A rough end to a rough season.
The Good: The offense scored more touchdowns than they did the two previous games combined, and defense and special teams combined to force three BYU turnovers.
The Bad: Zeon Chriss, in what will probably be his last game as a (Red) Cougar, turned the ball over three times over the course of the game, including a sack-and-fumble late in the game that led to BYU's game-sealing touchdown. The Houston defense struggled to contain (Blue) Cougar QB Jake Retzlaff, who passed for 167 yards and ran for two touchdowns.
The Ugly: This was the last game of the season and the coaching staff wanted to "pull out all the stops," so to speak, but two examples of unnecessarily cutesy or aggressive playcalling early in the game may have doomed Houston's chances to win:
- After recovering a fumble on BYU's first drive and returning the ball to BYU's red zone, Houston's offense attempted to score on a gimmicky reverse pass thrown by WR Joseph Manjack. It was intercepted.
- After scoring first and leading 7-0, the (Red) Cougars elected to attempt an onside kick. This unnecessarily aggressive decision backfired in spectacular fashion when BYU's Talan Alfrey scooped up the ball and ran it back 58 yards for an easy (Blue) Cougar touchdown.
What It Means: For the second year in a row, the Coogs end the season with a 4-8 record. Houston is now 0-4 all-time against BYU.
I'll provide a fuller wrap-up of the 2024 season (as well as an updated attendance graph) in a coming post.
No comments:
Post a Comment