University of Houston Athletics
Game Primer: Houston at Oklahoma
8/30/2019 10:27:00 AM | Football
The Cougars open the season in primetime on Sunday night in Norman, Okla.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
« Houston begins the 2019 season and its first under head coach Dana Holgorsen as it travels to No. 4/4 Oklahoma on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. CT inside Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The game will be televised nationally by ABC with Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe on the call.
« Holgorsen is the 15th head coach in UH history. The first 14 coaches went 9-5 in their debut games. He is the only UH head coach to face a ranked opponent in his first game in charge of the Cougars.
« Houston has won its last four season openers and five of its last six, including a 33-23 victory over then No. 3/3 Oklahoma to begin the 2016 season. The Cougars hold a 10-16-2 record in season openers on the road and Sunday's game marks the fourth straight year Houston has opened its season away from TDECU Stadium.
« Sunday's game marks the third meeting between Houston and Oklahoma, with the Sooners leading the all-time series, 2-1 (1-0 in Norman).
« Houston is 2-0 when opening the season with a ranked opponent (17-13 win over No. 11 UCLA in 1977; 33-23 win over No. 3 Oklahoma in 2016).
« Houston is 2-7-1 against No. 4 teams in the Associated Press poll. Sunday's season opener will be the first time the Cougars have faced the No. 4 (AP) team since taking on then No. 4 Miami (Fla.) inside NRG Stadium in Houston on Sept. 23, 2004. UH's last victory over the No. 4 (AP) team came on Oct. 27, 1979, in Fayetteville, Ark., with a 13-10 win over Arkansas.
« A victory would mark Houston's first road win against a ranked opponent in a season opener in school history. UH is 0-4 against ranked opponents in season openers on the road and is 3-7 all-time against ranked opponents in season openers.
« The season opener marks the ninth time the Cougars have played a game on Sunday in program history. UH is 4-4 when playing on a game on a Sunday. This marks the first Sunday game for UH since the 2017 Hawai'i Bowl against Fresno State.
« Oklahoma is coming off a 12-2 season in which it appeared in the College Football Playoff for the third time in four years and captured a fourth straight Big 12 title by going 8-1 in league play and defeating Texas in the 2018 Big 12 Championship game. Lincoln Riley is 24-4 as he enters his third year with the Sooners as head coach.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
« Houston and Oklahoma were two of the most productive offenses in 2018 and both teams return key pieces from last year's units. The Cougars finished the 2018 season fifth nationally averaging 43.9 points per game and seventh in total offenses with an average of 512.5 yards per contest. Oklahoma led the country with 48.4 points per game and averaged 570.3 yards per contest. Houston, Oklahoma and Clemson were the only three programs last season to rank in the top 25 for both passing and rushing offense.
« Houston senior quarterback D'Eriq King looks to build off his impressive season in 2018 after setting The American's record for touchdowns responsible for with 50 a year ago. King tossed 36 touchdowns through the air and added 14 rushing scores in 11 games. Among returning quarterbacks, only Alabama's Tua Tagavailoa passed for more touchdowns (50) than King in 2018.
« There are plenty of ties between the coaching staffs for Houston and Oklahoma. During his time as an assistant at Texas Tech, UH head coach Dana Holgorsen worked alongside OU head coach Lincoln Riley, associate head coach/outside wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons, assistant head coach/outside linebackers coach Ruffin McNeill and co-offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh. UH co-offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Brandon Jones played at Texas Tech and also worked alongside Riley, Simmons and McNeil at ECU from 2010-14 as the offensive line coach. Holgorsen and Bedenbaugh also spent two seasons together at West Virginia (2011-12).
« The Cougars are 1-2 all-time against the Sooners, winning the previous matchup with a 33-23 victory in 2016 at the Advocare Texas Kickoff inside NRG Stadium. The teams first met in the 1981 Alamo Bowl, when OU won 40-14. The only meeting to take place in Norman came in 2004 with the Sooners earning a 63-13 victory.
« Two Cougars hail from the state of Oklahoma: safety Gervarrius Owens and kicker Dalton Witherspoon. Both players hail from nearby Moore, Okla., which is 10 miles from OU's campus.
BACK FOR 2019
« Twenty-three full or part-time starters return for the 2019 season. The 2018 leaders in rushing, passing, receiving, total offense, field goals, scoring, punting, punt returns, kick returns, all-purpose yards and interceptions return are all back for the Cougars.
« UH's offense returns eight players with double-digit career starts in 2019: OL Josh Jones (36 career starts), OL Braylon Jones (30), QB D'Eriq King (22), WR Keith Corbin (17), OL Jarrid Williams (17), WR Courtney Lark (13), WR Marquez Stevenson (13) and RB Patrick Carr (11).
« In addition to the returning starters, Houston returns 91.2 percent of its 2018 rushing yards, 99.8 percent of its passing yards, 82.3 percent of its receiving yards and 85.3 percent of its scoring.
« On the defensive side of the ball, Houston will look to replace eight players with double-digit career starts including three NFL Combine invitees, but does welcome back seven players with starting experience. Three of those players have double-digit career starts in linebacker Leroy Godfrey (19 career starts), safety Deontay Anderson (13) and defensive lineman Payton Turner (11). Safety Gleson Sprewell, the team's leader in interceptions in 2018, also returns having started nine games in 2018.
COACHING CHANGES
« Dana Holgorsen was named Houston's 15th head coach on Jan. 2, 2019, after eight seasons in the same position at West Virginia. Holgorsen closed his tenure at WVU as the second-winningest coach in Mountaineer history with an eight-year record of 61-41. His 61 wins trailed only College Football Hall of Famer Don Nehlen for most wins in West Virginia history. He led the Mountaineers to bowl games in seven of his eight seasons including each of the last five.
« Holgorsen's first coaching staff at Houston features three full-time assistants who were a part of his WVU staff in co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Marquel Blackwell, co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach Doug Belk and assistant head coach/receivers coach Tyron Carrier. Carrier is one of two Houston wide receiver alums from 2008-11 joining the Houston coaching staff as Justin Johnson was named the program's running backs coach in March.
« The offensive staff is rounded out by co-offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Brandon Jones, who spent the last two seasons on the Texas Tech staff, and tight ends coach Shannon Dawson who arrived after three years as offensive coordinator at Southern Miss.
« The defensive side of the staff also includes a pair who spent their last five seasons at Arkansas State in defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Joe Cauthen and defensive line coach Brian Early. On the back end, special teams coordinator/nickels coach Blake Gideon arrives after one season at Georgia State and cornerbacks coach Zac Etheridge does the same after one season at Louisiana.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA
« Oklahoma is led by third-year head coach Lincoln Riley, who has guided the Sooners to back-to-back Big 12 titles and two consecutive appearances in the College Football Playoff. Riley joined the program in 2015 as offensive coordinator and succeeded Bob Stoops as head coach in 2017. Since his arrival in Norman, OU is 33-3 during the regular season and has seen quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray win the Heisman Trophy in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
« The Sooners look to replace seven starters on offense, including Murray, All-American wide receiver Marquise Brown and four linemen that were selected in the 2019 NFL Draft. Graduate transfer Jalen Hurts takes over at quarterback for the Sooners after three seasons at Alabama, where he helped the Crimson Tide to a 41-3 record (26-2 mark as a starter in 2016 and 2017).
« In the backfield, All-Big 12 honorable mention selection Trey Sermon (947 yards, 13 touchdowns) and USA Today Freshman All-American Kennedy Brooks (1,056 yards, 12 touchdowns) also return for the Sooners. Junior wide receiver CeeDee Lamb caught 65 passes for 1,158 yards with a team-best 11 touchdowns in 2018, while junior Grant Calcaterra was an All-Big 12 First Team pick last season with 26 catches for 396 yards and six touchdowns.
« Three new coaches have joined Oklahoma's defensive staff including defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. Oklahoma ranked last in the Big 12 in 2018 in total defense and passing defense, while finishing sixth in rushing defense. Junior linebacker Kenneth Murray was selected as the 2019 Preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year after starting all 14 games and making 155 tackles last year.
« On special teams, the Sooners look to replace Austin Seibert as their kicker, punter and kickoff specialist. Seibert became the NCAA's and Big 12's all-time leading scorer among kickers with 499 points during the 2018 season.
ON THE OFFENSIVE
« Since 2006, only Oklahoma and Oregon have racked up more yards than Houston, which has 83,477 in that span. Houston has scored in 236 straight games dating back to Sept. 30, 2000.
Rank Team Total Yards (2006-present)
1. Oklahoma 86,242
2. Oregon 84,453
3. Houston 83,477
4. Texas Tech 82,642
« Houston ended 2018 fifth nationally in scoring offense with an average of 43.9 points per game and seventh in total offense with an average of 512.5 yards per game.
« Houston, Oklahoma and Clemson were the only schools to rank in the top 25 for both passing offense (No. 16, 295.5) and rushing offense (No. 24, 217.1) in 2018.
« The offense ranked fifth nationally with 92 plays of at least 20+ yards and 11th with 13 plays of 50+ yards. The versatility of UH's offense was evident as 10 different players had receiving TDs, eight of which return in 2019, and nine different players across three position groups had rushing TDs, of which eight return in 2019.
« Houston opened the season with 40+ points in its first three games of a season for the first time in program history and expanded the streak through its first eight games. The eight-game streak set the Houston record for
the longest such streak.
« With 45 points at Rice, 49 at Texas Tech and 49 at Navy, Houston scored 45+ in at least three road games in a season for only the third time in program history (1989 and 2011). It was also the first time since the 2011 team accomplished the feat five times.
« After 18 of Houston's 53 scoring drives in 2017 lasted less than two minutes, the Cougars had 43 scoring drives of less than two minutes in 2018 with 13 lasting less than one minute. Houston had 32 scoring drives of five plays or less.
« Since 2015, Houston has 19 games with 500+ yards of total offense and eight games with 600+ yards. It has scored more than 40 points in 22 of 52 games and more than 50 points on seven different occasions.
THE KING CONTINUES TO REIGN
« With 50 total touchdowns and a two-point conversion in 11 games, D'Eriq King was responsible for 302 points, leading the nation with an average of 27.5 points responsible per game.
« With his 50 touchdowns responsible for, King broke The American's previous single-season record of 45 set by UCF's McKenzie Milton in 2017. He was 13 touchdowns away from the NCAA single-season record of 63 set by Hawaii's Colt Brennan in 2006.
« With his 36 passing TDs, which ranked sixth nationally, King was only three away from breaking The American's single-season record set by Memphis' Riley Ferguson in 2017. King finished seventh nationally and tops in the league with an average of 332.4 yards of total offense per game while leading The American and ranking 16th nationally with 271.7 passing yards per game.
« The Manvel, Texas, native also ranked seventh nationally and led The American with a passer rating of 167.0. King also ranked 20th nationally and fourth in the conference with 14 rushing touchdowns.
« Named the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts, King threw for his third 400-yard game of the season against USF on Oct. 27, 2018, with 419 yards and five touchdowns on 28-of-40 passing. He also added his second 100-yard rushing game of the season with 132 yards and two scores on the ground. He became only the 13th FBS QB with 400+ yards passing and 100+ yards rushing in a game with the performance.
« Last season, King was the first UH QB to throw for at least 300 yards and rush for 100 yards in a game since Kevin Kolb in 2003, and is the only UH quarterback to accomplish the feat twice in a season after also doing so again versus Temple.
« With five passing touchdowns and one rushing score against Temple, King had at least two passing scores and a rushing score in 10 straight games. It was the longest such streak by an FBS player in over 20 years.
« King is one of just three quarterbacks in FBS history with at least 35 passing TDs and 13 rushing TDs in a single season. In 2018, King joined Marcus Mariota (Oregon) and Geno Smith (West Virginia) to record at least 25 touchdowns and no more than three turnovers in his team's first six games to begin a season.
« King is steadily climbing the UH record charts - ranking No. 6 in TD passes in a season, No. 7 in TD passes in a career, No. 6 in rushing TDs in a season, No. 13 in rushing TDs in a career, No. 5 in TDs responsible for in a season and No. 6 in TDs responsible for in a career.
LENDING A HAND OR TWO
« Houston returns 82.3 percent of its receiving yards from the 2018 season to go along with 35 of its 45 touchdown receptions.
« Houston is one of six schools nationally, and two in The American, to have a 1,000-yard receiver each of the last four seasons as Demarcus Ayers (2015, 1,222 yards), Linell Bonner (2016, 1,118), Steven Dunbar (2017, 1,070) and Marquez Stevenson (2018, 1,019) each accomplished the feat.
« Named to The American's First Team, Stevenson has proved to be electrifying with six plays of 50+ yards and 12 plays of at least 30 yards, which ranked sixth and 11th in the nation, respectively. He led The American with five games of at least 100 receiving yards and was fifth in the league with 78.4 receiving yards per game and third with 5.8 receptions per game.
« Keith Corbin was second in The American and 21st nationally with 10 TD receptions ,while Stevenson was third and 29th with nine.
« After going without a touchdown reception in his first two seasons, Corbin pulled in 10 in 2018. He had a TD in eight of 12 games. Corbin had a career day at Texas Tech, pulling in seven receptions for 103 yards and two touchdowns, both career highs, as he eclipsed the century mark for the first time in his career.
« Courtney Lark doubled up his career touchdown receiving total entering the season with two scores against Rice. He recorded his first career 100-yard receiving game at Navy with 106 yards, including a career-long 65-yarder.
« The trio is joined by three others with double-digit receptions in 2018, led by converted sophomore quarterback Bryson Smith who finished the year with 30 receptions for 285 yards and four touchdowns. Smith's classmate, Jeremy Singleton had 19 receptions for 285 yards and two touchdowns, while senior Terry Mark had 11 receptions for 99 yards and two scores.
BACK TO THE BACKS
« With 91.2 percent of its 2018 rushing yards returning in 2019, it's no surprise that Houston is returning five of its top six backs.
« Senior Patrick Carr leads the way, starting all 10 games UH with a RB and led Houston with 873 yards rushing and five touchdowns on 152 attempts. Carr rushed for a career-best 139 yards and two TDs against on Tulane on only 18 attempts, averaging 7.7 yards per carry. He was fifth in The American with 11 runs of at least 20 yards a year ago.
« Houston's second-leading running back, senior Mulbah Car suffered an injury versus SMU and missed two games, returning at Memphis. He finished the year with 325 yards and two touchdowns on 66 carries during the season. With backfield injuries, junior Chandler Smith, who had 30 carries for 139 yards and two touchdowns saw additional action in 2018.
« Taking advantage of the NCAA's new redshirt rule, redshirt freshman Kelan Walker led Houston with 105 rushing yards, including a 72-yard TD, against Texas Southern, one of two games he saw action in during the season.
« Junior Kyle Porter also joins the Cougars' backfield rotation for 2019. Porter played in 27 career games with three starts at Texas and recorded 130 carries for 468 yards and five touchdowns. The Katy, Texas, native added 11 catches for 63 yards and one touchdown across his career. He was also a member of the 2017 Texas Bowl and 2018 Sugar Bowl champion teams.
THE LINE ON THE LINE
« For the fourth straight year, a new offensive line coach has stepped in with options across the front as Brandon Jones will oversee a group that has a combined 82 career starts and 156 career games played, although it will look to replace two day-to-day starters in center Will Noble, a four-year starter, and left guard Mason Denley.
« Senior tackle Josh Jones leads the way with 36 career starts, having stepped into the left tackle role in the 2016 opener and never looking back.
« Senior Braylon Jones make the move to center after starting every game the last two seasons (25) at right guard and has 30 career starts in total.
« Senior Jarrid Williams is third on the line in terms of starts, having started 15 career games including all 13 games in 2018 at right tackle.
« Junior Keenan Murphy owns one career start, stepping into the starting lineup at left guard for since graduated. Denley last season versus USF. The Crosby, Texas, native saw action in all 13 games on the line in 2018.
« Graduate transfers Justin Murphy (UCLA) and Gio Pancotti (Texas Tech) bring valuable experience up front for the Cougars. Murphy started four games at UCLA in 2018 and has 16 career starts. Pancotti played in three games last year at Texas Tech before transferring to Houston. Murphy and Pancotti were teammates with the Red Raiders in 2016.
TURNOVER U
« Since the start of the 2013 season, no program has taken the ball away from opposing offenses more than Houston with 171 turnovers forced in that time with 24 in 2018, 21 in 2017, 18 in 2016, 35 in 2015, 30 in 2014 and 43 in 2013. Houston has an 16-turnover lead on its closest competitor in that stretch (Louisiana Tech).
« Houston has forced a turnover in 17 straight games, ranking third nationally among active streaks.
« UH has forced multiple turnovers in 56 of its last 85 games.
« Houston has been opportunistic with its turnovers, ranking third nationally since 2010 with 45 non-offensive touchdowns including 25 defensive touchdowns over the last six seasons.
« Houston was sixth nationally and second in The American with four defensive touchdowns in 2018, including a touchdown in each of the final three road games of the season.
« Junior safety Gleson Sprewell gave Houston its third straight road game with a defensive touchdown when he picked up an SMU fumble and returned it 24 yards for a score.
« He followed that with a second defensive touchdown on the road, returning a Memphis interception 63 yards to the endzone.
FOREMEN
« Switching from a three-man front to a four-man front, Houston will essentially be looking for three new starting defensive linemen in 2019 with junior defensive end Payton Turner the lone returning day-to-day starter from 2018, starting the first 11 games of the season before a season-ending injury.
« The top tackler among returning defensive linemen, Turner finished his sophomore campaign with 42 stops including 4.5 tackles for loss while breaking up four passes and blocking one kick.
« Junior Isaiah Chambers will be counted on after suffering a season-ending injury in the fifth game of 2018. Despite only playing in five games, Chambers was second on the Houston team and 14th in The American with 4.5 sacks, part of his 10 tackles and six tackles for loss on the year.
« With three-time All-American Ed Oliver limited with injuries in 2018, senior Aymiel Fleming picked up six starts to end the season, finishing the year with 21 tackles including one for loss and a forced fumble.
« Oliver's injury also allowed for additional playing time for senior Blake Young who saw action in 10 games including action in each of the final eight.
« Despite missing six games, sophomore defensive lineman Willie Smith III saw extended action as a true freshman, totaling nine tackles while manning the middle of the three-man line.
« Smith was one of two true freshmen to see significant time on the line, as Logan Hall played in all 13 games, starting the Armed Forces Bowl versus Army, and finishing the year with 14 tackles including three for a loss.
« Houston has added bodies to the competition in the spring with junior college transfers Taures Payne and Olivier Charles-Pierre.
SMASHMOUTH FOOTBALL
« Just as the numbers along the line has changed, the same will be true for the linebackers in 2019 switching from four starting linebackers to three, which comes after losing three of four starting linebackers from the 2018 team including NFL Combine invitee Emeke Egbule and a member of The American's All-Conference First Team in Austin Robinson.
« Houston's lone returning starter from the linebackers room is senior Leroy Godfrey who started all 13 games in 2018 after starting six in 2017. Godfrey finished last season with 42 tackles including 5.5 for loss as well as two pass breakups.
« Sophomore Derek Parish made his mark on the Houston defense, picking 1.5 sacks as part of 21 total tackles on the year.
« Junior David Anenih is Houston's returning leader in terms of tackles for loss, picking up 6.5 TFLs in 2018 including four sacks as he posted 20 total tackles in 12 games of action.
« A second junior linebacker, Elijah Gooden, saw action in all 13 games in 2018, finishing the year with 14 tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack.
« Two Houston sophomores saw major action in 2018 as true freshmen. Donavan Mutin played in 10 games finishing the year with seven tackles, while Zamar Kirven saw action in nine games with eight tackles.
« Senior Jordan Milburn has seen action in 36 career games, including all 13 in 2018, and has 11 career tackles with over half, six, coming in 2018.
« Junior Jordan Carmouche picked up nine games of action in 2018, finishing with 12 total tackles.
« Sophomore Amaud Willis-Dalton also made his linebacker debut in 2018, playing in five games.
« Houston also added another face to the linebackers room in the spring in junior college transfer Terrance Edgeston.
STRENGTH AND SAFETY
« It is a tale of two positions in the secondary as Houston returns its starting safeties in juniors Deontay Anderson and Gleson Sprewell after losing its top three corners with a combined 41 career starts in a Houston uniform.
« After stepping into the starting lineup in the fourth game of 2018, Sprewell finished third on the Houston team, and leads all returning tacklers, with 81 total stops.
« After picking off his first pass vs. Tulane, Sprewell doubled it up in the next game, picking off two Memphis passes, one he returned 63 yards for a Houston touchdown, his second defensive touchdown of the year.
« Sprewell had eight stops vs. USF while breaking up two passes and had six PBUs on the year to go along with his three interceptions.
« He followed at SMU with a career-high nine tackles and his first defensive score, returning a fumble 24 yards for a TD.
« Anderson arrived in Houston in 2018 after one season of action at Ole Miss. Ranked the No. 1 safety in the nation by ESPN in the 2016 recruiting class, he earned Freshman All-SEC honors in 2016.
« Anderson finished just behind Sprewell with the fourth-best tackle total in 2018, finishing the year with 72 stops including four tackles for a loss.
« The transfer made his first turnover in a Houston uniform vs. Tulsa, picking off a pass to set up UH's final TD of the night. He also forced a fumble in the game that was recovered by Emeke Egbule.
« At corner, Houston lost Alexander Myres (18 games started at Houston), NFL Combine invitee Isaiah Johnson (12) and Nick Watkins (8 games in lone season at Houston) and will now look to retool the position in 2019.
« One name that will be given an opportunity to make an impact right away will be junior college transfer Damarion Williams who earned NJCAA First Team All-America honors in 2018 at Highland Community College where he led the nation with seven interceptions and 17 pass breakups in 10 games.
« Houston has four corners who have seen action for the program led by senior Ka'Darian Smith (26 career games played), junior Javian Smith (20), sophomore Shaun Lewis (13) and junior D.J. Small (7).
« The group of returners was led in 2018 by Ka'Darian Smith who had six tackles while Lewis and Javian Smith each had four.
« The Cougars also have an additional name in the room in redshirt freshman Johnathan Phenix.
AMONG THE BEST
« Since 2013, Houston leads the state of Texas among FBS schools with 53 wins. The Cougars are one win ahead of TCU, four ahead of Texas A&M, six ahead of Baylor and 12 games ahead of Texas in that span. Houston leads the state of Texas FBS schools with 10 seasons of at least eight wins since 2006. TCU is second in that span with nine.
« Houston enters 2019 second on The American's all-time win list in conference games with 33 conference wins. Since the league's inception, UCF leads with 37 wins, while Temple is third with 31 wins.
« After three years of competition, the 2019 senior class is the 31st-most winningest class in Houston football history with 24 wins since 2016. Ten wins will move the group into the UH top 10, in a tie for seventh, while the class is 14 wins away from the record of 38 established by the 2016 senior class.
« Houston enters 2019 riding a streak of six straight bowl appearances, the 16th-longest active streak in the nation and the longest in The American. The current six-game streak is a program best, topping the previous from 2005-09.
