The cliche is that the biggest improvement for a football team happens between week one and two. “The biggest improvement is between week 1 and 2”. It is a cliche because it has been proven to be true over the years. Most coaches are hesitant in week one; their teams take a week to knock the rust off and build the endurance required for a 3.5-hour game. For UH, it was the first time eight offensive starters had ever played a game together.
This week’s game against Rice will be the last iteration of the Bayou Bucket for a while, so the Coogs need to end the series in style. UH also needs to make some big improvements to be prepared to open the conference season the following week.
These are things that I am hoping to see improve from week 1:
Increased intensity from the offense. The defense came out of the gate against SFA with their hair on fire. They played with purpose and intensity. I want to see the same from the offense. To me, it looked like they played hesitantly and were unsure of themselves. I can understand that to a point, considering there are four new starters on the offensive line, a new quarterback, a new running back, and several new receivers.
Ramp it up. They’ve had plenty of time in the film room to diagnose what went wrong in the opener and to gameplan what can be done better. I don’t expect perfect execution, but I am looking to see the guys more sure of what they are doing, which will let them play faster and more aggressively.
Make the size advantage work for you. The offense will have a size and strength advantage over the defense for the second consecutive week. This time, they need to take advantage of it and play with speed and violence at the point of attack. I want to see them explode off the ball and start throwing bodies around. They have to play smart, but they need to be mean as hell.
Get Stephon Johnson involved early and often. It was great to see UH spread the ball around and throw to 11 different targets on offense. Unfortunately, Boogie was only targeted twice. Let’s chalk it up to game one, knowing what he can do already, and Conner Weigman wanting to spread it around. But going forward, this offense has to make an effort to get him the ball. You must get the ball in the playmaker’s hands and let them do their thing. With Koziol showing he can get a threat, defenses are going to have to plan to stop him, and that will open up a lot of space for WRs to make plays.
Get into the backfield. Defensively, I want to see a stronger push up front and make more plays in the backfield. This area doesn’t need as drastic an improvement as the offense. The intensity and effort are there, but these guys have the ability to wreak havoc and do damage. There is no better time than to unleash it on a down-the-road rival.
The only other improvement I would like to see is the DBs holding onto INTs, potentially turning them into points. That said, I was impressed with the way the defensive backfield played as a unit, and that next step could make this a special group.
My favorite part about college sports is seeing teams come together at the start and develop over the season. It really makes the process fun and the rewards so much more enjoyable. Fortunately, this team has some strong pieces, yet there is still plenty of room for improvement. That first step is this weekend, and I’m excited to see it.
