Houston 37, Oklahoma State 56

Two games into the season, and a clearer picture of the team emerges. The Cougars are now 1-1, easily beating a team they were supposed to beat (Southern) and losing to a team they were not expected to defeat (Oklahoma State). What troubles me about the Oklahoma State game is not the loss itself. The Cowboys are an improving Big XII program, the Cougars had to face them on the road, and their coach is a MAN!! What bothers me is the UH defense (or lack thereof), which allowed a staggering 701 total yards of offense: 320 yards passing and another 381 yards rushing. That's simply unacceptable.

To be fair: according to somebody who was at the game whose football observations I respect, the Cougars actually played decently on defense (they held OSU to 14 points in the first half and actually led at halftime) until three of Houston's best defensive players - lineman Ell Ash, linebacker Cody Lubojasky and safety Kenneth Fontennette - had to leave the game due to injuries. That essentially gutted the center of Houston's defense, and the Cowboys took advantage by scoring 28 points in the 3rd quarter.

The Unholy Trinity has not been fully exorcised, either: the Coogs only committed five penalties and actually came out ahead in the turnover battle, but special teams were a disaster. Bad snaps cost Houston an extra point and a field goal and Oklahoma State was allowed to run a punt back for a touchdown.

On the bright side, the Cougar offense is better than I expected it to be by this time of the season. The inexperienced receiving corps is still dropping easy passes, but 483 total yards of offense and 37 points is nothing to get angry about. Case Keenum had a great evening, passing for 387 yards, rushing for another 81, completing four touchdown passes and throwing no interceptions. The ground game still needs work, however; the backs combined for just a paltry 15 yards rushing.

So what's it all mean? The fact is: the UH defense just isn't that good. It will likely improve over the course of the season as the younger players get experience, and OSU is probably going to be the most physical team it faces all year, but at the end of the day it's just not very good. There's no depth, either. Ash and Fontennette will likely return for the next game, but Lubojasky appears to be done for the season, and that's a devastating blow to an already-weak linebacking corps.

I’m sticking to my prediction of a seven-win season. While I have no doubt that this team will get better as the season progresses, there are just too many weak spots - especially on defense - for me to expect them to win nine games or contend for the C-USA title this year.

The Coogs' next scheduled opponent is Air Force, which visits Robertson this Saturday afternoon. However, this game might be affected by approaching hurricane Ike. More on Ike in the next post.