11-14-2004, 12:49 PM
UH struggles against UAB
Briles says poor play-calling hurt Cougars' chances
Associated Press
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BIRMINGHAM, ALA. - Predictable. That's the only way to describe Houston's 20-7 loss to Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday.
The offense fell into a predictable rut, and it had a predictably disastrous outcome.
It also set UH on what has become a predictable course — in 1997, the Cougars followed up a rare winning season (7-5 in 1996) with a 3-8 finish; in 2000, they followed another winning season (7-4 in 1999) with yet another 3-8 season.
And with Saturday's loss at Legion Field, Houston once again is on track to follow a winning season (7-5 in 2003) with a 3-8 record. The defeat dropped the Cougars to 3-7 heading into next week's finale against nationally ranked Louisville.
The most baffling aspect of Saturday's loss was UH's conservative attack against a UAB team that had been absolutely sieve-like on defense the last two weeks.
The Blazers, who now are bowl-eligible at 6-3 overall (4-2 Conference USA), took the field looking to snap a two-game losing streak in which they had given up 104 points and 1,029 yards.
Yet the Cougars did not attempt to stretch the field, instead relying on the running game and short passes that have become staples for an offense that often seems incapable of producing the big play.
Consider these numbers from Saturday — UH had only 298 yards of total offense, 60 fewer than the Blazers. Yet the Cougars had 31 more snaps than did UAB (87 plays to 56).
"I thought I did a horrible job," Houston coach Art Briles said. "I think we had ample opportunities, but I didn't do a good job of taking advantage of them from an offensive standpoint."
But it wasn't only the play-calling that hurt the Cougars, who had a two-game win streak snapped and fell to 3-4 in conference play. They also suffered meltdowns on the offensive line, which allowed eight sacks, and special teams, missing field-goal tries of 41 and 34 yards and kicking field-position-killing punts of 26, 29 and 13 yards.
"Special teams were by far not as good as they have been the last three or four weeks," Briles said. "You can't come into a place that's got a team fighting to be bowl-eligible and not hit every phase of the game.
"Credit goes to UAB. They played hard, they played smart and they won."
Not that Houston was totally lacking in effort. The overworked defense limited the Blazers' explosive offense to its lowest point total of the season.
Anthony Evans had another solid game, battling his way for 102 yards on 26 carries against a defense that pretty much knew when he would get the ball.
And quarterback Kevin Kolb, whose eight sacks left him as the most sacked quarterback in the nation, was running for his life much of the game.
Still, Kolb, who fought terrible field position for much of the first half, passed for 196 yards and scored on a seven-yard keeper in the third quarter for the Cougars' only points.
"It was hard for us to establish any continuity," Briles said. "If you can't run the ball effectively, which we couldn't do consistently, then you're grabbing at straws. He (Kolb) never really got a chance to get into a comfort zone, and I think that was due to my play-calling and our execution."
But after Kolb's run, UAB came back behind the big-play combination of quarterback Darrell Hackney and wide receiver Roddy White. Hackney, who threw for 238 yards despite several dropped passes, ended the third quarter by hitting White (eight catches, 153 yards) on a 57-yard touchdown that put the Blazers up 20-7.
But in the fourth quarter, Houston ran the ball as many times (12) as it passed, and UAB, content to watch the clock run down, was more than willing to let the Cougars run the ball.
"I'm proud of our defense tonight," Blazers coach Watson Brown said. "They had 31 more snaps than we did, but they couldn't score."
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Houston-UAH summary
Nobody home
Suppose they held a football game, and nobody showed up?
That seemed to be the case Saturday as Alabama-Birmingham played host to Houston at Legion Field. Even though it was homecoming for the Blazers, who were trying to become bowl-eligible with their sixth victory of the season, only 13,240 showed up. And there really weren't that many actually in attendance.
It's not that no one cared about the game, but the timing could not have been worse since Saturday's game happened to be on the same day as Auburn's nationally televised clash with Georgia, a Southeastern Conference game with national implications.
"It didn't bother us at all," said Cougars defensive back Rocky Schwartz, who had an interception Saturday. "It kind of helped us a little more because they didn't have all the people they normally would have had. It kind of seemed like a high school game when you looked at the stands because there was nobody up there."
Briles says poor play-calling hurt Cougars' chances
Associated Press
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HEAR IT NOW
INTERACTIVE:
• Richard Justice: College football preview
Requires the free RealPlayer or Flash.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Texas falls to OU
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COUGARS:
• College scoreboard
• Season results
• Roster
• Schedule
• Stats
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• C-USA »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHRONICLE COVERAGE:
• Area College Notebook: Southland Conference progresses in rankings
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. - Predictable. That's the only way to describe Houston's 20-7 loss to Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday.
The offense fell into a predictable rut, and it had a predictably disastrous outcome.
It also set UH on what has become a predictable course — in 1997, the Cougars followed up a rare winning season (7-5 in 1996) with a 3-8 finish; in 2000, they followed another winning season (7-4 in 1999) with yet another 3-8 season.
And with Saturday's loss at Legion Field, Houston once again is on track to follow a winning season (7-5 in 2003) with a 3-8 record. The defeat dropped the Cougars to 3-7 heading into next week's finale against nationally ranked Louisville.
The most baffling aspect of Saturday's loss was UH's conservative attack against a UAB team that had been absolutely sieve-like on defense the last two weeks.
The Blazers, who now are bowl-eligible at 6-3 overall (4-2 Conference USA), took the field looking to snap a two-game losing streak in which they had given up 104 points and 1,029 yards.
Yet the Cougars did not attempt to stretch the field, instead relying on the running game and short passes that have become staples for an offense that often seems incapable of producing the big play.
Consider these numbers from Saturday — UH had only 298 yards of total offense, 60 fewer than the Blazers. Yet the Cougars had 31 more snaps than did UAB (87 plays to 56).
"I thought I did a horrible job," Houston coach Art Briles said. "I think we had ample opportunities, but I didn't do a good job of taking advantage of them from an offensive standpoint."
But it wasn't only the play-calling that hurt the Cougars, who had a two-game win streak snapped and fell to 3-4 in conference play. They also suffered meltdowns on the offensive line, which allowed eight sacks, and special teams, missing field-goal tries of 41 and 34 yards and kicking field-position-killing punts of 26, 29 and 13 yards.
"Special teams were by far not as good as they have been the last three or four weeks," Briles said. "You can't come into a place that's got a team fighting to be bowl-eligible and not hit every phase of the game.
"Credit goes to UAB. They played hard, they played smart and they won."
Not that Houston was totally lacking in effort. The overworked defense limited the Blazers' explosive offense to its lowest point total of the season.
Anthony Evans had another solid game, battling his way for 102 yards on 26 carries against a defense that pretty much knew when he would get the ball.
And quarterback Kevin Kolb, whose eight sacks left him as the most sacked quarterback in the nation, was running for his life much of the game.
Still, Kolb, who fought terrible field position for much of the first half, passed for 196 yards and scored on a seven-yard keeper in the third quarter for the Cougars' only points.
"It was hard for us to establish any continuity," Briles said. "If you can't run the ball effectively, which we couldn't do consistently, then you're grabbing at straws. He (Kolb) never really got a chance to get into a comfort zone, and I think that was due to my play-calling and our execution."
But after Kolb's run, UAB came back behind the big-play combination of quarterback Darrell Hackney and wide receiver Roddy White. Hackney, who threw for 238 yards despite several dropped passes, ended the third quarter by hitting White (eight catches, 153 yards) on a 57-yard touchdown that put the Blazers up 20-7.
But in the fourth quarter, Houston ran the ball as many times (12) as it passed, and UAB, content to watch the clock run down, was more than willing to let the Cougars run the ball.
"I'm proud of our defense tonight," Blazers coach Watson Brown said. "They had 31 more snaps than we did, but they couldn't score."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Houston-UAH summary
Nobody home
Suppose they held a football game, and nobody showed up?
That seemed to be the case Saturday as Alabama-Birmingham played host to Houston at Legion Field. Even though it was homecoming for the Blazers, who were trying to become bowl-eligible with their sixth victory of the season, only 13,240 showed up. And there really weren't that many actually in attendance.
It's not that no one cared about the game, but the timing could not have been worse since Saturday's game happened to be on the same day as Auburn's nationally televised clash with Georgia, a Southeastern Conference game with national implications.
"It didn't bother us at all," said Cougars defensive back Rocky Schwartz, who had an interception Saturday. "It kind of helped us a little more because they didn't have all the people they normally would have had. It kind of seemed like a high school game when you looked at the stands because there was nobody up there."