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Applewhite happy with performance but seeks improvement

This is head coach Major Applewhite’s second season at the helm of UH, and he is 9-5 so far. | Thomas Dwyer/ The Cougar

The Cougar was able to catch up with football head coach Major Applewhite about the storylines from last week’s win against Arizona.

Junior quarterback D’Eriq King was a hot topic, as he performed well against Rice and Arizona and won the American Athletic Conference’s Player of the Week award.

“In addition to what kind of competitor he is and what kind of leader he is, he’s doing a great job with the ball,” Applewhite said. “There’s a lot of other great plays being made by great players, but ultimately your quarterback, your decision maker, has to make great decisions with the ball and that’s what he’s doing right now. We’re blessed to have a quarterback like this.”

The focus turned to the offensive line, which was a position group that received a lot of praise from the coaching staff during the offseason. So far, the line has not given up any sacks, and the Cougars have been able to run more than 100 yards in each game.

“That’s something we want to strive towards in terms of taking care of the football,” Applewhite said. “Limit the negative yardage plays whether it’s sacks or (tackles for loss) just so we can stay on pace and play with great tempo.”

Though the team had a great start, Applewhite is not yet satisfied with where it is. He spoke on the need for the team as a whole to improve.

“There’s a lot of things we need to improve on. Let’s make sure whoever plays us says ‘that’s not the same team we saw on tape,’” Applewhite said.

Applewhite said some of the blame lies on himself and the way he reacted and called plays against Arizona.

“Coaches can get better too. There were some things that I didn’t like that I did Saturday, so let’s just all focus on (improving) and move our attention towards Texas Tech,” Applewhite said.

The Cougars meet Texas Tech in Lubbock at 3:15 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15.

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