The Cougars rank fourth in points allowed in Conference USA and are tied for the best turnover margin at +3. | Joshua Siegel/The Daily Cougar
Playing on Thursday instead of Saturday gave head coach Kevin Sumlin a chance to catch some of the other action happening around college football.
“You watch the games Saturday and everybody’s scoring 30-something points,” he said.
Of the 36 teams that played in the 18 games involving ranked teams, 21 of them cracked the 30-point mark.
In Conference USA, six of the 11 teams in action scored more than 30 points.
The Cougars allow an average of 413.4 yards per game, the 28th most in the NCAA. They also give up an average of 22.2 first downs per game. They allow plenty of big plays. But surprisingly, they have one of the better defenses in C-USA.
“We’re fourth in the league in scoring defense at 26 points a game,” Sumlin said. “Seems crazy, but that’s where our league is.”
Of course, it would be nice to get more stops, but the Cougars aren’t the Crimson Tide and it doesn’t seem like any of the other schools in C-USA have dramatically better defenses.
The Cougars however have created the second-most turnovers in C-USA (11), which has helped cover some of their blemishes, particularly against the run.
“When you start looking at total numbers, I think you have to be careful with total defense and total offense,” Sumlin said. “I look at points.
“The name of the game, particularly for us, it’s points per game and defensive points per game.”
And even if the 56-0 Georgia State massacre is removed from the equation, UH is allowing 33.3 points per game, while scoring a rather healthy 42.5 points per game.
Opponents have only converted on 25-of-70 (35.7 percent) third down attempts.
“I think that when we sit down at the beginning of the year, the things that we wanted to get better at primarily were our third down percentage and we needed to improve our rush defense,” Sumlin said.
“I think our third down percentage has come down, but our rush defense is nowhere near where it needs to be.”
It would be great to hold teams like Florida to 10 points in a game, but UH isn’t Alabama, nor is that a realistic goal right now.
Most important is that the Cougars have come away with five wins in five weeks and have a chance to host and win the C-USA Championship.
Nice article but it all starts up front. Coaches can continue saying that the 34 defense d line just have to hold their blocks and let the lb fill in the gaps but that is not true. Just look at the Texans and how vastly improved their dline plays now. I know bad comparison of pro vs amateur ball but even in college you get teams who play the 34 who can rush 3 or 4 and get pressure to the QB. The only way we ever get pressure on the QB is when we send Sammy brown and usually one of the mike lb in on a timed blitz, other than that they stand in the pocket all day. Stewart has to find a way to stop the run as well. They can put it anyway they want how this year (not real numbers just example) they only allow 5.1 yards a carry instead of 5.6. Its not talent either or like some say because we are (insert team name here) superbowl that they play us hard. Teams with significantly less talent are able to play good defense, im not asking us to be top 25 just top 60, with little recruiting. Heck even stony brook, held utep to 24 points and made them play like utep was a d2 team. I had high hopes for the D this year and recruiting just does not seem to be getting better but we may be taking a step back this year. Ill still support the team to the fullest just concerned is all
** Of course, it would be nice to get more stops, but the Cougars aren’t the Crimson Tide and it doesn’t seem like any of the other schools in C-USA have dramatically better defenses. **
UCF is among national leaders in most defensive categories. Perhaps someone at the paper is familiar with them and their dc?
** Of course, it would be nice to get more stops, but the Cougars aren’t the Crimson Tide and it doesn’t seem like any of the other schools in C-USA have dramatically better defenses. **
UCF is among national leaders in most defensive categories. Perhaps someone at the paper is familiar with them and their dc?