Air of mystery surrounds UH
TUCSON, Ariz. — They have a new head coach, an almost entirely new staff and will unveil a new quarterback.
Throw in no game tape because of a Week 1 cancellation, and the University of Houston opens the season Saturday night against Arizona as big a mystery as an Agatha Christie novel.
“That’s our advantage,” UH wide receiver Linell Bonner said. “They don’t
know what we’re going to do.”
Adding to the suspense: Major Applewhite, who will make his regular-season head coaching debut, broke with tradition and did not release a depth
chart this week.
One thing is certain, though, the Cougars will start a Kyle at quarterback. But even that’s of little help to Arizona’s game planning for either Kyle Allen or Kyle Postma.
“I think it’s a slight edge that we didn’t expect we’d have,” said Allen, the Texas A&M transfer who is the presumed favorite to begin the season under center.
Teams generally get some idea what a team looks like personnel–wise after the first week of the season. UH, however, had its opener at Texas-San Antonio cancelled due to massive flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey.
So what will the Cougars look like when they take the field at Arizona Stadium?
Whether Allen or Postma, the Cougars should be able to open up the passing game after years of Greg Ward Jr., who had the ability to throw but often turned busted plays into big gains because of his ability to run. Brian Johnson was hired as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, although it stands to reason the offense could look familiar with Applewhite in that role the previous two seasons.
Mark D’Onofrio, who most recently coached at Miami, was hired as defensive coordinator but said not to expect any wholesale changes as the Cougars continue the same attacking, multiple-scheme defense that feeds off turnovers.
Otherwise, there have been few clues.
That has forced Arizona to search elsewhere, including game tape of Allen from two years ago when he was a starter for the Aggies.
Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez admitted the Wildcats will “be in the dark” in terms of UH’s personnel and schemes.
“We don’t know exactly what they’re going to do because it is their first game with a new staff,” Rodriguez told Arizona reporters.
“There are a lot of unsure things in our minds about that.”
Besides quarterback, the biggest question mark on offense for the Cougars is whether the backfield, led by Duke Catalon and Dillon Birden, can be productive after struggling last season.
On defense, UH must replace stars Steven Taylor and Tyus Bowser (second round to Baltimore Ravens) at linebacker and two other NFL draft picks (Brandon Wilson and Howard Wilson in the secondary).
Asked the difference between last year and this year’s defense, Applewhite said: “More inexperi- enced. Nobody wants to
hear it, but facts are facts.”
During the unscheduled open week, the Cougars attempted to keep a normal schedule after relocating football operations to Austin ahead of Harvey. Not playing, however, cost the Cougars valuable game time to work out any kinks heading into a high-profile showdown on the road against a Pac-12 program.
“Honestly, as a coach, you would always rather have played a game or have some game experience and see how people react under the lights in pressure situations,” Applewhite said. “There is no substitute for game day.”