At the peak of election season, all the flip-flopping done by the Cougars football this season seems appropriate.
After dropping the first three games of the season, UH stormed back, showcasing the hope and change we all were looking for — then in a pivotal conference road game against SMU, fell flat on its face.
“Thursday night was extremely disappointing,” head coach Tony Levine said. “When you play an opponent and you turn over the ball nine times, you rarely, if ever, give yourself a chance to win.”
A young group of players have tried to fill the shoes of a veteran squad who produced the greatest season in school history a year ago. The Cougars’ starting offense consists of only one senior, and nine freshmen have taken the field in total.
One message the head coach tried to make clear, though, was that the progression of the program is on par, despite the 3-4 record which opened the 2012 season.
Along with coaching a young team, the biggest issue is eliminating the penalties and turnovers, as evidenced by last week’s loss to the Mustangs.
“That’s a game you can learn from,” said quarterbacks coach Travis Bush. “It wasn’t them just totally whooping our (butt) and us playing horribly bad. We had a handful of really bad plays that were crucial in the ballgame.”
Which version of the team shows up this week is anyone’s guess. Throughout the past seven games, we’ve seen the good and the bad, and the ups and the downs. However, if anyone can come back from a miserable 30 point defeat to an in-state rival, it is this year’s Cougars.
