Houston 10, Baylor 20

The Baylor Bears came to town to play the Cougars for the first time since 1995, when both schools were still members of the Southwest Conference. They went back to Waco with a win.

The Good: Late in the first quarter, Jeremiah Wilson intercepted a pass from Baylor QB Sawyer Robertson and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown. It was one of three interceptions forced by the Houston defense.

The Bad: Wilson's pick-six was the Cougars' only touchdown of the game; for the fourth time this season, the Cougar offense was unable to find the endzone. Cougar QB Zeon Chriss would throw three interceptions of his own, one of which was picked off in the endzone on first and goal.

The Ugly: The 2024 Houston Cougar offense will go down as one of the worst in program history. Ryan runs the numbers, and they're not good:

UH is last in the country (#133) in scoring offense at 13.6 ppg. Houston’s 18 total touchdowns are tied for last nationally. The Coogs are tied with five other schools at T-127 in rushing touchdowns (7). UH is tied with three teams at T-123 in passing touchdowns (9).

The Cougars are also 133rd (again, last in FBS) in red zone offense, 131st in third down conversion percentage, 129th in total offense, and 126th in passing offense. This season will be the first since 2001's 0-11 season where the Cougars will have scored less than 200 points.

These statistics are simply not acceptable. To that end, yesterday morning head coach Willie Fritz relieved Kevin Barbay of his duties as Offensive Coordinator. Ryan explains that Barbay was a nice guy who just didn't get the job done:

Barbay was affable, friendly, and well-liked personally by his players, but he failed to run a sustainable offense. UH’s offense scored two or fewer touchdowns in 9 of 11 games.

Barbay called plays from the coaches’ box and was seemingly detached from his players and the vibe on the field. An OC in the press box is unable to use the new tablet technology to show players defensive tendencies or areas to attack.

Barbay attempted to throw the ball more in the last few weeks, failing to feature his best offensive weapons. Re’Shaun Sanford averages over 5 ypc but had just 11 and 8 carries in the last two games, respectively.

Zeon Chriss continually struggled throwing, with too many play calls and routes putting him in impossible situations. Barbay’s offense did not get into third-and-manageable situations enough.

Fritz realized his offense needed a spark after going two games without an offensive TD. UH scored one or fewer touchdowns five times this season.

What It Means: The loss to Baylor guarantees a losing season for the Cougars. Fritz has a lot of work to do this offseason shoring up the offensive side of the ball. A better OC will help, but a more-talented quarterback is a must as well.

The Cougars end the season with a trip to Provo to play BYU.