The officials were busy. UH was flagged for 15 penalties against Louisiana Tech on Saturday. | Hendrick Rosemond/The Daily Cougar
One week after the Cougars offense appeared lifeless and struggled to find their rhythm, UH put up 49 points against 56 in the loss to Lousiana Tech at Robertson Stadium.
“We were able to get him into a rhythm,” said head coach Tony Levine of quarterback David Piland’s performance. “We did a better job of getting the ball to our playmakers.”
Piland threw for a Robertson Stadium record of 580 yards and four touchdowns while setting a school record pass attempts (77) and an NCAA record for attempts without an interception. The defense could not hold up its end of the bargain and key turnovers and penalties prevented UH from picking up its first win.
“We had a number of face-mask penalties where our guy would be playing hard, but again that is mostly a technique-related issue,” Levine said. “Twenty-six penalties combined on both sides of the ball is a sloppy football game, and one that will not be tolerated by us.”
For the second straight week, the Cougars struggled against the run, this time allowing a total of 245 yards between running backs Tevin King (112 yards) and Kenneth Dixon (90 yards). Quarterback Colby Cameron added 353 yards and three touchdowns through the air.
“We didn’t tackle well enough defensively to win tonight,” Levine said. “When you tackle, you eliminate the big plays, and that’s something we will work on this week.”
UH saw big nights from receivers Daniel Spencer who tallied 157 receiving yards including one touchdown and DeWayne Peace added 141 yards and a touchdown. In total, 10 Cougars caught at least one pass including freshman Deontay Greenberry, who recorded his first reception of the year then, with 35 seconds left, caught his first touchdown pass.
“I commend coach Travis Bush on his preparation and ours as a team,” Piland said. “The future needs to be a big focal point, and it has been, but we’re just going to have to focus a little more on (ball security).”
Ultimately, the Cougars have made it clear they will settle for no moral victories and not be satisfied with losses.
“The bottom line is we’re 0-2,” Levine said. “I told the team that no side of the football, offense, defense or special teams, should leave feeling good or satisfied about what happened. We’ll get back at it as a team Monday, learn from the video, practice Monday evening and get ready for UCLA.”
