Cougars have chance for a signature win
In what seems like a lifetime ago, the University of Houston was among the most talked about football programs outside the Power Five establishment.
Four years ago, the Cougars were coming off a 13-1 season and New Year’s Six bowl appearance and seemed destined for a long run as the top Group of Five program. There was the brief flirtation with the Big 12, followed by two of the biggest wins in school history against Oklahoma and Louisville, both No. 3 at the time, during the 2016 season.
It was a memorable twoyear stretch.
It was short-lived. Things have not been the same since.
After two seasons as head coach, Tom Herman left in a hurry for Texas. Major Applewhite lasted only two mediocre seasons.
A chance to finally get a signature win under secondyear coach Dana Holgorsen will come Friday night when the Cougars play No. 14 BYU at TDECU Stadium.
“It’s a good opportunity for us to show what we’ve got and put Houston back on the map,” wide receiver Keith Corbin said.
The journey the last three years has left UH wandering the boondocks of college football. They haven’t been back to the American Athletic Conference championship game since 2015. A run of six straight seasons in mostly middle-tier postseason bowl games ended last year. In the annual pursuit for a lucrative bowl, UH has been passed by Central Florida, Memphis, Cincinnati and SMU, among others, in the Group of Five pecking order.
After going 4-8 last season, Holgorsen can see progress.
Exhibit A: the Cougars remain a destination for some of the top high school prospects and onetime national recruits at Power Five programs eager to come home.
Exhibit B: The Cougars staged a 17-point comeback to beat Tulane 49-31 in last week’s season opener, the first encouraging sign in a season that had delivered bad news on a weekly basis with five September games called off because of COVID-19 issues.
UH is receiving votes in the most recent Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Top 25 polls. A win over BYU — rarely challenged during a 4-0 start — would at least toss UH back into the national discussion and add another contender to what is expected to be awild AAC race.
“It can either make youor it can’t,” Corbin said. “Hopefully this game can get this program back to what it used to be in 2016. I feel we are ready for the challenge and ready to put on a show.”
For that to happen, the Cougars must end a streak of seven straight losses against Top 25 opponents dating to the end of the 2018 season, six of those coming during a brutal schedule a year ago. Since beating Louisville late in2016, UH has just two wins over a ranked opponent, both times against South Florida.
After Friday, the schedule does not get any easier with remaining games at No. 8 Cincinnati and No. 17 SMU and against Memphis and UCF, which were ranked earlier this season.
“It’s a big game just because it’s the next game,” linebacker Donavan Mutin said of playing BYU. “We don’t play up or down to anyone. They are a great team. We have to be ready to play.”
There was plenty for Holgorsen to like — and some not-so-much, like five turnovers — in the win over Tulane. UH held the Green Wave to 211 total yards, including 70 on the ground, and was able to get consistent pressure with six sacks, 12 tackles for loss and five quarterback hurries. Defensive end Payton Turner had a career performance with two sacks and4½ tackles for loss.
Through one game, UH leads the nation in total defense, second in passing defense and third in rushing defense. On offense, the Cougars are third nationally in scoring with an average 49 points per game.
“I would like to think we are going to have a good defensive plan, and we are going to have something to prove playing against one of the best offenses in the country,” Holgorsen said.
Led by quarterback Zach Wilson, BYU is the No. 5 offense in the country, averaging 556.8 yards per game.
Wilson has completed 81 percent of his pass attempts for 1,241 yards with eight touchdowns and only one interception. He’s also ran for six touchdowns.
BYU is equally impressive on defense, allowing 250.5 yards, which ranks fourth nationally.
But after winning the first three games against Navy, Troy and Louisiana Tech by an average 41 points, BYU narrowly beat UTSA 27-20.
“We are fired up because we have been hearing that, ‘Oh, your strength of schedule is … whatever,’ ” BYU wide receiver Gunner Romney said, according to the Deseret News. “Houston is a goodteam, sowe are excited for the challenge, and we are ready to amp it up this week.”