The Houston Cougars continued their dominance over SMU, Thursday night, with a 49-28 win. With their fifth win of the year, Houston extended their undefeated season in front of a nationally televised audience.
The Cougars deserve to be ranked and built more evidence Thursday. After examining the first five weeks of Cougar football, here are the top 5 reasons Houston should be ranked.
1. Head Coach Tom Herman
After leaving the defending champion Ohio State Buckeyes, Tom Herman has brought his fast paced offensive attack to the University of Houston. His departure from Ohio State is proving how efficient his offense is. How so? OSU has struggled to find their offensive balance all season, while UH has torched the scoreboards.
Herman’s coaching is potent, but the Cougars are truly successful because he has adjusted his offense to fit his team’s skill set. Herman has forced the Cougar offense to bring more to the table, than the offense that was on the field during the spring game.
Tom Herman on a preseason scrimmage: “Our 2s and 3s receivers stink. They don’t belong right now in Division I college football.” — Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) August 15, 2015
The Cougars now have one of the nations highest scoring offenses.
Herman is also creating a culture shift off the field with the fan base. The team’s success is making waves on the University of Houston campus and excitement builds every game.
“I haven’t been this excited for [Cougar] football since my freshman year,” said junior student, Darius Patterson.
Whether it’s through his passion for the game, or putting his players in first class airline seats, Herman is making an impact.
Herman on the players: “We’re selling high school recruits on what we have to offer and the current players on how we’re going to treat them. I think somewhere along the line, that got lost at the University of Houston, and it became just a place to go to work.” – Steven Godfrey (@38Godfrey) October 9, 2015
2. The Louisville Game
Houston went to Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky and beat the Cardinals 34-31. When looking at the Cardinals’ 2-3 record, this may not seem like a big deal but it’s more than meets the eye. Going into week two, the Cougars were a 13.5 point underdog and had to play Louisville on the road. The Cardinals were coming off a seven point (31-24) loss to 6th ranked Auburn. They were expected to play with a chip on their shoulder against the Cougars. But the Cougars’ celebration after the game shows otherwise.
This Louisville team also lost to an undefeated 6th ranked Clemson (4-0) team in week 3, but only by three points (20-17). Yes, one can argue Louisville started 0-3 on the season, but at the same time they kept two games against 2 top-ten BCS teams within one possession scores. The fact that Houston came into Louisville and stole a game the Cardinals were supposed to easily win deserves a long look and ranking consideration.
3. #24 Toledo and #25 Boise State
Toledo and Boise State are both ranked while Houston is still waiting to be put on the list. The experts might argue Toledo and Boise State have had a “strength of schedule” advantage but that’s not valid. With games against Arkansas State and Ball State (Toledo), along with Idaho State and Hawaii (Boise State), they are in the same boat as Houston.
Boise State’s one loss was against a tough BYU team – but they lost by more than 10 points.
Toledo is still undefeated at 4-0 but are only winning by an average of 13.8 points. Houston’s average margin of victory is 22.2 points, which is over a touchdown per game difference.
4. Defense
No team has scored more than 28 points against the Cougar defense at home this year. Before Thursday night’s game, no team has scored more than 24. The defense has only allowed an average of 24.2 points per game. That is not a small number, but teamed with an offense that is scoring 46.4 points per game, Houston’s defense has forced teams to play catch-up all year.
UH’s defense has forced a total of 14 turnovers – 6 interceptions and 8 fumbles within five games of play. Their 8 fumble recoveries are tied for first in the NCAA with Memphis
5. Offense
The Offense is ranked higher than the 5 teams ranked #20-25 in the AP Poll.
Houston is ranked:
#5 in points per game (46.4)
#6 in Yards per game (2867)
#5 in total points (232)
The Cougars are also ranked #4 in scoring touchdowns (31). Houston’s 21 rushing touchdowns are tied for second in the NCAA with North Carolina State.
The Cougars have shown themselves to be rank worthy. Their body of work contains all the evidence needed for a strong argument and it is time the BCS sees it that way. If Houston continues their strong play, they deserve to play in a bowl game with more prestige than last season’s Armed Forces Bowl.
