The "Cardiac Cougars" made another appearance Saturday as sophomore quarterback Case Keenum and company scraped together four scoring drives in the fourth quarter against Texas-El Paso to clinch a late 42-37 victory.
With the win, Houston remains in a tie for first place in Conference USA West with Rice and Tulsa. Houston has the tiebreaker advantage over Tulsa, but the winner in the Battle for the Bayou Bucket on Saturday could determine who will represent the West in the C-USA Championships on Dec. 6.
One thing is certain – a performance similar to what we saw Saturday will spell disaster for the Cougars.
Although Houston wound up winning its third consecutive game, the road it took getting there was no stroll through the park and by no means pretty. The Cougars scored enough points, there was plenty of effort and they won the game – but it was ugly.
Houston traded in the high-octane, early-scoring offense it has been test-driving for the last weeks for something a little more familiar. The offense that scored 42 first-half points against Tulsa on Nov. 15 was shut out in the first quarter and accumulated just 9 points in the second.
The offensive line had difficulties containing the Miners’ assault on Keenum, allowing him to get sacked three times for the first time at Robertson Stadium this season. The running game that had become a deciding factor in previous games mustered only 75 yards in the first two quarters.
One of the biggest downfalls Houston faced was its inability to produce points in the red zone. Two missed field goals and a fumble inside the seven-yard line could have led to a tied game or even a UH lead going into halftime. Instead, the Cougars trailed by 12.
It seems looking at a 19-point deficit was enough to shake the cobwebs loose for the Cougars.
Late in the third quarter and heading into the fourth, the Cougars began playing like the team we’ve watched over the last two weeks. It was by no means perfect play, but they did what they needed to get the job done.
Not only was the Houston offense making big plays and running up stats, but the defense was also starting to contribute with big stops and holds.
The Cougars rode their defensive stops and offensive scores all the way to a 36-35 lead late in the fourth quarter only to have that wiped away by a 2-point conversion disaster when Keenum was intercepted by UTEP senior defensive end Josh Ferguson, who returned it to the other end zone and gave UTEP a 37-36 lead.
Houston made up for it, driving down to the UTEP one-yard line to set up a Keenum keeper into the end zone, but for a team that made mincemeat of then-No. 25 Tulsa just one week earlier, the Cougars sure made it harder on themselves.
