A pleasant surprise! Last Friday, the Cougars finally found some offensive momentum in route to an upset of the heavily-favored TCU Horned Frogs in Fort Worth.
The Good: Starting in place of struggling Donovan Smith, quarterback Zeon Chriss provided the spark the offense needed. He completed 15 of 18 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown. Even better, he ran for a 71-yard touchdown late in the second quarter. The UH offense amassed 361 total yards in this game (207 of them on the ground) and did not turn the ball over.
Donovan Smith finally entered the game in the fourth quarter after Chriss got hurt and led the Cougars on a clock-chewing 14-play drive that ended in a field goal. Credit to him for continuing to be a competitor even though he lost his job as starter.
On the defensive side of the ball, defensive back A.J. Haulcy pulled down two interceptions. The Coogs forced four Frog turnovers in total. While the story of this game was that Houston's offense finally got on track, The defense's improvement continues be a bright spot to the 2024 season. Through six games last year, the Coogs ranked 114th in total defense. Through six games this season, they are ranked 22nd.
Kicker Jack Martin scored his first points of the season: three field goals and three extra points. Two of those field goals accounted for UH's only points in the second half and kept the TCU from being able to establish momentum for a second-half comeback.
The Bad: Since losing to Georgia in the 2022 national championship game, the Frogs are 8-10. Head coach Sonny Dykes's seat might be getting warm...
The Ugly: Former head coach Dana Holgorsen now works as a defensive consultant for TCU, even as he continues to collect buyout paychecks from the University of Houston. It doesn't look like TCU is getting their money's worth from him, either, as Ryan explains:
Dana Holgorsen’s job at TCU is to prepare their defense for the opponent’s offense. Who better than Dana to get them ready for UH, right?
Houston scored six times (3 TDs, 3 FGS) against the Dana-prepped Frog defense. That’s the most scoring drives UH has had in Big 12 play, including the nine league games Dana coached last season. The six scoring drives match the combined total from Dana’s last two games at Houston.
What It Means: In addition to breaking the back-to-back shutout streak, the Cougars broke a nine-game losing streak to TCU, stretching back to the Southwest Conference. Until last Friday, the Cougars hadn't beaten TCU at Amon Carter Stadium since 1989.
All things considered, this was a milestone win for Willie Fritz and his team.
The Cougars now have a week off to enjoy the win, heal and prepare before going back on the road to face Kansas at Arrowhead Park in Kansas City.
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