Cougars hoping to cut down on penalties
After multiple costly mistakes in loss to BYU, Holgorsen wants more discipline against Navy
Through two games, the University of Houston has seen plenty of yellow flags thrown on the field.
Some of the penalties have been typical early-season mistakes. Some can be blamed on a lack of discipline or being overly aggressive. A few were questionable calls, depending on whom you ask.
Then there were the ones that coach Dana Holgorsen calls “stupid stuff.”
“Our undisciplined nature with how we played last week is unacceptable,” Holgorsen said of the Cougars’ 43-26 loss to No. 14 BYU on Friday after they entered the fourth quarter with the lead.
UH was whistled 10 times for 113 yards, their second straight game with double-digit penalties. Entering the week, the Cougars rank 75th out of 77 FBS teams to play this season with an average 98.5 yards in penalties, trailing only two other American Athletic Conference schools, Central Florida (102.5) and Tulsa (107.5).
“Wedidn’thave a lot of this stuff throughout the course of the previous (12) games since I’ve been here,” Holgorsen said. “I’m not concerned about it. It just needs to be addressed, and we need to work hard on it. We need to clean it up and become a smarter, more disciplined football team.”
A year ago, in Holgorsen’s first season, UH was one of the least penalized teams in college football with 58 calls in 12 games, an average 4.8 per game that tied for 15th nationally.
What’s changed?
Some of the problems in the opener— a49-31winover Tulane— can be attributed to working out the kinks of a start to the season that was delayed more than a month because of the coronavirus pandemic. BYU presented another set of challenges: a mature, experienced and physical team that was disciplined, not to mention unbeaten and playing its fifth game.
“It’s a collection of things,” said Holgorsen, adding that the Cougars became frustrated at times. “Things that come to light when you play a really good team— and BYU is a really good football team. If we want to get there — which I think we can — we’ve got to learn from that.”
Among UH’s penalties against BYU were three for pass interference, two for holding, two for unsportsmanlike conduct, and one for unnecessary roughness.
Patrick Paul, a redshirt freshman left tackle, was called for unnecessary roughness after yanking BYU linebacker Max Tooley to the ground by his jersey, wiping out a first-down catch by Jeremy Singleton and forcing the Cougars to punt. In the third quarter, running backKyle Porter appeared to get frustrated when BYU defensive back Micah Harper tackled him with the crown of his helmet. Porter retaliated by headbutting Harper — who was ejected for targeting — after the play, drawing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty.
Of UH’s penalty total this season, half have been for pass interference or unsportsmanlike conduct.
“We just kind of lost ourmind a little bit,” Holgorsen said. “We let some — and this is my fault, and I’ve got to get better at it andwork hard on it — of the calls that were happening, good or bad, kind of effect our mindset a little bit from a referee perspective, and that can’t happen.
“The physical nature and the competitiveness which BY U plays, and the discipline that they play, that got to us a little bit. We did a couple of thingswe should not do. We’re still learning as a football team.”
After the game, Holgorsen expressed frustration with the Big 12 officiating, which he is familiar after spending eight seasons atWest Virginia.
“Big 12 refs love to throw flags,” Holgorsen said.
Junior quarterback Clayton Tune called the high number of penalties “early-season blunders” that need to be fixed.
“We just need towork them out in practice and really focus on being discipline,” Tune said.
Cutting down on mental mistakes will be a point of emphasis this week as the Cougars (1-1) prepare to play Navy (3-2), another team known for its discipline. The Midshipmen don’t make a lot of mistakes and have been either 1-2 in fewest penalties in nine of the last 11 seasons.
“One thing that we are going to focus on thisweek more than anything is just being more disciplined,” Holgorsen said. “This is a good week to be able to do it, because you better be disciplined against these guys.”