UH converted 5/13 third down attempts (38.5%) in Fort Worth. Not a great percentage but five conversions equal what UH had the last two weeks combined (5/24 vs. Cincinnati and Iowa State). UH had six conversions against Rice, equaling the two games before (6/29 vs. UNLV and OU).
The Cougars picked up four first downs by rush against TCU, equaling the number of rushing conversions in the previous two weeks as well. Houston ran eight times on 3rd down vs. TCU while attempting 15 rushes vs. the Bearcats and Cyclones.
In TCU’s two second-half scoring drives, the Frogs used 8:15 of game time to run 19 plays. Five of those snaps resulted in incompletions, stopping the clock. Even with five clock stoppages, TCU averaged 26 seconds to snap the ball. If you subtract the time it took to run the incomplete plays and the plays where the clock stopped for a UH penalty, the Frogs used 31.4 seconds a snap. Credit Shiel Wood and the UH defense for doing their part to burn clock when TCU substituted.
Compare that to UH: the Cougars ran 30 plays in the half and ate up 16:58 of the clock. That’s 33.9 seconds per snap. UH wanted to burn the clock, and TCU needed to hurry, but TCU was still using almost as much of the clock as Houston.
UH held the ball for 36:53, nearly 12 minutes more than last week. It was the most TOP for the Cougars since the Tulane game in 2022 when Willie Fritz used a third-string QB and just 23:05 TOP to beat Dana Holgorsen and the Cougars.
So TCU wasted a lot of clock in the second half and still only had the ball for about 23 minutes.
Jack Martin scored his first points of the season on Friday night. With three FGs and three PATS, he’s tied for the team scoring lead (12) with Joseph Manjack and Donovan Smith.
Houston led 50:29 of game time at TCU, one second less than they led against Rice. It’s the most “time led” in a conference game since going to ECU in 2022.
The uniform was pretty similar in that game (save the script on the helmets:
ECU 2022 and the game before it, Temple, is the last time UH won back-to-back games in the same season.
After six games last season, UH had given up 188 points (31.3 ppg). This season, they’ve given up 123 points (20.5). The Cougar defense had given up 805 more yards at this point, too.
UH was 105th in scoring defense a year ago and is 43rd this season.
Dana Holgorsen’s job at TCU is to prepare their defense for the opponent’s offense. Who better than Dana to get them ready for UH, right?
Houston scored six times (3 TDs, 3 FGS) against the Dana-prepped Frog defense. That’s the most scoring drives UH has had in Big 12 play, including the nine league games Dana coached last season. The six scoring drives match the combined total from Dana’s last two games at Houston.
UH had 19 first downs against TCU, the same number they had in the last seven quarters combined against Cincinnati and Iowa State.
A week ago, the Cougars were last nationally in scoring, having only scored 52 points on the season (10.4 ppg). 52 points is less than what Tennessee averaged per game.
With help from Dana’s rigorous work with TCU’s defense, Houston scored more than double what Tennessee did this week.
Through six games last year, the Coogs were 114 in total defense. Now they are 22nd, giving up 134 yards a game less.
UH was 120th in 3rd down conversion defense in 2023. This season, the Cougars are 55th.