our schedule was weak?
How?
Because we didn’t play Utah and BYU?
Is Cincinatti still consdiered to be a top Big 12 team? Because both Arizona State and Arizona are clearly better teams this year.
Perhaps the first half of the season it appeared that UH had a “weak schedule”, but in hindsight that doesn’t really hold given how things have turned out.
Six of the bottom seven teams in the conference were on our schedule. Three of our four road games were in that number. I think it’s fair to call that a weak schedule.
“We’ve” never had Willie, before Willie.
Pretty sure he’s been recruiting some great players; and I know o-line is probably the top priority; both with HS Players, and The Portal.
Nagle didn’t seem to gave a great day, but it’s hard to tell with our bad the QB played. He made some bad decisions and some bad throws. It was his worst performance of the season, and it mostly looked self inflicted. Hopefully he rebounds and finishes the year strong. The QB has had a strong year overall. We wouldn’t have 8 wins without him.
Outside of Okie Lite and Colorado, the competition from top to bottom isn’t that steep.
The records don’t tell the entire story.
Texas Tech is running over everyone because they bought a roster, but BYU, Utah and Arizona have won some games by margins that could’ve easily went the other way.
By the way, Colorado almost beat BYU.
2026 OL Recruits…
Rhett Gray, 6’7”, 290, out of Weatherford, TX.
3-star / #78 OT
Troy Pless, 6’5”, 295, out of Killeen. TX.
3-star / #109 OT
2025 Recruits…
Demetris Dean II, 6’4”, 280, out of Jasper, TX
4-star, #28 OT
Sean Terrell, 6’5”, 280, out of Spring, TX
3-star, #94 OT
RJ Lee, 6’8”, 335, out of Houston, TX
3-star, #152 OT
While there’s only one 4-star, gotta like the size of most of these guys.
The questions remain…
Which ones are still here (from the 2025 class) and how will they and the 2026 class develop?
Who else will be “on the roster” next Fall, and how are they progressing?
Who will we pick up out of the portal?
I would imagine we pick up 2-3 O-Linemen out of the portal, and will have some money to spend, as needed.
The “star ratings” don’t mean squat to me. Willie is a great talent evaluator.
I anticipate continued improvement and am hopeful this becomes a real Team Strength on the path forward…
We had a favorable schedule but I think TCU will finish 5-4 in league play which could put them as high as 5th.
Also, as I said earlier in the year, OL is maybe the slowest-developing position in Football, and Willie inherited a bunch of traffic cones from Dana. That unit’s probably still a year away from being a year away.
Willie needs to go after Boo Carter (from Tennessee). He’s not a lineman. But he can meet all kinds of needs for the Coogs.
Phenomenal Hybrid d-back / linebacker type. Receiver. KICK RETURNER. Probably a better “pure athlete” than anyone on UH’s Roster.
He hit the portal this past week and is an “Absolute Stud”…
Agreed, but we (here on this MB) should dive deeper into what we have.
I believe the Coogs can (and will) continue to improve through the portaI in the meantime…
We brought in a ton Offensive lineman through the transfer portal during free agency. It was a given that the line was going to take a few games to mesh together.
Yeah, there was “some” improvement with that bunch, but no difference makers.
The next batch of Transfer Portal guys (again, o-line specific) needs to have a couple of stud grad-transfers, or, better yet… experienced starters with several years remaining eligibility.
Gonna have to spend some NIL $.
Other than that…
Also, when we played Arizona 90% of their receptions on the season, was on the bench. Their starting wideouts for that game had 7 total catches on the year.
AND, their QB was coming back from an injury and couldn’t even finish the game. We got lucky with timing of that game on the year.
We have never recruited the kind of O-Lone Willie will need to be very successful here.
Never
Willie has not either. He might, but he hasn’t ever either.
The OLine he needed to be successful after 7 years at Tulane in the AAC is not the same level of what he will need here.
I’m sorry, but those are just the facts. I pray he can do it.
I slightly disagree. We haven’t used Dean Connors the way he’s meant to be used all season. He’s a pass-catching back who we continuously force up the middle. It’s the same crap Dana used to do. TCU is a blitz heavy defense. How do you slow that down? Screen plays & delayed handoffs. We did SOME of that yesterday, but not nearly enough to make an impact.
Then there’s the issue with us forcing the ball to Koziol. If they’re going to bracket him, that means SOMEBODY else should be open. Especially when Amare Thomas is commanding attention from multiple guys as well. Insert, Dean Connors out of the backfield. THAT should’ve been the go-to guy all game yesterday & we blew it bc we can’t seem to stop forcing the ball to Koziol.
We better get the o-line fixed for Henderson next year.
Whether it be the portal or high school.
Yeah, C. J. Stroud situation if we don’t
That’s always been my biggest gripe throughout the season. Last season was worse, but still, there’s no reason to throw long when all you need is 3 yards. I mean, teams like SMU, TT, and TCU make a living off of these plays. It’s one of the reasons we can’t sustain drives. Talk about a drive killer… happens way too much with Nagle. Running the ball on 3rd and long is another head scratcher.
We aren’t going to get HS OL’s that are ready to start in the B12 three months after their prom.
Bingo. This was why Weigman was able to get loose on the outside multiple times and the RBs were open in the flats. They were doubling up either Thomas or Koziol. If they were gonna double and run man across the board and blitz then that means the QB or RB is going to have room to run. Idk why we got away from dumping the ball off. They had no chance at covering our backs consistently.
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