Cougars play for pride with 2 games left
TULSA, Okla. — Gone is any chance to play in a bowl game. Forget about a winning record, too.
As the University of Houston wraps up the final two games of a dismal season, the stakes are low. Now, beginning with Saturday’s game against Tulsa, it’s simply about pride.
“It’s still about this year’s team,” coach Dana Holgorsen said. “We have to play Tulsa and Navy, and we are going to do everything we can to try to win. I have never lined up with anything in life and not tried to win. I think our team needs to have some pride about themselves when it comes to that.
“We have (seven) days left in this season, and nobody is happy being 3-7. I’m sure they are saying the same thing up in Tulsa right now because we are very similar teams when it comes to the schedules that we’ve played, how we’ve been competitive and what our record is.”
True, UH and Tulsa have taken similar paths to 3-7 records this season, currently tied for last in the American Athletic Conference West division.
UH played five ranked teams, all losses, one shy of matching the school record. Tulsa has lost to four ranked opponents.
The Cougars were in tight games with Washington State, Tulane and SMU and led Central Florida at halftime. The Golden Hurricane took SMU to triple overtime, missed a gamewinning field goal as time expired against Memphis and picked up its biggest win of the season two weeks ago over UCF.
“They’ve got a similar story,” Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery said. “They’ve been in a lot of ballgames and played extremely well, just could have gone either way type of deal.”
One big difference: UH was picked to contend in the West in the preseason poll; Tulsa was the overwhelming choice for a third straight last-place finish.
While the Cougars have been accustomed to playing meaningful November games, Holgorsen’s first season has been filled with potholes, ranging from redshirt decisions, injuries, inconsistency and second half (or earlier) failures. UH has yet to beat a team with a winning record. Two more losses would be the program’s most since going 0-11 in 2001.
“We haven’t conceded any game whatsoever,” Holgorsen said.
UH has been met with challenges from the very beginning. First it was a brutal four games in 19 days. Then came the late September decisions of quarterback D’Eriq King and wide receiver Keith Corbin to redshirt the remainder of the season. Injuries began to mount, with the offensive line, backfield, linebacker and cornerback hit hardest. As the Cougars limp to the finish, only one Week 1 starter (Gio Pancotti) remains on the offensive line, which last week featured three freshmen and again will be without left tackle Josh Jones, a projected high-round draft pick who is dealing with a high-ankle sprain.
“We go into every game thinking we can hang in there,” Holgorsen said. He later added: “Longer the game goes, the more reality sets in.”
The final two weeks, Holgorsen said, are as much about development for younger players as much “a quick reminder that everybody is being evaluated.”
“I am being evaluated, the coaches are, and the players are as well,” he said.
Only five seniors are on the two-deep roster: wide receiver Courtney Lark, running back Patrick Carr, nose guard Aymiel Fleming, safety Darius Gilbert and defensive end Leroy Godfrey. On special teams, the Cougars feature senior punter Dane Roy and long snapper Nick Wildberger.
In last week’s loss to Memphis, Holgorsen estimated that just 6 percent of the snaps involved seniors.
“We just don’t have a lot of seniors,” he said.
UH players who spoke to the media this week vowed to not throw in the towel, even if there is nothing to gain.
“I want to win every time I go out there,” Roy said. “Everyone that goes out there plays to win. We’re no different. We’re a competitive bunch.”
For seniors, Fleming said it’s a chance to make a final impression for pro scouts.
“The way I look at it, these next two games don’t make or break you,” he said. “They expose who you really are as a player and a person. If you want to go to the next level, these next two games are going to let you know if you can really make it to the next level. There is really nothing to lose.”