The UH football team has suffered multiple heartbreaks to start the 2020 season and they have yet to play a single snap in the new campaign, which is precisely the problem.
The Cougars have had four games postponed or canceled on them since Sept. 3 when they were supposed to play against cross-town rivals Rice.
Contests against Washington State and Memphis shared similar fates, and last Friday, Baylor was added to the list after a week’s worth of build-up.
“It (hasn’t been) difficult,” said head coach Dana Holgorsen on Monday morning when asked about the challenge it was to have to have to tell his team that they were not going to play again for at least another week. “We’ve had four games canceled, so we’re kind of used to that.”
While the Baylor game was only on the schedule for a few days, it is the one postponement, and in all likelihood, cancellation, that has stung Houston the most.
“How it gets to 22 hours before the game I don’t know,” Holgorsen said. “There’s a reason why our conference and the Big 12 tests three times a week, so I would think that our opponent kind of knew where they were at, kind of like how we knew where we were at.”
While players, coaches and fans had quickly embraced what was set to be the first meeting between the Bears and Cougars since 1995, they have had to just as suddenly leave it in the rearview mirror.
The Houston head coach described the entire circumstance as disappointing on Monday but made sure to point out that there is still plenty of room for the Cougars to get in games this season.
“It’s OK to be upset,” Holgorsen said, “but you can’t hang on to it like that. We buried it yesterday.”
The Cougars now hope that the fifth time will be the charm as they enter what would have been their fifth week of the regular season under normal circumstances.
Houston is scheduled to play against North Texas on Saturday evening, and they still have eight more games set after and are also waiting on the Memphis game to get rescheduled.
“There’s a lot ahead of us,” Holgorsen said. “We’re ready. We will stay ready. It’s game week and we are in there prepping for North Texas.”