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: Houston's Clear Thinkers

2008 Weekly local football review

By Tom Kirkendall

(AP Photo/Dave Einsel; previous weekly reviews are here)

Texans 28 Lions 21

Texans (2-4) continue to be a work-in-progress. They hammered the atrocious Lions (0-6) for three quarters and looked to be on their way to an easy win. But then Houston's chronically inconsistent defense gave up a 96 yard TD play while the offense went into a 4th quarter phone booth so as not to reprise the Colts debacle. Before you knew it, the Lions had pulled within a TD and the Texans were working the clock, which is not one of their strong points. At any rate, the Texans pulled it out without too much trouble and now aim to win their third in a row for the first time in franchise history next week at Reliant Stadium against the hapless Bengals (0-7).

Texas Longhorns 56 Missouri 31

So much for the theory that the top-ranked Longhorns (7-0/3-0 Big 12) were primed for a letdown after their big win against Oklahoma last week. This one was basically over midway through the 2nd quarter as the Horns cruised to a 35-0 lead against a pretty darn good Missouri (5-2/1-2 Big 12) squad.

The Horns really didn't play any significant competition over their first four games, but in three games against solid Big 12 competition, Horns QB Colt McCoy has been extraordinary, connecting on 80 of 97 passes (82%) for 876 yards, 5 TD's and only 2 interceptions.

Meanwhile, the Texas defensive line continues to dominate the line of scrimmage and put heavy pressure on the opponent's QB, which gives Texas the luxury of dropping seven defenders into coverage on most pass plays. That is the main reason the Horns have improved so dramatically this season against the spread passing offenses that have bedeviled Texas over the past couple of seasons.

The Horns still have three very difficult games over the next month -- Oklahoma State (7-0/3-0 Big 12), @ Texas Tech (7-0/3-0 Big 12), and Kansas (5-2/2-1 Big 12). I still don't think Texas will come through those games undefeated, but I'm not so confident that I would bet on that hunch. Texas is a very good college football team.

Texas Tech 43 Texas Aggies 25

The Aggies (2-5/0-3 Big 12) played their best game of the season in giving the 8th-ranked Red Raiders (7-0/3-0) a genuine scare. Although they led at half 23-20, the Aggies left at least 12 points on the field in that half by kicking short field goals rather than making TD's. Those points would have likely made a big difference in the outcome.

The Ags now try to build on this effort next Saturday at Ames against fellow cellar-dweller Iowa State (2-5/0-3 Big 12). If the Aggies can win that one, then five wins this season might be attainable. That would be a moral victory the way things have been going in College Station this season.

Houston Cougars 44 SMU 38

As predicted last week, the Cougars (4-3/3-0 C-USA) had trouble with rapidly-improving SMU (1-7/0-5) because of another slow start, but a 21-3 4th quarter surge pulled it out.

QB Case Keenum (28-36, 404 yds, 2 TD's, 1 INT) continues to be spectacular, and the Houston offense again rolled up over 500 yards. The bad news is that the Houston defense gave up over 560 yds! The Coogs travel to West Virginia next Saturday to play Marshall (3-4/2-1 C-USA) and then return home to play their final four games of the season in Houston.

Rice 45 Southern Miss 40

The Owls (4-3/3-1 C-USA) continue to impress with their prolific offense and a defense that slows the opposition just enough to allow the offense to pull out victories. This game was particularly noteworthy because the Owls' All-American WR Jarett Dillard had 7 receptions for 141 yds and 3 TD's, yet he wasn't even the best receiver in the game -- Southern Miss' DeAndre Brown caught 12 passes for 221 yds and 4 TD's! Rice has key road games over the next two Saturdays at Tulane 2-4/1-2 C-USA) and then UTEP (3-4/3-1 C-USA).

Full post as published by Houston's Clear Thinkers on October 20, 2008 (boomark / email).