Houston 7, UNLV 27

 Yeah, it's going to be a long season.

The University of Houston Cougars football team endured a tough 27-7 loss to the UNLV Rebels in their home season opener on Saturday evening.

It marked a challenging start for Houston, as the Cougars went scoreless through the first three quarters, trailing 14-0 at halftime. The Cougars' lone score came in the final minute of the fourth quarter when wide receiver Joseph Manjack IV managed a 2-yard touchdown, narrowing the deficit to 27-7. However, this late effort was not enough to overcome a sluggish offensive performance.

If the 7-27 score, with the Coogs' lone touchdown coming in garbage time, sounds familiar, that's because it is. (They were passing out rally towels to fans commemorating the tenth anniversary of TDECU Stadium's opening. I guess the team decided to do some commemoration of its own...)

The UH defense, in spite of some lapses, actually held its own. They gave up a respectable 20 points and 308 yards of offense, even though they were oftentimes put in bad positions by the offense. They intercepted Las Vegas once and stuffed them on fourth down once. 

The offense, on the other hand, was abysmal. Quarterback Donavan Smith had his worst game in a UH uniform, completing only 15 of 30 passes for 135 yards and two interceptions. He looked tentative, held on to the ball too long, and made poor decisions; it simply wasn't a good game for him. It certainly didn't help that he has no protection from what is probably the weakest offensive line in recent UH football program history. It can neither pass block - Smith was sacked six times - nor run block, as evidenced by the Cougars' pathetic 38 total rushing yards.

It's true that the football program is adjusting to new players, new coaches, new schemes, new everything. It's also true that the Rebels are not a bad team - they won nine games, were Mountain West Conference runners-up, and went to a bowl last year. But I was nevertheless very surprised at just how bad the Cougars looked last Saturday: aside from the poor offense, there were special teams miscues, missed tackles, and too many penalties (ten for 74 yards). This team has a lot of work ahead of them.

Ryan runs some numbers from Fritz's "horrific" debut, while Brad believes that, with this loss, the Cougars "set the bar so low that it is nearly impossible to not improve" as the season progresses:

I don’t believe that hardships build character. I believe that hardships reveal character, and your response to hardships is what builds character. You might also hear that competition makes you stronger. That is partially true because competition reveals your weaknesses. How you address those weaknesses is what makes you stronger.

Next up for the Cougars is a trip to Norman to play the Oklahoma Sooners. They are 29-point underdogs.