Overtime

Cougars hope to correct turnovers, miscues

The Cougars have thrown 13 interceptions through seven games this season.  |  Rebekah Stearns/The Daily Cougar

The Cougars have thrown 13 interceptions through seven games this season. | Rebekah Stearns/The Daily Cougar

Nine turnovers and a 30-point loss to SMU baffled head coach Tony Levine.

“I’ve never been a part of that or seen that before, where they score four offensive touchdowns from the end of the second quarter to less than three minutes into the third quarter and the game goes from being 14-14 to 45-14. The game got away from us in a short amount of time,” Levine said.

The Cougars said they hope to respond better to adversity this week. Quarterbacks coach and play caller, Travis Bush said the team will continue to stay positive on the sideline. He said UH will try not to compound mistakes by committing others.

Bush said there are positives to take away from the loss to SMU. He said the Cougars made some good plays that showed up on the game tape.

“You show them, especially from this film. I think eight turnovers in the game, we are still down by 17 and they went through the third. After all of that, we are still in a position to have a chance to win the game,” Bush said.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback David Piland was taken out of the game with a head injury but will play this week against UTEP. He was cleared to play on Tuesday after passing all the necessary concussion tests. Piland said the turnover margin is key to victory.

“It’s just one of those focus issues. Dropping a punt or the special teams deals — we are going to have that cleaned up,” Piland said. “We have to do a better job of, one, taking care of the ball, and two, overcoming adversity. We will do a better job of that this week.”

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