Cougars still have a few areas to clean up
Shaky offensive line bailed out in opener
As season openers go, the University of Houston’s threeovertime thriller to beat UTSA offered a lot to unpack for Dana Holgorsen and his coaching staff.
“There’s so much we can learn from,” Holgorsen said.
There is little time to waste as the No. 25 Cougars hit the road again for Saturday’s showdown against Texas Tech in Lubbock.
Many of the issues encountered by the Cougars, especially on offense, were the type of firstgame mistakes that are easily fixable but could have been disastrous against a quality opponent like UTSA.
UH struggled to get the offense rolling, finally coming alive for 30 points in the fourth quarter and three overtimes.
“There were a lot of self-inflicted wounds,” said quarterback Clayton Tune, who flipped into the end zone for the gamewinning 2-point conversion as the Cougars avoided the upset 37-35. “We watched the film and learned from it. We know what we need to work on.”
Some of that, Holgorsen said, was a product of Tune being uneasy in the pocket for three quarters as UTSA kept the pressure on an offensive line that struggled in pass protection (four sacks). UH played most of the game without top tailback Ta’Zhawn Henry, who was limited to eight carries with an ankle injury that forced an extended look of USC transfer Brandon Campbell and Stacey Sneed. Crowd noise created problems as the Cougars were flagged for false starts six times.
UH did not record a pass play longer than 12 yards until a 37yard completion to Matthew Golden that helped kick-start a 14-point comeback in the fourth quarter. For the game, UH averaged 4.6 yards per play compared to six yards for the Road
runners. It was just the third time in the past 12 years that a Holgorsencoached team has lost the yards-per-play statistic by that much and still won the game.
“We were efficient on offense; we just weren’t explosive,” Holgorsen said.
The Cougars committed only one turnover, a fumble by Tune in the first quarter, that was quickly erased when the defense forced a UTSA drive to stall near midfield.
And when UTSA quarterback Frank Harris threw an interception — hit by Derek Parish as he released the ball and picked off by Nelson Ceaser — the Cougars needed just one play to tie the game at 21 on a one-handed touchdown grab by Joseph Manjack IV.
Holgorsen said the Cougars performed well in critical-down situations. UH was 13-of-21 on
third down, including five conversions during an 18play, 77-yard drive that consumed 10 minutes, 30 seconds off the clock and led to Bubba Baxa’s goahead field goal with 23 seconds left in regulation. UH scored on all six trips
inside UTSA’s 20-yard line, including four touchdowns.
Tune said the noise factor of the Alamodome played a role in preventing the Cougars from being more explosive. As for another game in a hostile environment
this week, Tune said the Cougars will attempt to push the tempo by getting plays relayed quicker from the sideline.
“I think it gives us a lot of confidence knowing we can play from behind,”
Tune said of the overall takeaway from Week 1.
Tune added the Cougars have three sayings that apply to the entire team.
“When the score is even, you execute and compete,” Tune said. “When you’re down, you don’t panic. When you’re up, you don’t coast. That’s just something we try and live and play by. I thought we did pretty well and that gives us confidence going into next week and the rest of the season.”
On defense, the same applies as the Cougars look to clean up mistakes.
“We gave up too many points. That’s not our standard,” linebacker Donavan Mutin said. “(UTSA) is really, really good. I’m not taking anything away from them. They could beat us, and it almost happened.”
Mutin offered some of the same “self-inflicted wounds,” saying the Cougars struggled with missed tackles and missed assignments. UTSA had eight explosive plays that
accounted for 215 yards and three touchdowns.
“We can get so much better,” Mutin said. “As a team, I’m glad that happened in Week 1 because that’s going to make us better for any other encounter.”
Defensive coordinator Doug Belk praised the Cougars for getting several big stops, including by cornerback Art Green and nickel Jayce Rogers, and for a pass rush that resulted in three sacks, five pressures and 12 quarterback hits.
Belk said the Cougars have areas to address, including the two-minute drill. With no timeouts and 23 seconds left in regulation, UTSA was able to complete two big pass plays to set up a tying field goal to force overtime.
“We have a lot of things to clean up,” Belk said. “Our guys are motivated. They thought we could have played better at times.”