Quote:Big plays help UH lead early in season-opening loss to Ducks at Reliant
Offense cools in 2nd half; Oregon uncovers ways to exploit new 3-4 defense
By MICHAEL MURPHY
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

After last year's disappointing 3-8 finish, the mantra for Houston football coach Art Briles was simple.

No excuses.

That certainly applied to the Cougars' performance in Thursday's season-opening loss to Oregon.

The Cougars stormed the field at Reliant Stadium with a new-look swagger but quickly reverted to the tentative ways of last season in a 38-24 loss to the Ducks before a disappointed crowd of 19,981.

And forget about the final score — this was a winnable game for the Cougars.

"No question (it was winnable)," said UH quarterback Kevin Kolb, who finished with 312 yards on 24-of-43 passing with two interceptions. "You could feel it in the crowd and you could feel it throughout the stadium. We were there. We've been saying since Day 1 that we weren't intimidated by them. We came out thinking we were going to win the ballgame."

The baffling thing was how quickly it all fell apart for UH, which did everything right in a spectacular three-touchdown first quarter that included scoring passes of 70 and 62 yards. But the offense, which lost starting running back Anthony Evans to a calf injury, went into a mystifying coma afterward.

And for anyone who watched the Cougars during last year's 3-8 nightmare, Thursday's disappearance by the offense featured a lot of far-too-familiar earmarks — dropped passes, disastrously timed penalties, an almost nonexistent running game and play-calling that can generously be described as puzzling.

For example: The Cougars faced a fourth-and-goal from the nine-yard line early in the third quarter, clinging to a 21-20 lead after Oregon's Paul Martinez kicked the fourth of his five field goals. Rather than respond with a chip-shot field goal, Briles opted for a pass play that didn't work.

"If I had to do it over again, I'd kick down there to make it 24-20, but we came into the game saying we were going to play it all-out," Briles said. "We were going to do whatever we could do to win. If we put seven (points) on the board there and go up by eight, then we're in pretty good shape."

While the Cougars struggled, Oregon quarterback Kellen Clemens used the Ducks' new spread offense to work over UH for 348 yards and two touchdowns. Clemens connected on 30 of 47 passes, finding conspicuously open receivers with regularity. The Cougars are still trying to find Oregon's Demetrius Williams (nine catches, 133 yards) and James Finley (10 catches, 95 yards), and Clemens added 72 yards on 12 rushes.

"Clemens is a baller," Briles said. "He's been a good player for three years, and they have some people to go with him."

The Cougars' new 3-4 defense looked a lot like their old one, which means it was often exploited. But because of the offense's inability to sustain anything, the defense was stranded on the field too long, which is probably the biggest reason UH surrendered 554 yards to Oregon on 85 plays.

The Cougars still held the lead midway through the third quarter, but a one-yard run by Dennis Dixon polished off a 90-yard drive that put Oregon up 28-21, and on the Ducks' next possession Martinez drilled a 24-yard field goal to boost the lead to 10.

The Ducks put it out of reach when Clemens hit Dante Rosario with a 14-yard TD pass for a 38-21 lead with 13:16 to play in the game.

"We weren't real consistent," Kolb said. " ... That was kind of a problem for us even last year."

michael.murphy@chron.com


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UH Summary

Injury update
Senior running back Anthony Evans and junior linebacker Wade Koehl both left Thursday's season-opening game against Oregon in the third quarter after suffering injuries. Evans strained a calf muscle and Koehl injured his hip.

Evans, the Cougars' leading returning rusher (788 yards), missed three games last season with a strained right calf. But Evans injured his left calf in the second quarter Thursday. Koehl was injured while trying to block a 29-yard field-goal attempt by Oregon's Paul Martinez with 12:55 left.

Evans tried to return in the third quarter but couldn't push off the injured leg. Head coach Art Briles doesn't expect either back anytime soon.

"I know that Anthony is out for a while," Briles said. "I'm not real sure about Wade, but he's out for right now. I know it's his hip, but I don't quite know what the damage is."

On top of that, the Cougars played without wide receiver Jeron Harvey , a JUCO transfer who is still gimpy after spraining a knee in practice two weeks ago.

"He worked out Tuesday for the first time," Briles said. "He's been injured, and we just didn't know (about playing him against Oregon)."


Start me up
While the Cougars return plenty of talent from last year's 3-8 team, their relative inexperience was evident Thursday. Freshman outside linebacker Cody Lubojasky , junior inside linebacker Trent Allen , sophomore wide receiver Anthony Alridge and sophomore right tackle Dustin Dickinson all made their first collegiate starts.

MICHAEL MURPHY

When I left to go pick up my sis-n-law from the airport we were on top 21-17. Then in the closing minutes of the 4th quarter we are 38- 21. Where did our offense go? Why were we leaving an easy 3 points on the field? :bang: