Jones proves worth as jack-of-all-trades
From week to week, Marcus Jones is never quite sure where he will be on the football field.
“If it’s offense this week, it might be defense next week,” Jones said. “I never really know what position I’m going to play.”
One regular address for Jones: punt returner.
The University of Houston’s Mr. Do Everything was on display Saturday night.
Jones provided UH’s only points of the first half with a 73-yard punt return. He added a 47-yard catch for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Cougars rallied for a 28-20 victory over Navy.
Before the season, coach Dana Holgorsen said the Cougars would look at ways to use Jones as a two-way player. Just not at the expense of weakening the defense or overusing one of the team’s top playmakers.
Through four games, Jones has been used more on offense than even he thought would happen. Against the Navy tripleoption, Jones’ services were not needed at cornerback and he played the entire game on offense. It was a similar situation against Rice in Week 2.
“He’s a heck of a player,” Holgorsen said. “We’re not going to be able to keep doing this with him. He’s one of our better cover guys. We’re going to need that next week (against Tulsa). It just worked out.”
Jones has played offense in three of UH’s four games this season. The only exception was Sept. 18 against Grambling State. He made his impact felt anyway.
The All-American returned a 48-yard punt for a touchdown and is just the fifth player in school history with multiple returns for scores in the same season. The school record is four, set by Don Bean in 1966.
“That punt return stuff, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Holgorsen said.
Jones did not practice Tuesday and Wednesday leading up to the Navy game because of a hamstring injury, Holgorsen said. On Thursday, knowing he would not be a part of the defensive game plan, Jones made his case to be used in certain offensive situations.
He had three catches for 58 yards against Navy.
“I’ll always be a defensive guy first,” Jones said. “That’s just me. I love playing cornerback.”
Some other takeaways from Saturday’s win:
Change of Tune
Through his early season struggles, quarterback Clayton Tune has learned to ignore criticism. That comes with the territory of being a Division I quarterback.
“You learn to block it out,” he said, “because most of the time they really don’t know what they are talking about. Don’t let it get to me and remain focused on what I’m trying to do and what I know I can do. Just block it out and don’t let that invade my space.”
It’s been an up-and-down season for Tune, who led the Cougars to a blowout victory over Rice in Week 2, and the following week against Grambling State left in the first quarter with a hamstring injury. Through it all, Holgorsen has remained committed to Tune as quarterback, a believer that Tune can take the next step in Year 3 of his system. There are few other options with the four other quarterbacks either freshmen or lacking experience.
Two plays that encapsulate Tune’s season:
• A mental mistake to end the first half when he scrambled out of the pocket rather than throw the ball away with less than 10 seconds left. With no timeouts, UH could not get lined up in time, costing a chance at a 38-yard field goal.
“He made a horrible mistake that cost us points,” Holgorsen said. “He can’t do that.”
Tune aggravated the hamstring on the final play.
“I forgot I was nursing an injured leg,” he said. “I’m fine now.”
• In the fourth quarter, Tune remained in the pocket as Navy brought the blitz. He withstood a shot from All-AAC linebacker Diego Fagot and hit Jones with a perfect pass for a 47-yard touchdown to give UH its first lead. Tune completed 18 of his last 21 passes and directed the Cougars on three touchdown drives. He did not commit a turnover.
Running back Ta’Zhawn Henry said the team had faith in Tune.
“He’s QB1,” Henry said. “I’m confident in him, the team is confident, we are all confident.”
Oh, Henry!
Henry had his biggest game as a Cougar with a pair of short-yardage touchdowns. Henry, a transfer from Texas Tech, scored on a 2-yard run late in the third quarter and added a 1-yard score in the fourth quarter.
Henry finished with 11 carries for 54 yards as the Cougars went with a twoman backfield rotation. Alton McCaskill, a true freshman, had a career-high 17 carries and 74 yards.
Mulbah Car was used sparingly as he continues to nurse an injury, and Chandler Smith did not have a carry. Kelan Walker is close to rejoining the team after missing four games due to injury.
“I take it game-by-game, day-by-day,” Henry said. “I know if one man goes down the next man is up. I just stay the course.”
‘D’ steps up in 2nd half
From the opening minute, the UH defense struggled in the first half. Navy needed less than a minute to score on its opening drive, the first points allowed by the Cougars in the first quarter this season. The Midshipmen extended the lead to 17-7 at halftime.
From there, UH allowed only three points and 64 yards in the second half, including 22 on the ground. Navy ran five plays for no yards in the third quarter.
Of Navy’s five second-half drives, two ended with punts, another with a fumble and a fourth-down stop to end the game.
Keeping the momentum
Holgorsen was asked if a comeback win like Saturday’s could serve as a springboard for the rest of the season.
“It’s certainly not going to hurt,” he said.
With the win, UH ended September at 3-1, the only loss to Texas Tech in the season opener. The threegame winning streak is its longest since 2018. There’s also a big difference between 3-1 and 2-2. Or being 0-1 to start AAC play with consecutive road games against Tulsa and Tulane.
“We did a great job bouncing back,” Tune said. “I think we proved something to ourselves — it’s something we knew — but I think it’s good to go out and do it and see the fruits of our labor. I think it was huge for the team.”
Nwankwo returns
Nose guard Chidozie Nwankwo registered three tackles in his season debut. Nwankwo sat out the first three games while his legal matters were resolved following an offseason arrest.