This was another competitive effort by the Cougars - they found themselves trailing by only five points midway through the fourth quarter - but a interception returned by Cincinnati for touchdown late in the game sealed the Coogs' fourth loss of the season.
The Good: The weather. The first true cold front of the fall rolled in the day before, providing a mild, sunny day for the game.
On a day that featured multiple quarterbacks for UH, wide receiver Bryson Smith got behind center and threw one pass - a beautiful 50-yard touchdown strike to Jeremy Singleton. UH special teams blocked a Cincinnati field goal, while Dane Roy averaged 54 yards on his four punts.
The Bad: Houston turned the ball over five times, allowing the Bearcats to score 21 points off turnovers. When the Cougars weren't turning the ball lover, their receivers were dropping passes, including some that should have been easy completions. Houston's defense didn't have a good answer for Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder, who ended the day 14 of 24 for 263 yards and three TD passes.
The Ugly: Houston's clock management at the end of the first half. They had two time outs remaining, and could have used them to at least get into field goal range. Instead, they just let the clock tick away. I expected better from an experienced coach like Dana Holgorsen.
Also, the officiating. What should have been a clear targeting penalty against Cincinnati in the first half was overturned, and a ticky-tack hit out of bounds call against Houston turned what should have been a fourth down into a first down and eventual Bearcat touchdown. Shortly thereafter there was a blatant hold by a Cinci lineman that everybody in the stadium except the refs saw. I'm not going to claim that any of these calls changed the outcome of the game, but these referees (and the league as a whole) should be ashamed of themselves for their incompetence.
What It Means: The Cougars are now 0-2 in conference and staring a losing season the face. They now travel to New England to face Connecticut.
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