These stats tell us the story:
U of H
D’Eriq
11/22…175 yards…8.0 yards average
Four WR’s caught the ball
190 Rushing yards
SMU
Hicks
28/43…318 yards…7.9 yards average
Seven WR’s caught the ball
196 Rushing yards
D’Eriq did not “look” right and even confused at times. Was he injured, under the weather? Only our Coaches know the answer. Is D’Eriq “allowed” a bad game? That is why we have multiple QB’s on our squad.
So I am reading the following:
Wind was an issue
We played vs what the defense was giving us
Questions:
How many times have we played against SMU (and T-Tech by the way) the last few years?
Did SMU design a brand new game plan to counter us?
Do we try to impose our “game” vs the competition?
So the obvious come to mind:
We were not ready to play SMU. The stats on both side of the ball do not lie.
Our Scouting department was either ill prepared or was preparing for Halloween
Our defense knew what SMU would do.
I can’t believe for a second that Briles did not have a better offensive plan.
I have to write this. CMA knows that we are not an ATM machine. We need every $ that can come our way. Getting into a well paid bowl does help our football program. For second year in a row we have witnessed another major (no pun intended) meltdown. This is clearly on our leader. You can massage it every which way you can. The buck stops at its feet. Please spare us with the judas leaving us this roster. CMA has been directly involved with recruiting for more than two years. CMA knew what was needed before he even took the job. We have had glaring holes that have not been filled. We were told he is an amazing recruiter. Recruiting players where you need them the most has a direct implication in our results. The facts are there. CMA I am sure is a very nice guy but in case we finish 7-5 or 8-4 past comments should have consequences.
D’Eriq was not the only one that looked confused last night.
The definition of insanity; which, I would replace with failure is to do the same thing over and over again.
Last night was a major (again no pun intended) indictment on CMA. I can be a homer but I always try to be as objective as I can. Our SMU game exposed huge concerns for me.
I do rank King ahead of Ward. Last night’s performance by King lies squarely at the feet of Kendal Briles. He completely took the ball out of his hands.
11 of 22 for King. Three easy drops and a couple throw-aways.
But who take the NCAA leader in points, and near the top in ypg and lets him throw ten times per half?
The SMU QB threw over 40 times. Short routes were open all night if we wanted them (SMU did). Their LBs and DBs played way back. And we never let King have a shot to get warmed up.
Ward Jr has the highest winning percentage in UH history, a career best .848 winning percentage, 2,372 rushing yards the best at UH and 10th of all time, 5th in passing yards UH all time, has won bowl games including a ny 6 peach bowl. Ward has also won the AAC championship.
Does King have a chance to do better? Yes, but its still too early to tell.
I think it’s so funny that because I think King if better, people think I also mean that Ward wasn’t good. I’m not saying that at all. Putting wins and losses on a QB is the most ridiculous stat in football. This isn’t baseball. Yes the QB is the most important position on the team but wins and losses are a team record. Bowl wins are a team record. That is not all on the QB.
The buck absolutely stops at CMA. Not going to dispute that for a second. But I do want to add one more thing to the list here. Our defensive line has been decimated by injuries. I’m not sure if that’s just bad luck or a strength and conditioning issue (Ed was certainly not just bad luck, but not sure about the rest). What was once the sole strength of our defense has now become a weakness, which is almost certainly not CMA’s fault unless our DL was just out of shape and that’s why they are all hurt. Now, the HC does need to have the ability to adjust to compensate for things like injuries, but depth has been a problem all season for us, so I’m not real sure what he can do in that regard now. He can’t recruit new people for the middle of the season.
I’ve just resolved that our offense will simply need to outscore opponents from here out. Whereas once not too long ago I was extremely confident we would win out before the CCG, now I’m having some serious doubts about Temple and Memphis because of our defensive injuries and the fact that opposing defenses are figuring out how to stop our offense. We already know what we have in CMD, but now is the time that we’ll really see what we have with CMA and CKB.
I’m astonished by anyone who thinks this isn’t what we bought by hiring Kendal Briles. This was the deal from day one. We can change defensive staff all we want, but a Briles offense is designed to make every defense on the field look terrible, including the one wearing the same jersey. Refusal to use that offense to it’s full potential is treasonous to the plan set for the season, and I will place the blame for every loss on this year’s schedule on Briles, since we will not field inferior talent in any game.
Yes it is our offense’s objective to outscore the opponent but they are not going to score 41 plus points every game. The 31 lost to SMU and 49 lost to TTU are not bad scores. Most of this blame is on the defense for not doing their job to the fullest.
One problem is that our defense is on the field a long time getting very tired because our offense can score quickly. I’m not trying to come to the defense of the defense but I am wondering if our DC is working them out for shorter rest periods.
2002
Agree with most of what you said.
So on one hand you say the DL has been decimated by injuries…it has…then you say we know what we have in CMD.
Well how is that fair. Defense has lost Davis, Chambers, Owens, Carter, Oliver. And Isaiah Johnson is terrible.
He has devoloped Robinson and Brown …walk on… into respectable LBs. Myers has been serviceable CB from former walk on.
Vs SMU we had Young and Vaughn and Hall playing on DL. Fleming before he got hurt. No pure pass rushers .
And an offense that holds ball 1:30 per possession and forces D to play 15 possessions per game.
You should look at D effeciency ratings for other fast teams…which by way many don’t go nearly as fast as UH and have worse D.
Sorry…not meant to be attack on you…just trying make a point to board.
Am I reading this right? Are people actually defending or justifying the DC? The defense was awful before injuries. Stop using that as an excuse. Bottom line…he’s bad and he has to go. No excuses.
Clueless sorry. TT and UT give up more yards per play on defense. And face less plays because offense go much slower than ours. UH runs 3.10 plays per min. TT 2.65. UT slower than that.
Our offense gets 15 possessions per game…so opponent get 15 possessions per game. Offense average drive time is 1:30 …it’s lowest since 2005. 24 minutes time of possession. Let me know if need more info.
Our offense ran 92 plays vs TT at a pace of 3.78 plays per minute. Snapping ball every 16 seconds in 120 degree heat. Had 25 mins possession.
So TT ran 100 plays at 21 seconds per snap and had ball 35 minutes.
Garrett Davis went down 1st series vs TT.
Darrion Owens was lost 1sr qtr of opener.
Lost only pass rusher Chambers 5 or so games ago.
Played last 2 without Oliver. Carter now lost.
That’s 5 starters . Owens goes down 11 plays into season and has be replaced by former walk on Brown. Davis goes down 1st series vs TT…Sprewell has to play and is Juco with no experience.
Our DL for 2nd half of SMU game…Vaughn, Hall, Young(4th team NG) who was drove 5 yards off los on last TD drive.
Did I mention that we have a future NFL cornerback who can’t cover anybody?? He was a WR. The other CB is former walkon…he’s actually been our best.
Not gonna go around in circles with you. Read my other posts this morning.
99% of people on here have no idea what goes wrong on a play that causes big plays.
My diagram regarding IJ blown coverage yesterday is perfect example…I’ve got people saying well couldn’t someone have bumped the receiver? Why did he jump the slant? He’s the deep guy why did he come up?
Because he’s a human being who loses focus or makes a judgement and his judgement is wrong.
Against USF…they threw a deep ball vs Watkins and he covered it perfectly and made pick in EZ…so CMD did a great job right? IJ gets beat and scheme sucks???
What about last TD drive by SMU where Austin Robinson has TFL for 2 yard loss on 3rd and 1 play…oh the RB ran him over…DC should be fired right?
This isn’t computer football where you put in a play and wait for results…11 guys have got so play it out.
CMA said in radio show regarding that there isn’t any magic plays that coordinators can call…it comes down to man to man battles being won or lost. He was talking mostly about offense and OL not blocking vs SMU.
If Briles OL blocked last game people wouldn’t be questioning his play calling.