The Cougars ended the season by hosting the Navy Midshipmen (not ranked in the College Football Playoff top 25, but #24 in the AP poll) at TDECU Stadium last Saturday night. As has been the case for much of the season, Houston was competitive in the first half. And, as has also been the case much of the season, the Cougars collapsed in the second half. The Cougars end the season by being steamrolled by a service academy for the second year in a row, and close their 2019 campaign with a 4-8 record. (They failed to meet even my modest expectations for the season.)
The Good: When they didn’t turn the ball over, the UH offense was actually very productive. Quarterback Clayton Tune was 23 of 35 for 393 passing yards and four touchdowns, including a 67-yard catch-and-run to Tre'von Bradley early in the game, a 26-yard strike to Courtney Lark, and a 22-yard pass to Marquez Stevenson on a gutsy fourth-and-nine play. Tune also scrambled for 61 yards, and running back Patrick Carr added another 56 yards and a score on the ground. All told, the Cougars amassed 527 total yards of offense. And, although the UH defense was manhandled through most of the game, they did come away with a couple of huge stops on 4th and 1.
The Bad: Alas, both of those 4th down stops were rather quickly followed by Clayton Tune interceptions. Turnovers were the story of this game for the Cougars, as Tune threw 4 picks - all of which appeared to be bad decisions into multiple coverage - and UH special teams fumbled a kickoff return. Three of these turnovers led to Midshipmen touchdowns. Special teams also missed a field goal.
The Ugly: The UH run defense. I lost count of the number of times Navy was able to dive up the middle for a long run or a score, but fullback Jamale Carothers scored on rushes of 8, 17, 75, 29, and 19 yards and ended the evening with 188 yards. Midshipman quarterback Malcom Perry had 146 rushing yards and a touchdown as well; he only attempted four passes the entire evening. UH defenders were continually out of position - it seemed as if defensive coordinator Joe Cauthen and his staff made no adjustments whatsoever during the course of the game - which allowed Navy to amass 447 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns.
The Absurd: After Clayton Tune's pass to Christian Trahan late in the second quarter was ruled down at the one-half yard line, the Cougars had first and goal at the 1 with a chance to take the lead with a touchdown. However, thanks to a series of botched playcalls, sacks and penalties, the Houston had to settle for a field goal from their own 20. This clusterfuck of a series was emblematic of the Coogs’ struggles this season.
What It Means: The disappointing 2019 season - the program’s worst since 2004 - has mercifully come to an end. While the Cougars were competitive in many games they played in, their lack of depth - they oftentimes ran out of gas in the second half - as well as their glaring lack of talent on the offensive line and the defense were simply too great to overcome.
It didn't help that the Coogs faced a particularly tough schedule this fall. In addition to the fact that six of their twelve opponents were ranked in the AP top 25 at the time they met, UH also faced a grueling gauntlet of four games in 19 days to start the season. After finishing that stretch of games with a 1-3 record, head coach Dana Holgorsen took advantage of the NCAA's new redshirt rules to bench several starting members of the team, including starting quarterback D'Eriq King: a controversial decision that caused detractors to accuse him of "tanking" the season. Whether Holorgsen intentionally sabotaged the rest of the season or not, the Cougars would go on to win only three more games in 2019.
Holgorsen and his staff ended up redshirted a whopping 35 players in 2019. Time will tell if this gamble worked, but as of right now I can’t say I’m particularly excited about 2020. I'm afraid it’s going to take more than just one season to rebuild talent and depth on the offensive line, the defensive line and in the secondary. The team is furthermore going to miss departing seniors such as running back Patrick Carr, offensive lineman Josh Jones and punter Dane Roy. Other talented players, such as defensive end Isaiah Chambers, are entering the transfer portal, and I honestly expect the most notable of Holgorsen's redshirts, D’Eriq King, to transfer out as well. The Coogs’ best wide receiver, Marquez Stevenson, will likely opt for the NFL draft.
It's also worth noting that next year’s schedule is going to be just as tough as this one was. Every team the Coogs lost to at home this season - Navy, Memphis, SMU, Cinci, Washington State - they play on the road next season. The Cougars also have to face Central Florida again, South Florida replaces UConn, and there will be no FCS patsy to scrimmage against. Finally, while nobody’s going to mistake BYU for Oklahoma, the trip to be Provo is going to be hard. At least the Coogs get Tulane at home; maybe they can win that one.
Their next game will be at TDECU Stadium against Rice on Saturday, September 5, 2020. They have a lot of work to do between now and then.
On to the offseason.
No comments:
Post a Comment