The Houston Cougars are 5-0 on the season and look to continue their strong play from both sides of the ball. With new coordinators on offense and defense, Houston is far from the team they were last season. Obvious strides have been made on offense which reflect on the scoreboard, but the defensive improvements are sometimes overlooked due to the high flying offense taking all the credit.
Defensive Coordinator Todd Orlando has brought a new scheme and a new mindset to the Cougars defense that has improved their game drastically. Deceptive coverages and aggressive blitzing has powered the defense and kept the Cougars in winning situations. Though Orlando’s aggressive style stifles the run game, it is allowing teams to accumulate yardage in the air.
This is very different from David Gibbs’ conservative defense that allowed 143.3 rushing yards per game and 200.1 passing yards per game. Orlando’s defense is only allowing 95.8 yards per game on the ground but is allowing an average of 302.6 passing yards.
When asked about the improvements on defense, players seem to buy into coach Orlando’s scheme.
“Last year we didn’t want to give up the deep ball, we were more laid back. This year, we’re aggressive, we’re going to come with a blitz and try to attack and beat the quarterback up.” Said junior outside linebacker Steven Taylor.
Consistency is an area the defense wants to keep steady. So far, the front seven’s pressure has been a big force in keeping the consistency. The Cougars are 9th in rushing defense.
“We work really hard at [run defense]. We take a certain period in practice to work on stopping the run. It’s about your get-off, it’s about how low you play with leverage, how much you put into it and this is the results that we get.” Said junior defensive tackle B.J. Singleton.
Houston’s consistency based mindset shows up in overlooked statistics. Opponents are only converting 41% of their 3rd down opportunities. The defense has forced 8 fumbles, which is tied for 2nd in the NCAA.
The pass defense looks like the biggest weakness of the Cougar defense. They do a good job of keeping the passes underneath the secondary, but even those yards add up. Combined with the few big pass plays over the top of the secondary, their numbers look worse than they actually are.
“We’ve played some pretty good passing teams…a lot of times its one or two mistakes here and there and then it turns into a shutdown game for the defense. I don’t think that our pass defense is inconsistent or anything, it’s just that when you’re playing football, one or two big pass plays is 200 yards passing.” Said senior cornerback Lee Hightower
The pass defense still puts good pressure on the quarterback. Their 18 sacks rank 13th in the NCAA. Their improvement puts them on pace to beat last year’s mark of 27 sacks. The quarterback pressure has also led to 6 interceptions, one resulting in a pick 6.
Singleton and Hightower agree the priority is improving the red zone defense. They’ve allowed 16 scores in 17 red zone attempts. 14 of these scores are touchdowns. Even the strong run defense has struggled in stopping the run when behind their own 20 yard line. The 94.1% conversion rate is extremely high and the defense is working to fix the issues.
“We have to hold [teams] to field goal attempts [in the redzone], then we have to block field goals.” Said Hightower
Overall, the Cougar defense believes they’re doing a good job. Though stats show their struggles with the red zone and the passing game, the scoreboard shows the defense is getting the job done. With an average margin of victory of 22.2 points, the defense is handling their responsibility and are a major reason the Houston Cougars are 5-0.
