The Cougars overcame a sluggish start in front of a raucous Alamodome crowd to rally from a 14-point deficit and kick what should have been the game-winning field goal with 23 seconds left in the game. Alas, the Roadrunners marched down the field to kick the tying field goal in the time remaining. Three agonizing overtime periods ensued before the Cougars were able to escape with a win.
The Good: Early in the fourth quarter, Derek Parrish deflected a pass by UTSA QB Frank Harris that landed into the hands of Nelson Ceaser for an interception. One play later, Clayton Tune found Joseph Manjack IV in the endzone, who made an amazing one-handed catch to tie the game. In the third overtime, Tune somersaulted over a UTSA defender and into the endzone to score what would be the game-winning two-point conversion.
The Bad: For much of the game the Cougars just looked rough. Dropped passes. Poor tackling. Stupid penalties, including several jumps offsides, two kickoffs out of bounds, and a holding call that negated what would have been a Tank Dell punt return for a touchdown early in the game. Tune looked tentative at times, holding onto the ball too long, taking four sacks, and fumbling once. The offense sputtered, as four Houston possessions were three-and-outs. The UH defense, meanwhile, was frustrated by Harris all afternoon, as the Roadrunner signal-caller ended the game with 337 passing yards and three touchdowns as well as 63 rushing yards and a touchdown.
The Ugly: UTSA was able to march down the field to kick the game into overtime with 23 seconds left on the clock and no time outs. That is inexcusable on the part of the Houston defense and suggests that the Cougars' secondary could be a real liability this season.
What It Means: Respect needs to be given to the Roadrunners. They were 12-2 and conference champions a year ago, they were playing in front of the fifth-largest crowd in UTSA program history (I was there; it was loud), they had a ten-game home winning streak going, and they had that game circled as a statement win. That the Cougars were able to grit it out in spite of all the mistakes they made and win in a grueling three overtimes is a testament to this team's character. There's a lot of work that the Cougars need to do, but don't let the final score or three overtimes take away from a hard-fought, quality road win for Houston.
Next up for the Coogs (who dropped one spot in the AP poll) is a trip to Lubbock to take on former SWC and future Big XII rival Texas Tech.
Chris Baldwin shares his thoughts on what he calls an "epic game", while Brad Towns breaks down the "kill shot" that was Tune's pass to Manjack after the interception.
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