Miami Hurricanes 14 - Houston Cougars 13 recap

CUSA-fans.com has a new staff of team correspondents this fall to help bring you, the fan, more detailed Conference USA football coverage. Today, our Houston Correspondent Patrick Mahoney recaps the Houston Cougars' 31-28 loss to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

The sound of rose colored glasses shattering could be heard for miles around Robertson Stadium Saturday night, even above the chorus of boos following the Cougar football team (4-2, 2-0) into the locker room after the 31-28 loss to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (3-2). As if losing to a Sun Belt Conference opponent was not bad enough, the Cougars started the game with 21 unanswered points before laying down for the Ragin’ Cajuns, who dominated time of possession, with a total of 36:48, compared to the Cougars’ 23:12.

The lopsided time of possession was just part of the problem, though perhaps indicative of the complete lack of a running game - the Coogs only had 38 net yards rushing the whole night, including -37 yards on five sacks. This despite Jackie Battle’s 5.3 yard average on seven carries. The 17 attempted rushing plays have been viewed by many as the latest manifestation of the difficulty the Cougar coaching staff has had with effective play calling. Many of the 17,543 in attendance were dumbfounded by Art Briles’ refusal to grind out the clock with Battle’s legs.

Despite the abysmal ground game the Cougars nearly tied the Cajuns for total yards, with 405 yards to ULaLa’s 415. The balance was due to another excellent performance by wunderkind Kevin Kolb, who went 24-31 for 367 yards with no interceptions and two touchdowns. In the end the stellar performance of the QB and receiving corps, among whom the best were Jeron Harvey, Vincent Marshall, and Donnie Avery, could not overcome a lackluster defensive performance and the coach’s inability to run out the clock.

The loss will probably hurt more than the team’s record - this season is widely held to be the make-or-break year for the Coogs and losing a game at home to a team like ULaLa is no way to make or keep fans at such a vital time. Two weeks ago the Cougars soundly beat Oklahoma State of the Big XII, a victory big enough to merit a mob rushing the field after the final gun. Last week the Cougars lost to Miami by a single point in the Orange Bowl after two terrible replay rulings. ULaLa was expected to be a cakewalk before the test against conference rival (and contender for East Division champion) Southern Miss (3-2, 1-1) next week in Hattiesburg, MS. The Cougars have enjoyed local and national media coverage unheard of for at least 15 years as well as near-record home attendance before the Miami loss. It seemed the team had turned a corner but with this heartbreaking loss many openly wonder if the casual fans and the longsuffering hardcore fans will bother to come back.

Will it be business as usual for the once great Houston football program or will the team rise from the ashes and prove the earlier hype true? Until the team shows the fans they have changed it is likely that the customary Cougar refrain of “when does basketball season start?” will ring across Houston with increasing frequency.