5-4-3-2-1: How penalties hurt UH and how dominant the Cougar offense looked during clean drives.
FIVE: Five false starts. Three on the OL, one on a TE, and another on a receiver.
On fourth and one from the 9, a false start on Trent Walker forces a FG attempt. Willie Fritz calls that a four-point play, and he’s right. You convert the fourth down, and you’re likely scoring a TD.
Was it a false start? They called it on the motion man, Trent Walker. Walker was never set for the one full second, it appears.
FOUR: UH scored on all four drives with 0 penalties or turnovers: 3 touchdowns and a field goal (UH scored a fifth TD in the 4th quarter on a drive with a false start. Then had another penalty on the two-point conversion).
On those four penalty-free drives, the UH offense went for 270 yards on 29 plays (9.3 ypp).
THREE: The Coogs punted three times, and all three drives had a penalty.
Liam Dougherty had an excellent game. He bombed his first kick 50 yards, went 42 on the second, and kicked it to the one-yard line on his third. He’s been working on that consistency and has further streamlined his motion to get there.
TWO: Houston turned it over two times.
Willie knows if you win the turnover battle, you’re going to win 76% of your games. In college football, being +2 means an 89% chance to win.
ONE: Since 2021, UH had 1 win when -2 in turnovers until Saturday (UCF 2025).
Conner’s INT was a fluke – a tipped ball. Makhi’s fumble (his first in his five-year college career) was partly a bad read, partly offensive linemen blocking defenders into him, and partly a great play by the defender.
I expect UH to go back to protecting the ball like they did last year.
