying runners last season, Tate had only seven rushing attempts for 8 yards, giving him 16 overall in two games.
“It was never about me against him,” Oliver said. “It was how we would stop him as a whole.”
Practice makes perfect
Davis said facing an up-tempo offense and dual-threat quarterback (King) every day in practice helped prepare the Cougars.
“It’s kind of unrealistic how they do it in practice. We were used to it,” Davis said of facing UH’s offense. “They go so fast in practice it kind of slows up in game. You can’t go that fast in the game.”
Additionally, Davis said the Cougars benefited from the heat and humidity of an 11 a.m. start. Arizona ran 100 plays for 531 yards compared to UH’s 80 plays for 551 yards.
“It’s hot in Arizona, but not like it is in Houston,” he said. “I think the heat kind of got to them a little bit. We were able to run around, fly around and corral the ballcarrier whenever we had a chance.”
After allowing 16 straight points, UH’s defensive starters re-entered the game midway through the fourth quarter. On four straight plays, the Cougars stopped Arizona at the 1-yard line.
“To be honest, I thought they scored on one of them,” Oliver said. “I’m just glad they didn’t call a touchdown so we could play physical in the red zone.”