UH junior quarterback Clayton Tune begins his slide after a rush against BYU during last Friday’s game at TDECU Stadium. Houston lost 43-26 after BYU took complete control of the contest in the final period. | Courtesy of UH athletics
Houston’s offense was almost non-existent against UCF on Saturday afternoon, especially in crucial moments in the third quarter when the defense held the Knights’ No. 1 ranked offense scoreless for the period and the Cougars were only able to put up six points.
Junior quarterback Clayton Tune’s four-game streak of throwing over 300 yards a game came to an end against the Knights, in what was the 6-foot-3-inch Carrollton native’s worst performance of the season.
“He was pretty average,” UH head coach Dana Holgorsen told reporters on Zoom after the game. “He’s capable of playing better. There was some pressure early.”
Holgorsen said that some of the struggles could be attributed to UCF’s defensive line, which was able to create havoc for the Cougars early, and made Tune have to be aware of the opposing pass rush.
“I thought he did a good job of getting out of some pressure situations and preventing some sacks,” Holgorsen said. “I think their D-line kind of got after us. They were in the backfield and disruptive. If you do that early to a quarterback, he tends to gets rattled a little bit.”
Tune had five of Houston’s first six rushes in the game in the first quarter, and he finished with 10 carries on the afternoon for the Cougars.
Holgorsen said some were by design but others were just the quarterback being forced to scramble, which is something Houston needs to improve.
“(UCF) played hard,” Tune said after the game. “I think there may have been some miscommunication early, but I think it just comes down to them being a good team.”
Tune finished with 263 passing yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, one of which was an underthrown pass that was intercepted near the goal line.
Despite the struggles, the junior quarterback is not hitting the panic button after one game. Even though Houston’s offense did not score a point in the first half, it was able to move the ball into UCF’s territory on four of its first five drives.
When asked about what he could take away from Saturday’s game, Tune’s answer was simple: Finish.
“It’s not a problem of moving the ball and getting yards,” Tune said. “We just got to finish drives. We’ll watch the film and see what it takes and work on it all week and get it fixed.”
For Houston, the challenges keep on coming as now it will have to travel to Cincinnati, who is ranked No. 7 in the AP Poll, and the Bearcats dismantled Memphis 49-10 on Saturday afternoon.
UH’s quarterback, however, is staying confident in his team’s ability.
“I think we left a lot on the table,” Tune said. “We know how good we are. Obviously, they’re a good team but we left a lot out there on the table. We just need to get back and regroup, and we know how good we are. We just need to stay true to it and stay the course.”
