Recently hired Houston football head coach Kevin Sumlin was busy last week helping Oklahoma prepare for Wednesday’s Fiesta Bowl, but he probably found time to watch his new team take on Texas Christian University in Friday’s Texas Bowl.
At some point near the end of the Cougars’ 20-13 loss, Sumlin, the Sooners’ co-offensive coordinator, might have said, "Man, I sure hope our defense wreaks that much havoc next season."
For the record, he would have been referring to TCU’s defense, not Houston’s.
The Horned Frogs whipped the high-octane Cougars offense into submission, allowing only 367 yards and three trips inside the 20-yard line, with the last coming on the game’s final drive.
That might have been the best defense Houston had seen all season.
The Cougars’ offensive line was no match for TCU’s physical and quick defensive line, which kept the heat on redshirt freshman quarterback Case Keenum and had two of the Horned Frogs’ five sacks. The latter total probably would have been much higher if Keenum had not been mobile enough to buy extra time in the pocket.
The Horned Frogs also kept senior running back Anthony Alridge from breaking off those big touchdown runs he made frequently during the regular season. They held him to a season-low 29 yards on 15 carries.
It was a different story for the Cougars’ defensive unit, which suffered some lapses. The linebackers did very little, and the secondary’s coverage of TCU’s wideouts was far from stellar. The cornerbacks and safeties should be grateful that TCU redshirt freshman quarterback Andy Dalton made a few poor throws to wide-open receivers and had a touchdown pass called back on a holding penalty, or the game’s final outcome would not have been as close.
The fact that the Cougars (8-5) dropped their eighth consecutive bowl game is of little consequence. They had their chances to win, and they whiffed on them.
If Houston wants to take its program to the next level, then it will have to find a way to get more out of its defense, especially a secondary that made nearly every quarterback it faced this season look like an All-American.
Sumlin’s predecessor, Art Briles, never could boast of having a defense as good as TCU’s (currently ranked 17th in the Football Bowl Subdivision) in his five years at the helm. In Briles’ first four years, the Cougars finished 101st, 78th, 76th and 72nd, respectively, in total defense.
The Cougars are currently ranked 48th in total defense, which could change depending on the outcomes of the remaining bowl games. Of course, even that ranking is a bit misleading, especially when one considers that the Cougars’ best defensive performances came against the likes of Tulane (4-8), Alabama-Birmingham (2-10) and Texas Southern (0-11).
Therefore, Houston has its New Year’s resolution for 2008: improve drastically on defense. And Sumlin has another big task to tackle besides compiling his coaching staff and finding enough recruits to replace those who Briles convinced to change their commitment to Baylor, or who decided that they would be better served to play elsewhere.
Luckily for Sumlin, he already has some playmakers on defense that will help ease the transition. Junior defensive end Phillip Hunt (55 tackles, 10 1/2 sacks, six quarterback hurries) is a beast in the trenches, and junior tackle Ell Ash is a solid defensive lineman.
The Cougars should expect more contributions from junior linebacker Cody Lubojasky next season, and hopefully junior transfer Tyrell Graham will play up to his potential. And Sumlin can only hope that juniors Kenneth Fontenette, Quinte Williams, Ernest Miller and the other defensive backs will step up their play next season.
A better defense could mean big things for Sumlin and crew next season. But a repeat performance of 2007 could mean a seven or eight-win season and another depressing bowl loss.
