On This Day
It’s November 1st – UH does not have a deep history on this day but a couple of notable wins:
11/1/2014: 5 years ago today, UH won at USF in 2014 27-3. It was a windy, chilly day game – the box score says the wind was 24 MPH at kickoff. Most of the game was played on the ground but Greg Ward did go 15/19 for 89 yards and a TD. Yeah, 15 completions for 89 yards.
Kenneth Farrow had 112 yards rushing and a TD and Ryan Jackson had 62 yards and 2 TDs.
That 2014 game was the only time UH has played on 11/1 since 1997.
11/1/1980: The other memorable November 1 game: A 37-5 win over TCU. UH has held a team to 5 points just twice in history: this game and the first-ever SWC game in 1976 (23-5 win over Baylor that we wrote about here).
And speaking of ground games: UH ran for 507 yards vs. TCU and had just 43 in the air. QB Brett Chinn, who replaced the injured Terry Elston earlier in the year, ran for 143 yards and 2 TDs.
UCF Game Notes
I joined the Knightline (get it?) podcast to preview UH for UCF fans (taped during game 7). I really don’t even know how to talk about this team to an outsider – such a surreal season.
My segment starts at 4:08.
If you haven’t seen, check out Clayton Tune’s spray charts from earlier this week:
And Brad Towns’ film room from Thursday is an excellent read on how UH focused on the middle of the field. Brad dives into the formations and plays UH ran against SMU to (finally) achieve some success across the middle.
The last time UH played UCF? A 31-24 win at TDECU in 2016. That game was memorable as an early kick and UCF taking a 24-3 lead into the 3rd quarter. On the ensuing drive, Dillon Birden got the Cougars going on a 46-yard run (that’s the cover photo for this story – at the top of this page).
What to watch
Specifically: does UH use the middle of the field again. But what I’m most interested in is Dana’s use of Christian Trahan catching the ball. He’s struggled blocking on the edges but can continue to show his skill by sliding out and getting open down the seam. UCF now has film on it – can we continue to make it work? Trahan had 3 catches vs. SMU for 71 yards.
Crazy stat: With just 12 catches in 8 games, Trahan is your third-leading receiver this year, having passed Keith Corbin in the 3rd quarter last week. Corbin had been tied for second-most receptions this season until Jeremy Singleton passed him vs. SMU.
Corbin hasn’t played since September 19.
Dane Roy: Approaching History
Dane Roy could break the school’s all-time single-season punting record. Richie Leone holds the record at 45.5 yards per punt in 2012. Chase Turner (2008) is next at 45.46 ypp.
Roy is currently at 47.1.
More impressive is that Leone had 6 touchbacks and 18 punts downed inside the 20. Roy has just 1 touchback and has twenty punts inside the 20. In his career, Roy has 87 kicks downed inside the 20 and just 13 touchbacks in 213 punts all-time.
In 2012, Leone had 20 punts of 50+ yards in 2012 and Roy is still chasing that number (currently at 15). Roy is now ahead of Turner’s 2008 season (14 of 50+).
Dane’s 2019 has a great chance of going down as the best in school history.
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