The Bayou Bucket had meaning this year. Typically, UH fans just expect to beat Rice, but this isn’t a typical season. This is something different, and this win has meaning. It was not just revenge from an inexplicable loss to Rice last year and not about getting the trophy back. This was the first win of a new era of UH football and Willie Fritz’s first victory of many.
What also makes this win special is that it is validation of this rebuilding process and that it is working. The new era got started off in a bad way with a big loss to UNLV. The players have treated that game as a wake-up call. Players and coaches have told GoCoogs for three weeks that their beating that day made them realize that Willie’s way is the only way.
In changing the program Fritz and his staff had to change the culture. On CATS!, Mike Batton spoke about it, saying he always saw himself as a hard worker, but when he arrived in Houston, he learned that his effort level was well below the new expectations inside UH football. Jack Martin told us on Talkin’ Bout Them Cougars Sunday night that Willie’s program feels very similar to Nick Saban’s program at Alabama. It mirrors the same approach Kelvin Sampson has used to great success since he arrived.
But despite all the changes and improvements in the offseason you never really know what will happen when the bright lights turn on in the first game of the season. What we learned against UNLV is that this program was not ready for prime time. The play on the field looked listless and uninspired. They looked tentative and indecisive.
The trip to OU showed a major upgrade. Although they came back with a loss, they trusted their training and played with intensity and reckless abandon. Even in a loss, you could see things coming together. The team attacked and they moved as a unit. The mistakes were minimized, but they came up short.
Fast forward to the Rice game and you could see that the changes are taking root. The Cougars took control of the game early and didn’t let up. They beat an inferior team the way you should beat one. This was the first payoff showing that what this team does will work. It was far from their best performance and well below their potential, but these are the fruits of all the work being put in.
I said in the pre-season I am not looking at wins and losses this year, I am looking for progress. I have seen that in the last two weeks, and I am excited to see where this team and program is heading. Progress isn’t linear and there will be mis-steps along the way. I don’t expect a win this week at Cincinnati, but I wouldn’t be surprised either. This group is starting to play with a purpose and starting to believe that can be a dangerous thing for any opponent.