Six turnovers and poor offensive play caused a blowout loss as UTSA defeated UH 27-7.
Sophomore quarterback John O’Korn threw four interceptions, the Cougars lost two fumbles and turned the ball over on downs twice on Friday in the inaugural game at TDECU Stadium.
O’Korn and his offense couldn’t escape the Roadrunner’s defense Friday night as their six turnovers led to a 27-7 loss. | Justin Tijerina/The Cougar
Though O’Korn flashed a connection with junior receiver Deontay Greenberry, leading to 96 yards, the Cougars’ offense struggled to score. UH didn’t put points on the board until junior running back Ryan Jackson crossed the plane with 1:04 remaining in the game.
The Cougars didn’t get their initial first down until O’Korn connected with Greenberry for 15 yards with a little less than seven minutes left in the first quarter.
UTSA first got on the board with a 3-yard run by David Glasco one play after the Roadrunners recovered a UH fumble.
UTSA then added to their lead when Glasco converted a 2-yard run with 42 seconds left in the second quarter.
Sophomore running back Jarveon Williams brought the Roadrunners their final touchdown of the game with an 11-yard run in the quarter’s final seven minutes.
UTSA senior kicker Sean Ianno contributed six points to the Roadrunners’ total as he completed a 26-yard field goal in the third and a 30-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
Despite the teams poor offensive display overall, O’Korn still managed to exceed UTSA senior quarterback Tucker Carter’s 121 passing yards with a solid 204 total yards.
I’m telling you all, UH’s performance is inversely proportional to how hyped we are going into the game.
UH @ #5 Oklahoma State, 2009 – Huge underdogs. We go on to win.
UH vs. Southern Miss, 2011 – We’re sitting at 12-1 and people are already booking hotels for the Sugar Bowl. Loss.
UH vs. Texas State 2012 – President announces that “We will demolish Texas State” at the Cat’s Back Pep Rally. Loss.
UH vs. Texas State 2013 – President announces that “We have a plan, and the plan is to win” at Cat’s Back Pep Rally. Tempered expectations lead to a win.
UH vs. UTSA 2014 – See above story. We had more turnovers than Arby’s value menu.
Face it, dear Coog players: even if you want to avoid
the spotlight, you won’t be able to, because the national spotlight may shine in a way that you won’t like (for example, USA Today reports on our “Coogin’ it” ways at
http://ow.ly/AZKFl).
I hope you can understand why fans were bitterly disappointed with the
apparent total lack of preparedness or intensity. While it may be only one game into the season, it was a crushing loss — no matter how one cuts it.
If our team went down fighting, like it did with BYU a season ago, fans would probably accept the loss but this recent offensive
performance was … disappointing.
The challenges are not going away, Coog players. So embrace them and strive to rise above them.