Eyes on redemption after ugly setback
Erasing Tulsa loss steep challenge vs. potent Tigers
Win or lose, the University of Houston has a 24hour rule before it’s time to turn the page.
This timetable was accelerated with a shorter week to prepare as the Cougars play No. 25 Memphis in a nationally televised game Thursday night at TDECU Stadium.
A key American Athletic Conference showdown against the high-powered Tigers is just the cure for any hangover from last week’s 45-17 loss at Tulsa.
“As soon as we got back home (late Saturday night) we had to bury it and move on,” senior defensive end Nick Thurman said. “Our whole focus is on Memphis. There’s nothing we can do about that.”
The Cougars picked the wrong time for their worst performance of the season. A win would have left UH (4-2, 2-1) alone atop the AAC West division standings and provided some momentum heading into a stretch that includes backto-back games against Memphis and No. 16 South Florida to end the month.
Instead, the West Division is wide open with five teams (UH, Navy, Memphis, SMU and Tulane) all with one loss.
“There’s now a sense of urgency around here,” Thurman said.
While Tulsa represented a “trap game,” Memphis has the Cougars’ undivided attention.
All the reminder UH needs is the 48-44 loss in last year’s final regular season game.
The Tigers are just as dangerous this season, among the national leaders in scoring (40.3) and total offense (490.7 yards). Quarterback Riley Ferguson is tied for third in Football Bowl Subdivision with 19 touchdown passes.
The Tigers (5-1, 2-1 AAC) are coming off a 3027 win over Navy.
“We’re not taking them lightly at all because we know what kind of talent they have,” senior safety Terrell Williams said. “We’re definitely focused on Memphis.”
Said junior cornerback Isaiah Johnson: “This is going to be a tough challenge. I think this will help us cure our hangover.”
For starters, the Cougars have to clean up some problem areas. In the two losses to Texas Tech and Tulsa, the Cougars committed eight turnovers. After a breakthrough against SMU, the Cougars’ second-half offense went back to its futile ways and managed only a touchdown after halftime against Tulsa.
How the Cougars respond the rest of the season, beginning against Memphis, “will define our team,” Thurman said.
“What’s our team going to be like?” he added. “There’s been a lot of talk about how we used to do it in the past. But that’s not important right now. It’s about the 2017 Cougars. Not the 2015 team. Not the 2016 team. It’s about this year. What do we want to leave as our legacy?”
In the wake of the Tulsa loss, Johnson said practices this week were indicative of a team looking for redemption.
“We still have that chip on our shoulder that we lost a game we weren’t suppose to lose,” he said. “That loss only made us stronger. It also brought us together.”
And although faced with a tough stretch to end the season, the Cougars were also reminded of something else this week.
“Our season’s far from over,” Williams said.