Two news and notes articles this week. Here’s part 1:
UH punt returners told me that the swirling winds at OU made fielding punts almost impossible. The ball would stay near its apex longer downwind and careen forward. Into the wind, it would hit the apex and fall out of the sky, often hurtling down like a knuckleball.
On the muffed kick, OU’s punter knifed a 54-yard line drive into the wind, and Mekhi Mews misjudged it. He was not deep enough and did not get himself set underneath it. The ball also moved wildly towards the boundary as it descended. A returner is taught to field all punts in that area of the field, and that’s what Mews attempted to do. But did he muff it? I haven’t seen a replay that suggests he did.
Mews fielded another inside his five-yard line. It was a poor decision on a ball moving wildly downwind. OU’s returners struggled just as much, fumbling twice and having several hit him in the helmet, but ultimately, they did not turn it over.
The wind has howled both times I’ve been to Norman this year.
UH’s national rankings are worth avoiding. They are ugly:
The Cougars are 129th in scoring (out of 133) at 9.5 points per game. Only three teams have scored fewer touchdowns than UH.
The Coogs are 130th in third down conversion percentage. UH was 4/7 converting on 3rd and short (1-4 yards) vs. OU, with the notable difference in attempts being way up from week one (UH was 0/2 vs. UNLV). UH is 2/14 converting on third and long this season (9+ yards).
The Cougars picked up an average of 8.3 yards on 3rd down in Norman (with an average of 8.3 yards to go). OU picked up an average of 4.3 yards on 3rd down (with an average of 8.8 yards to go).
UH picked up an average of just 3.9 yards on 3rd down against UNLV.
Most points scored by a UH team through two games (since Bill Yeoman’s debut in 1962):
122 – 2010*
105 – 1989
100 – 2009*
92 – 2008*
91 – 1988
* one game against I-AA/FCS school
Fewest points scored by a UH team through two games (since Bill Yeoman’s debut in 1962):
0 – 1965
14 – 1963
17 – 1998
19 – 2024
20 – 1994, 1997, 2004, 1980
If you add Donovan Smith’s -8 rush yards to his pass total (260), he still had three more yards of offense than the Sooners team (249).
UH record (33-12) vs. Rice at:
Rice Stadium – 16-6
Astrodome – 7-4
Robertson Stadium – 6-1
Reliant Stadium – 2-1
TDECU Stadium – 2-0
16 of 45 games against Rice have been by eight points or fewer. UH is 9-7 in those games.
Scoring to date:
Joseph Manjack – 12 points
Joseph Kim – 7 points
Everyone not named Joseph – 0 points