Well, the Houston Cougars haven’t exactly lived up to the lofty expectations set for them in the preseason and after their season opening domination of Oklahoma. It was originally thought that the only potential roadblock to the Cougars making it to the playoff was the Louisville Cardinals, lurking at the end of the season.
Well, someone forgot to tell Navy and SMU that, apparently. Houston took a close loss to Navy and lost in a blowout to the Mustangs, who are only 5-5, and need a win against either South Florida (8-2) or the aforementioned Navy to get bowl eligible.
If Navy threw a wrench in Houston’s hopes, SMU took them outside and finished them off with a baseball bat. There’s no truly plausible way that Houston gets in the playoff outside of random sinkholes opening up across America. That doesn’t mean that their season was meaningless or that it wasn’t good, it merely means that it didn’t live up to its own sky-high expectations.
The Cougars can still do the second most pleasurable thing in college football besides getting a shot at a national title: ruining someone else’s shot at a national title for good. Tonight, they host Louisville, who is sitting right on the edge of being in the playoff at #5.
They’ll have to stop human highlight reel Lamar Jackson, who is easily the frontrunner for the Heisman trophy at this point in the season. The Cardinals are made up of many various good players, but Jackson is the grease that turns the treads on the tank. He’s undoubtedly the key to everything that they’ve done this season.
In order to win, Houston will need a big game in the trenches from freshman phenom Ed Oliver, who takes the phrase “bull in a china shop” to a whole new level. Greg Ward Jr. will have to be outstanding, yes, but the keys for the Houston Cougars all rest with how they defend Lamar Jackson’s dual-threat ability. If they focus too much on him, they’ll get burned by the Cardinals’ other weapons. If they pay him no mind, he’ll turn TDECU Stadium’s end zone into his second home. How well the Cougars balance their defense will go a long way into stopping Jackson.
This isn’t a game that’s completely out of reach for Houston. There’s a very real possibility that they take this one home, especially with a rowdy home field crowd. It’s sure to be one of the best college football games of this weekend, and we’ll get it on a Thursday night.
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