Time to punch back
Bruised, angry defense resolves to fix what broke
The University of Houston returned to practice Sunday night “agitated and ticked off,” coach Major Applewhite said, after one of the worst defensive performances in school history.
The Cougars were torched for 704 yards and nine touchdowns in a 63-49 loss to Texas Tech. Alan Bowman, a true freshman making his second career start, threw for 605 yards.
“I saw a team that was agitated and ticked off,” Applewhite said Monday at his weekly news conference. “That’s really where our team was (Sunday), and they were that way in the locker room. I saw it in their eyes.”
After suffering its first loss of the season, UH (2-1) must search for answers with Texas Southern, an FCS school, on tap Saturday and an open date before the start of American Athletic Conference play Oct. 4.
Forceful response
“They fully expected to win, prepared to win and were ticked off that they didn’t win,” Applewhite said. “That’s your response as a coach Sunday. Who’s going to walk through the door, and what are they selling?
“When you look at their body language, how they approach practice, and how they come to meeting, they were irritated and wanted to win. You saw clenched jaws and a bunch of guys that wanted to go to practice. You didn’t see them on the sideline in yellow jerseys saying they were hurt. You saw guys who couldn’t move their arms because they played (100) snaps on defense going out to practice.”
Three weeks into the season, a UH squad that has AAC title and New Year’s Six bowl aspirations suddenly, but perhaps not surprisingly, looks vulnerable. The secondary was expected to be improved, especially with the investment in two new coaches and addition of two transfers from Power Five schools into the starting lineup, but ranks 128th out of 129 nationally in pass defense (427 yards) and 127th in total defense (558 yards).
Making matters worse, senior safety Garrett Davis was lost for the season with a broken left foot.
Against Texas Tech, the Cougars had a whopping 18 missed tackles that led to nearly 200 yards after contact. Tech had nine completions that covered at least 20 yards, including plays of 54, 58 and 57 yards. The 704 yards were the thirdmost allowed in school history, and the 63 points tied for the fifth-most.
Applewhite said the missed tackles came down to technique, which will be stressed in practice this week, and could lead to some personnel and scheme changes.
“When you don’t play well on defense, and you come out and say we didn’t take the ball away and we didn’t tackle, that’s common,” Applewhite said. “It’s been said for a thousand years in football. If it’s the guy, then we need to replace him. If it’s not the guy, then what are we doing and what are we coaching? Do we need to coach it better, do we need to drill it better, do we need to take some off his plate so he can play cleaner and faster?”
A week after Arizona ran 100 plays, Texas Tech also hit the century mark, putting a strain on an already overmatched unit that lacks depth. With its quickstrike offense, UH was on the field only 24 minutes, 22 seconds compared with Tech’s nearly 36 minutes.
Avoiding Oliver
In addition, Texas Tech’s offensive game plan called for getting rid of the ball quickly, essentially neutralizing the impact of AllAmerica defensive tackle Ed Oliver, who often faced double- and sometimes triple-team blocks. The Cougars did not have any quarterback pressures and failed to force a turnover.
“In terms of the pressure to the quarterback,” Applewhite said, “some of it was not winning your one-onone battles, some of it was execution, and some of it, you come out of the game and say, ‘We need to do more of this and less of that.’”
After Saturday’s game, Oliver said how the Cougars respond from the loss may determine the rest of the season.
“This is when you see teams turn and be great or see teams fall apart,” he said.