Cougars still trying to settle the score
After halftime, UH’s offense has had tendency to disappear
On the opening drive of the second half against Temple, the University of Houston put together one of its best drives of the season — nine plays, 85 yards and a touchdown to take a 20-0 lead.
Like far too many times this season, it was the last the offense would be heard from the remainder of the game.
“We always want to be explosive and aggressive offensively,” UH coach Major Applewhite said. “Every time you step on the field, you have to score points. It doesn’t matter if it’s the first, second or third quarter.”
The Cougars have done a bulk of their scoring in the first half this season, only for the offense go missing after halftime — a dangerous game of roulette that has to change with a challenging series of games against highscoring offenses, beginning Saturday against SMU (4-1) at TDECU Stadium.
During the next month, Houston will play four American Athletic Conference teams all ranked in the top 50 nationally in scoring offense — No. 3 SMU (48.2 points), No. 9 South Florida (44.8), No. 36 Memphis (35.5) and No. 41 Tulsa (35).
Second-half woes
As the Cougars have learned, fall behind and be forced to catch up — like with a 17-point deficit against Texas Tech in the only loss of the season — and the chances of a comeback are slim.
“That’s something we have been working on,” quarterback Kyle Postma said of the second-half offense. “We need to come out in the second half and not let our foot off the gas. We need to learn to finish.”
UH is averaging 19.5 points in the first half this season, which ranks 22nd out of 130 FBS schools. But over the final two quarters, the Cougars are averaging 5.8 points — 23 total points that also includes a safety — that ranks 120th. At one point, the Cougars went more than 85 minutes without producing an offensive score.
In four games, UH has scored three touchdowns in the second half. More than 60 percent of the Cougars’ 23 second-half possessions have ended in punts.
Applewhite defended the second-half play-calling, saying the Cougars have remained aggressive. Some of the blame can be placed on a struggling run game that hasn’t allowed the team to extend possessions. There have also been the usual culprits: drive-killing turnovers, penalties and dropped passes.
“We still stayed aggressive,” Applewhite said after the Temple game. “By no means did we go into a shell and say let’s just call this thing safe.”
Even before the second half against Temple, Applewhite lamented a blown chance to capitalize on a Temple turnover just before halftime. Instead, the Cougars were forced to punt after having the ball for just 67 seconds.
After the break, UH put together a drive that was capped by a 9-yard touchdown catch by Linell Bonner for a 20-0 lead. From there, however, the Cougars had four punts and managed just 61 yards total offense.
“I was pleased to come out of the half and score. We just did not execute (the rest of the second half). There is no rhyme or reason,” Applewhite said. “We had a chance to really put a dagger in a team that is struggling to score points. We had an opportunity to take that game where they don’t want to go, and we didn’t capitalize on it. That was very frustrating from that standpoint.”
Plagued by ineffecieny
Applewhite pointed to the Cougars’ red-zone struggles as part of the reason for the difficulty scoring, particularly touchdowns. The Cougars have converted only 60 percent of their trips inside the opponents’ 20-yard line (12-of-20) into touchdowns.
With Postma taking over the quarterback job from Kyle Allen, Applewhite said there is also an adjustment period for offensive coordinator Brian Johnson to get familiar with a new quarterback in game situations.
“When you are starting a new guy, you have to get a chance to get a feel for him as a play-caller,” Applewhite said. “I think coach Johnson will continue to learn and grow with Kyle Postma and see what more he can do and what less we need to do in certain areas.”
The learning curve will need to be quick with SMU’s high-scoring offense on tap. The Mustangs, behind second-year quarterback Ben Hicks and wide receiver Courtland Sutton, a projected top-10 NFL draft pick, are averaging 51.3 points in four wins.
“Probably, to this point, the most explosive offense we have played (this season),” Applewhite said.