Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Houston 48, Tulane 17

The Cougars closed out their 2018 home slate with a convincing Thursday night win over the Tulane Green Wave. However, the win was overshadowed by one player's bruised ego and another player's devastating injury.

The Good: The Green Wave had no answer for the Coogs' ground game, which gained 298 yards and three touchdowns. Patrick Carr accounted for 139 of those yards and two scores. Freshman quarterback Clayton Tune took over the offense in the second half and threw two touchdowns. The UH defense forced four Tulane turnovers and only gave up two touchdowns.

The Bad: D'Eriq King suddenly hobbled off the field late in the first half with a freak, non-contact knee injury. It turns out that he tore his meniscus. The Cougars' most explosive playmaker had surgery earlier this week and is out for the rest of the season.

The Ugly: Ed Oliver has not played in a game since being injured against Navy; he may have decided that risking further injury - and a lucrative NFL career - is not worth continuing to play for a mediocre team. He's still a presence on the sidelines, however, and last Thursday decided to stay warm by putting on a jacket intended for use only by people actually playing in the game. Coach Major Applewhite walked over to enforce team rules and take the jacket off of Oliver, and Oliver started screaming at him. The confrontation got national press, and - now that he has revealed himself to NFL scouts to be a disrespectful prima donna - his draft stock is plummeting.

What It Means: The Cougars can clinch the American West division and go to the Conference Championship Game with a win at Memphis on Black Friday. Without D'Eriq King, however, it's hard to see any of that happening (even if Ed Oliver does decide to play).

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