This was the perfect opportunity for the Cougars. Previously-unbeaten Texas Tech and BYU had both been upset earlier in the day. The presence of ESPN College Gameday had put national focus on their game against Utah. Win, and UH would be in the driver's seat for the Big XII Championship and become the talk of the college football world.
Of course, they Cooged It.
The Good: The Cougars slogged their way to a 3-0 lead at halftime and a 10-0 lead until late in the third quarter. WR Amare Thomas had 133 yards receiving. The defense intercepted Utah QB Devon Dampier twice.
The Bad: The interceptions aside, Dampier spent the evening making the Cougar defense look stupid. He rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 204 more. All in all, the UH defense gave up a jaw-dropping 430 yards of total offense. It didn't help that the Cougars were utterly unable to make a tackle.
That said, the defense only gave up 21 points in this game (the last score being surrendered to that the Coogs could get the ball back). That should have been enough, had the offense done its job. It didn't, managing a season-low 13 points.
Connor Weigman was clearly not 100% healthy for this game, and it didn't help that one of his main targets, TE Patrick Overmyer, left the game with an injury early on. The result was an offense that sputtered, only being able to score on three of its ten possessions. Drive-killing penalties didn't help.
The Ugly: Weigman's sack-and-fumble with 2:20 remaining in the game essentially sealed the loss. Credit goes to Utah's defense for drawing up a devastating blindside blitz at the game's critical moment.
What It Means: I had this game penciled in a loss before the season even began. The Utes are a good team and the atmosphere at Rice-Eccles Stadium is as intimidating as any place in the country. So the outcome, while disappointing, is not surprising.
However, if the Cougars are ever going to get to the next level under Willie Fritz, these are the games they need to find ways to win. This loss, as well as the loss to Texas Tech back in September, show that Houston has a lot of work to do before they become on the Big XII's truly elite teams. Ryan deems this game a "missed opportunity."
The Cougars now take a much-needed week off to regroup and recover before hosting Cincinnati.
This was Houston's first-ever loss to Utah; the Coogs were 5-0 against the Utes before Saturday night.
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