I Was Wrong About the Houston Cougars
I’ll be the first to admit it: I was wrong about the Houston Cougars.
In my preseason predictions, I had the Coogs being “heavily outmatched against a high-powered Oklahoma team that [was] simply bigger, faster and stronger.” I predicted that loss would derail Houston’s season enough for the Cougars to finish 9–3, dropping contests to Cincinnati and Louisville.
Those words seem comical after what I just witnessed.
Don’t call it an upset. The Cougars were by far the better team Saturday at NRG Stadium, smashing Oklahoma, 33–23, in a game that honestly wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.
Since 2012, Tom Herman has been an underdog 10 times as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator or Houston’s coach. He’s won every single game. That’s Big 12-caliber.
Houston’s defense swarmed Baker Mayfield all day, but the most impressive part was its ability to stop the run. The Cougars held a dominant tandem of Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine to 78 yards.
Offensively, they made the Oklahoma defensive backfield look slow and kept the defensive line from getting to Heisman-contending quarterback Greg Ward, who threw for two touchdowns and 321 yards.
Heck, Houston even dominated on special teams. After a dumb decision by Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops to attempt a 53-yard field goal (this is college, by the way), Brandon Wilson returned it 100 yards for a touchdown that ended up feeling like a momentum-changing dagger.
With this result in the books, I have a ton more questions about the Sooners than I do about Houston. I feel much more confident in my prediction that TCU will beat Oklahoma at Amon G. Carter in three weeks, especially considering Oklahoma will likely be 1–2 going into that game with a loss against Ohio State.
It’s still early in the season, but Oklahoma didn’t look anything like a top-ranked team. But Houston sure as hell did.
And the win wasn’t just big for the Cougars’ now-very realistic playoff hopes. It was big for the school as a whole.
If the Big 12 watched Saturday night’s result and still doesn’t know if the Cougars deserve to be in the conference, I don’t know what they’re looking for. At this point, not adding Houston could very realistically hurt the Big 12 more than any potential questions about recruiting or market shares could.
Does the Big 12 really want to risk the Pac-12 or *shudders* the SEC taking a flier on the Coogs? I hope not.
You’ve sold me, Houston. And I hope you’ve sold the Big 12, too. That win proved to me you belong.
I was so wrong, but it feels so good.
