The Kansas game was the most frustrating this year. In season one of the UH rebuild, I am less concerned with outcomes and more concerned with the process that leads to those outcomes. I always want to see a win, but I can take losses if the team is improving.
I was ready to put this game behind me and had planned to write something completely different today. But as I watched the film the last couple of days, I kept getting stuck on one play that frustrated me to no end. It was a play that sums up all my frustration Saturday.
Let me set the scene: UH started slowly while Kansas put on a clinic. It was 21-0 when Donovan Smith replaced an injured Zeon Chriss. With Smith at the helm, the UH offense showed a little life and quickly scored two touchdowns. It was 28-14 when the Coogs forced a Kansas punt and started at its 43-yard line with 55 seconds and two timeouts.
This is a perfect situation to get at least 3 points and carry momentum into the locker room at halftime. UH would also get the ball to start the third quarter.
On the first play of the series, Smith rushes for 19 yards to the Kansas 38-yard line. After an incomplete pass and a 6-yard loss on a sack, UH was facing 3rd and 16 from the Kansas 44. You would love to get the first down but need at least 10 yards to try and give yourself a shot at a long FG.
Or, as we saw, you can air it out and hope for the best.
Of course, interceptions in plus territory are always frustrating, but this one was a top-to-bottom disaster. None of it made sense from the intent, the formation, or the execution.
Let’s assume the thought process was drawing up a play for a home run ball. Ok, here we have a single WR lined up over the numbers on each side and two tight ends in max protect. I guess it makes sense to have seven blockers on four down linemen, given the OL struggles.
With this formation, there are only two downfield options with a possible check down to Sanford after play action. That option was eliminated because Smith stepped right up and decided to throw deep to Devan Williams. Smith had to have seen the safety move to cover the middle of the field. That left a big space to throw to on the left side of the field.
When the ball left his hand, the only question was whether he was throwing outside towards the pylon or inside, splitting the safety and corner up the seam. I can’t tell what the actual intent was because the ball did not go to either, and it ended up going to the worst possible spot. It went short right into no man’s land. Williams saw the coverage and broke inside, while Donovan clearly did not see it.
Besides the execution, was that the best call for the situation and the personnel on the field? Donovan Smith is 4-14 on passes over 20 yards this season, and four have been intercepted. He hasn’t completed a ball to the deep left all season.
The situation calls for ensuring a chance at 3 points and going into half-time down no worse than 11. That would boost everyone’s confidence on the offense, and getting the ball first after the break could make it a one-possession game.
This was just one play, but it epitomized the entire day and large chunks of the season. UH coaches have to put players in a better position to succeed. Players must know their roles, do their jobs, and execute consistently. It is too late in the season for excuses. The job has to get done.
The good news is that the Cougars have a great opportunity Saturday to play to their capabilities against a reeling Utah team and change the season’s trajectory.