The Cougars, plating their first game in almost a month, fell behind early but mounted a 21-point rally in the fourth quarter to tie the game with 28 seconds remaining. Then they allowed Memphis to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired.
The Good: Down 6-27 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Cougars rattled off 21 unanswered points to tie the game. Quarterback Clayton Tune threw touchdown passes to Marquez Stevenson and Bryson Smith and ran for another score, while the UH defense held the Tigers to 13 yards on three possessions during the same time period.
The Bad: The Cougars wouldn't have had to make such a ferocious rally had they played better football in the first half. Houston had to settle for field goals on their first two trips into the red zone, and were held to three-and-outs on two other possessions. Clayton Tune threw an interception and was sacked and fumbled for a Memphis touchdown on consecutive possessions. That, combined with Memphis quarterback Brady White's ability to pick apart the Houston defense (he had 245 passing yards on the afternoon), meant that the Tigers were able to score 24 unanswered points on the Cougars.
The Ugly: The Cougar defense during Memphis's final drive was an embarrassment. Brady White was able to make easy completions for 12 and 22 yards, and was aided by by a pass interference penalty committed by Cougar safety Thabo Mwaniki, to get the Tigers into easy field goal range in the game's final half-minute. Mwaniki's penalty was one of seven for 75 yards on the Cougars; the Tigers didn't have any.
What It Means: The Cougars end their COVID-truncated regular season with a 3-4 record. Memphis has now beaten Houston five years straight.
Next up for the Cougars is a Christmas Eve trip to the Metroplex to play Hawaii in the New Mexico Bowl, which is being played in Frisco, Texas due to skyrocketing COVID levels in Albuquerque.
Yeah, it doesn't make any sense to me, either. But very little has made sense this season.
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