The Houston Cougars defeated UConn 42-14, moving one step closer to a potential berth in the College Football Playoff.
Make no mistake about it: this was an impressive win by Tom Herman’s squad. Remember, UConn handed the Cougars their only loss of the season last year. The Huskies returned 15 starters from that squad, including Jamar Summers, who ranked second in the nation in interceptions last season.
None of that mattered on Thursday evening. After failing to score on its first two drives, the Cougar offense would dominate the contest. Led by quarterback Greg Ward – who completed 32 of 38 passes for 389 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing 12 times for 65 yards and two touchdowns – the Houston offense would score on six of its next seven possessions. The only drive in which the Cougars didn’t score was when they got the ball back with just 30 seconds to play before halftime, and opted to run out the clock rather than try to score.
Of course, you’ve got to give the UH defense for turning in another solid outing. Sure, it gave up a late score at the end of the first half, but aside from that, the Cougar D did very little wrong. The Houston front seven controlled the line of scrimmage all night long, limiting the UConn ground game to just 62 yards on 27 attempts. It also limited Bryant Shirreffs – who was 16th in the country in completion percentage coming into Thursday’s contest – to his worst outing of the year, allowing him to complete only 13 of 29 passes for 239 yards. Not surprisingly, the Huskies went 3 of 15 on third down conversions.
So, what does Houston’s victory over the Huskies mean in the grand scheme of things?
Simply put: it reinforces the fact that the Cougars are perfectly capable of running the table in the AAC. Yes, there are some tough games – along with a few landmines – remaining on the schedule. But, based on what we saw against UConn, Houston is still a tough team to beat, even with a few key players out of the lineup. This is especially true for the offense, which was virtually unstoppable in the second and third quarters.
Will that be enough to get Houston into the College Football Playoff?
It’s tough to say right now because there are so many moving parts to the equation. However, the Cougars proved once again that they’re going to make it extremely difficult for the Selection Committee to leave them out.
