Cougars’ season goes from promise to peril
DALLAS — Those loud postgame lockerroom celebrations are gone, replaced by silence and blank stares when the University of Houston players lift their heads long enough to see.
That swagger is gone, too, replaced by doubt about a season of high expectations in free fall.
From 5-0 to two losses in three weeks, the last an embarrassing 38-16 upset to SMU on Saturday night.
From top-10 team to unranked Sunday.
From College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six Bowl to Weedeater Bowl.
From #HTownTakeover to #HTownMeltdown.
How could things go bad so fast?
Cornerback and captain Brandon Wilson paused, then shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said. “Something’s not right,” tight end and captain Tyler McCloskey said.
Maybe this is the Houston team we should have expected. And with key losses on both sides of the ball from last year’s magi-
cal 13-1 run, including the secondary and backfield, that would have been fine. At least the letdown would have been easy.
But, no, the Cougars couldn’t resist.
They had to tease with a dominating win over then-No. 3 Oklahoma in the season opener.
They kept you coming back with decisive wins over teams they should beat (Lamar and Texas State), a gutsy road win (Cincinnati) and payback (Connecticut) in another.
That was September. Flip the calendar to October.
A 46-40 loss to a welldisciplined, triple-option Navy? No shame there.
A 38-31 win — which wasn’t secured until a goal-line stand on the final play of the game — against explosive Tulsa? Lessons learned.
But a 22-point beating to three-touchdown underdog SMU? You know, that SMU, the “private school up in Dallas that’s really trying to get to seven wins.”
“Maybe we’ll go to the Weedeater Bowl,” an SMU staffer said after Saturday’s game, tossing back UH coach Tom Herman’s words from the offseason.
The only fight the Cougars have shown recently came against each other, when linebackers Matthew Adams and Tyus Bowser got into a “scuffle” during a team event.
After Saturday’s game, Herman was asked if “embarrassed” would be an appropriate word to reflect the Cougars’ mood. He said no. What is embarrassing: a few hundred SMU students “storming” the field to celebrate the school’s biggest win in more than 30 years. It’s a scene that also played out in Annapolis, Md., two weeks earlier.
With four regular-season games left and virtually no chance to defend their American Athletic Conference
title, Herman said the goal is to focus short-term on Saturday’s game against Central Florida. Those calls for Louisville in prime time? Be careful what you ask for. Depending on how things shake out, the Cougars could be looking at anything from 9-3 to 7-5.
“The conference is the farthest thing from our mind,” Herman said.
Herman vowed to “leave no stone unturned” in looking for answers.
The Cougars are beaten up and going on nine straight weeks without a break, longer if you count the month of preseason camp.
“We were banged up, but that’s not an excuse,” Herman said.
The offensive line is a mess, having allowed seven sacks (along with 10 tackles for loss) against a SMU defense that entered ranked 109th out of 128 FBS teams.
UH has committed eight turnovers in three games, including a pair of fumbles on back-to-back series that helped put them in an early 21-0 hole.
Remember the good ‘ol days when UH’s calling card was its shutdown defense? It has allowed 115 points and 1,247 yards in three games while forcing just three turnovers.
And there’s also the talk about Herman’s future with the program if Power Five schools like LSU and Texas come calling.
“No question we hear it,” McCloskey said. “We do our best to squash it. It’s not a distraction at all.”
Whatever the case, the Cougars need to find answers in a hurry.
And maybe get an #HTownMakeover in the process.