Thanks to the Texans and Astros for lowering my blood pressure and taking the sting away from the UH v. Cinci game.
The weather was GREAT. I wished more Cougar fans were there to enjoy what was the best afternoon game weather that I can remember in a long time.
Anyone else annoyed by:
Poor clock management to end the first half? Can we not call a time out before the half? We are leaving points on the field.
Rotating QBs?
Cinci converting 3rd and long time after time?
Dropped passes?
Anyone else impressed by:
The continued growth and improvement of the UH defense? Yes, we had some trouble getting off the field on 3rd and long, but I continue to see improvment on defense. More tackles for loss, being in position to make plays, and…hold your breath…a pass rush. #12, #15, #32, #33, and others are continuing to get better. I know that does not make losses feel any better, but I do see improvement.
#1 at the QB spot? Nice long ball…has some wheels…maybe he needs more reps?
The RB group continues to be a strength…Porter ran angry on Saturday. Looking to dish out some contact. Nice game by him.
The Cinci QB was tall, skinny, and deceptively fast…just when you thought UH was going to get him down, he scooted up the middle for another big gain. He was better than I thought.
Dropped passes were killer.
It was nice seeing the running game click.
Would still like to see more Mulbah Carr.
Defense is starting to come together.
Wished we would have rotated #3 off pass coverage before he got burned for that long touchdown. Did a good job of helping him after that big play.
We need to pass downfield more.
I like Tune at QB.
I like Smith at QB as long as he is allowed to be a QB.
Can’t wait to see baby Holgorson at WR.
Schemes and hustle by the defense are much improved. Our wide receivers are underperforming. Smith (#1) at quarterback makes sense since Tune was hurt and did not practice for 2 weeks.
I can’t remember a single instance of end of half clock management that was worse than what we saw on Saturday. Coach did NOT put his team in the best position to succeed. That’s his job. Failed. Cost UH at least 3 points IMHO and affected the outcome of the game. Drops happen. They could have been overcome though but we were rushed and forced to not go for a 1st down but much bigger play because of his decisions.
Why does Stevenson, our best receiver, only play about half the snaps? Once again he’s underutilized on a UH loss. 3 catches. 3.
Why is Brown getting carries over Carr? He’s not better IMHO and Carr has earned his spot. His fumble cost us.
What has coaches son done to merit being in at QB and WR? Smith should be getting way more reps at QB and probably should have started. If we’re going to run it almost 40 times a game then damn…put the best runner at QB.
What the hell are we doing putting a guy with an obvious hamstring injury on the field? Then…to top it off we run the read option with him…as if he’s going to run with a hamstring injury. FFS, get him off the field and let him heal. This is a worse injury waiting to happen.
Has coach, as accused, given up on the season and the current active players? I don’t know but he doesn’t appear to be making personnel decisions based on 100% wanting to win even after you take the red shirt guys out of the equation.
My 2 cents…and I’m shopping for cougar red tank tops this week. See you in the funny papers.
Edit add: And that P/F play on the sideline they called was complete utter crap and very much affected the outcome of the game. Horrible, horrible, horrible, I hope they are bringing that one up with the AAC. It won’t change the outcome but you can’t just let that stand without a stink.
All valid points and I don’t disagree, especially having a QB run the option while he’s gimping around out there. And, yes, I was getting angry watching the poor clock management at the end of the first half and last 4 minutes of the game. Even the announcers were questioning how much time we were wasting trying to get a play off.
Funny, I continue to see people using the term air raid to describe our offense, but CDH is running nothing more than a typical spread. We rarely go up tempo and clearly weren’t prepared to run a two-minute offense when we needed to on Saturday. Just a head scratcher.
Tune out there with a bad hammy just put the offense in a bind to what they could do as far as calling plays. You can’t run RPO because he can’t run on one leg and he didn’t until the 4th quarter and he got up limping when he did. The oline not being good compounds this because the batted balls are result of the interior line getting pushed back in the QB’s face.
Defense has gotten better and the DC is doing a good job because they have improved against some pretty good teams.
We need to find a way to score some points and the drops by the WR’s are just frustrating. I think the RB’s have played well despite the guys like Carr missing time with injuries.
Anyone else think CDH is making a huge mistake at QB ?
CDH on the pregame radio interview said Tune is the future UH QB. No Way.
Pulled Hamstring or not, he is NOT the guy.
Why is CDH so stubborn about not playing the best QB he has, Bryson Smith, except in wildcat situations. Bryson’s 50 yd. TD pass was a thing of beauty. He is dual threat, and could generate a whole lot more offense than Tune. Bad coaching decision. You take the players you have, and put them in positions to have success. I get everything CDH is doing for the future, but this works right now.
Was it wildcat every time? If so…ok I guess. Still, I would have Smith at QB before him. We’re a running team now. Its helping our defense. I like that. But put the best runner at QB. He’s frigging electric with the ball on the run and, oh yea, threw a TD on his only pass. Meanwhile, son is 0-2 on the game.
Everybody should ask themselves how they would have reacted had it been Major putting a QB with a suspect hammy in to start?
That may be true but if he gets 4 games before redshirting I thing Dana wants him playing in games against quality opponents. I don’t think there was ever any real intention to play him full-time at QB this year.
CDH is playing his best QB; the guy just happens to be hobbled and can’t run right now. People will just have to accept the fact that Smith will not be our QB and support the guy who is.
Well, I made my point. Let me add to my comment the stats.
9 passes complete, 27 passes attempted, 3 interceptions. Also, yes he is young, but he has throwing lane problems. He cannot see his receivers over the middle. I agree with one of your points, Tune was hobbled with a bad hamstring. So, with a bad leg, is he really our best option? I say no. CDH said he had to limit the plays being run because of the injury.
People forget he was one of the top QB’s in Texas out of HS. Imagine if Ward hadn’t made the change back to QB after Cosh flame out. I remember Cosh had its fans but Ward was clearly the better QB.
Really agreed with a lot of the things that you posted. Definitely with being annoyed on multiple of those things. We had two timeouts at the end of the half and just wasted a God awful amount of time just to throw the ball away. We did the same thing multiple other times.
The one thing that I honestly appreciate was actually having Logan Holgorsen in there. I felt like there was more pep to the offense and things seem to move smoother. Yes he threw an interception but it wasn’t as bad as the one Tune threw. I honestly felt like it was watching Blake Joseph in Case Keenum all over again. That’s just an analogy, I’m definitely not comparing them to Joseph and Keenum. But I felt like Holgerson had a really quick release and was very scrappy. Tune is telegraphing his passes and it’s killing me. Yes he has a strong arm, but his wind up is really long.
Spot on about the defense. They came to play and did their job. They didn’t lose this game, the offense did. You can’t win with five turnovers and poor clock execution.