Houston 24, Tulane 27

Another late-game collapse by the UH defense. Another overtime. Another loss.

The Good: In the fourth quarter and trailing by seven points, the Cougars put together back-to-back touchdown drives that were as clean and as creative as anything the UH offense has managed all season. QB Clayton Tune was 6 for 7 on these two drives for 96 yards and a touchdown (to Nathaniel Dell), while RB Brandon Campbell, who was held out of last week's game, added eight carries for 24 yards and a touchdown. In between the two scoring drives, the UH defense held Tulane to a three-and-out. Did I mention that there were no penalties?

These two fourth-quarter drives gave the Cougars the lead and showed what the UH offense is capable of accomplishing if they played balanced, mistake-free football. Alas, so much of the team's offensive production this season has been anything but mistake-free.

The Bad: Tulane QB Kai Horton was the team's third-string quarterback, but you wouldn't know it by the way he played. Nowhere was this more evident on Tulane's last drive of regulation. Down seven and with 3:40 on the clock, Horton methodically marched the Green Wave 75 yards down the field in two minutes and 25 seconds to tie the game. Horton's shovel pass to Tyrick James on fourth-and-goal made the entire Houston defense, including DC Doug Belk, look utterly stupid. Horton ended the game with 132 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

The Ugly: Oh, where to begin? Let's see...

• Houston's offense struggled in the first half. The Coogs' first three drives were a punt, a blocked field goal, and a punt. The field goal attempt was actually Baxa's second; the Cougar sideline, for whatever reason, called timeout during his first attempt. Which makes this the first time I have seen a football team ice its own kicker.

• Tune fumbled the ball during a QB sneak in the third quarter, and Tulane ran the recovered fumble back 57 yards for a score. 

• A promising clock-chewing, 15-play drive for Houston in the second half ended in yet another missed Bubba Baxa field goal attempt.

• Houston's overtime possession was an uninspired three-and-out that resulted in Baxa's only successful field goal try of the evening.

• During Tulane's overtime, Houston was flagged for a pass interference penalty that put the Green Wave ten yards closer to the goal line. They scored the game winning touchdown two plays later (The Cougars were "only" flagged nine times for 70 yards this game... Improvement?).

"Ugly" is the only way to describe the state of Houston Cougar football right now. 

What It Means: The Coogs came into their three-game home stand hoping to heal what ailed them; instead, they dropped two out of three and currently possess a 2-3 record. Right now I'm struggling to see where any remaining wins will come from. 

Given next season's conference move, this will also likely be the last time Houston plays Tulane for awhile. The Coogs now have an 19-8 all-time record against the Green Wave; Ryan takes stock of a rivalry coming to an end.

Houston has another Friday night game next week, this time at Memphis. 

Chris Baldwin laments the lack of the creative offense that was supposed to be Dana Hologrsen's hallmark. Andy Yanez takes stock of another overtime loss. Ryan plainly notes that the Cougars just aren't a good team right now.