Scouting Houston - Game Thread
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:12 PM ^
Keenum pulls a Braxton Miller, overthrows wide open receiver.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:21 PM ^
Windy conditions. The natural grass footing looks poor as well.
Don't think we'll see either of these factors in the Sugar Bowl.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:14 PM ^
I really hope all this talking about Houston in the Sugar Bowl doesn't cause us to end up playing like Georgia in the Cap One Bowl...
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:51 PM ^
Brad Edwards is the best in the business at projecting bowl matchups and updated BCS rankings. He says we have a less than 50 percent chance of making the Sugar bowl. Not sure why OP takes it for granted.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:20 PM ^
I'm not doing this to get page views or anything, because I really don't care about them. But if anyone's interested in doing their own scouting, I've got two complete games of Houston (every snap vs. UTEP and SMU) up on youtube.. Links
SMU video quality is a bit spotty because I had to use some questionable conversion software...but UTEP is high quality. Enjoy
EDIT: I should also note that I plan to add more, should Houston and LSU pull off wins today.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:15 PM ^
I'm especially interested to get a look at Houston's D. We know the O is good, but will their D be able to stand up to Denard and Co.?
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:19 PM ^
I made the videos for other people to see, because my area of interest is largely 'jimmies and joes' instead of 'x's and o's', so this is more my opinion than something you should take as gospel.
But from what I've seen, they're not very athletic, miss a lot of tackles, and often get pulled out of position.
However, they're fairly opportunistic. They thrive on forcing turnovers. In the SMU game, they did that and kept the score down. Against UTEP they struggled, and were one bad UTEP-pass away from either losing, or at least forcing OT.
But really. C-USA is really really bad.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:17 PM ^
But anybody else think Kevin Sumlin might have a shot at the UT job?
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:30 PM ^
I expect them to make a serious run at Chris Peterson. If they can't get him to leave, maybe Kirby Smart (Alabama's D-coordinator).
I think this is the best chance for someone to get Peterson. He's going to get shut out of a BCS bowl at #7 in the country.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:41 PM ^
And Austin is a great city where I would expect there to be top notch hospitals for his son's care
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:46 PM ^
That's the wild card here. A side benefit of being Boise's coach is that the non-football demands on a head coach are much, much smaller--which seems to be why Peterson has stayed so long. In Austin, he'll be in a fishbowl and won't have as much time for his kid.
December 3rd, 2011 at 1:39 PM ^
Recruiting at UT has to be the easiest bigtime job in the country. Pick best players in Texas, offer them, they commit early, done.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:21 PM ^
Man the wind in this game is brutal...its gotta favor So. Miss. Did you just see that punt?
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:23 PM ^
who do we want to win this game? does it even matter? Houston losing would help us wouldnt it?
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:24 PM ^
It really depends on who you want to play, should we make it into the Sugar Bowl.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:29 PM ^
If Houston loses, who are the next likely candidates in line to go to the Sugar Bowl?
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:30 PM ^
I say TCU
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:32 PM ^
TCU will not be in contention to go to a BCS bowl.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:35 PM ^
If Houston loses, yes they will. They will be in the top 16, which is all that is necessary for *them* because of a non-AQ BCS rule, and they'll get the automatic bid from a non-AQ school because they won their conference and Boise and Houston did not.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:37 PM ^
You are right. I forgot about the nonAQ rule. However, would the Sugar Bowl even pick them over a bigger program? I would think not.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:44 PM ^
that they have to be ranked ahead at least one AQ conference champion.
December 3rd, 2011 at 1:23 PM ^
They're ahead of the Big East champ, whoever that will be. However, they need two teams to drop past them. I don't think Georgia will drop far enough unless they get absolutely slaughtered, and even then it won't hurt their computer rankings much. Wisconsin would fall below TCU with a loss, but I don't think State would. TCU probably needs Baylor to lose along with Houston.
December 3rd, 2011 at 2:06 PM ^
i'm not so sure TCU is a shoe-in for the top 16. depends a lot on what happens today and margins of victory. a close loss by msu and georgia could keep them ahead of TCU. houston could stay above TCU even with a close loss as well.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:35 PM ^
Ok. State if they lose would definitely be a candidate. I don't know if a 9-3 Oklahoma would stay in the top 14 to be eligible. Kansas State would be eligible if they beat Iowa State today, but they're a weak draw.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:29 PM ^
Although a Houston loss would help us make the top 14 -- we would probably still be in the top 14 even if Georgia beats LSU.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:34 PM ^
Houston loss drops them below 14th? With only one loss?
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:36 PM ^
It's Houston, and they would've lost to a #24 ranked team, and their best win would be unranked UCLA.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:37 PM ^
They're best win is against UCLA, who is not exactly impressive. They also struggled to beat Louisiana Tech. The human polls will put them around 16th, and the computers might have them lower.
December 3rd, 2011 at 3:17 PM ^
the unbeatens from the lesser conferences always drop like a stone if/when they get their 1st loss.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:28 PM ^
I expect Denard and Fitz to combine for a good 300 yards rushing. The fact that the Eagles converted a 3rd and 13 on a QB draw with a guy that runs like Griese makes me feel good about this.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:30 PM ^
Announcers said that last year, So. Miss put up 300 yards rushing on Houston.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:50 PM ^
Corrections it was 349 yards
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recap?gid=201011200105
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:29 PM ^
So far i'm not impressed, Houston has done nothing except complete a pass after their QB was past the line of scrimmage. I would love to play them in the Sugar Bowl, so after we deal them an emabrassing beat down it will look very good on our part.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:32 PM ^
If Houston loses, who is projected in the Sugar Bowl?
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:34 PM ^
Probably would depend on the outcome of the other championship games. Too see if someone ranked high would lose and fall.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:40 PM ^
The selection order follows:
January 2012 games: Fiesta, Sugar, Orange
Sugar actually gets the first pick is LSU is the SEC champ, so the order would then be:
Sugar, Fiesta, Sugar, Orange
Most people project Michigan as the first at-large pick to the Sugar. Stanford is expected to be picked by the Fiesta to face the Big 12 champ. That leaves ACC at-large, Big 12 at-large, Big East Champ, or non-AQ at-large as the third pick. The Big East Champ is going to suck and a disinterested VA Tech is the only ACC at-large option, so I'd expect Boise if Oklahoma loses today and Oklahoma State if Oklahoma wins today. Personally, neither is a great matchup for us. Boise isn't going to make the mistakes Michigan's defense needs to be successful and Oklahoma State is running a buzzsaw offense this season.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:47 PM ^
All right, Houston it is then. Go Cougars.
And stop dropping passes.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:52 PM ^
Could they end up picking WVU if they end up the Big East champ? I know they may not be great but I'm sure WVU fans still have some animosity for Michigan so it could be a way for the Sugar Bowl to draw extra viewers.
December 3rd, 2011 at 1:11 PM ^
Do you think they would take Oklahoma maybe with their second pick, even if the Sooners lose? Or even a total curve ball and create a Boise/OU rematch....or does a Sooner loss drop them out of the magical top-14 making this irrelevant
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:52 PM ^
This widget is pretty cool.
http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/test-every-scenario-weekends-games-and-get-bcs-predictions
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:32 PM ^
Houston is not afraid to run the ball, at least aganist So. Miss. They are not all pass.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:45 PM ^
They average 163 yards rushing a game. I was quite surprised by this. Is Keenum mobile?
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:57 PM ^
I would say Keenum is "pockey mobile" he is coming off a major knee surgery, but still moves well to slide to avoid the rush and buy time to throw down field.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:59 PM ^
Without any knowledge, I would imagine screens and draws would be a good portion of this based on their spread.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:39 PM ^
I don't see what all the hype is about.
Both teams don't have anything near the same speed as we do, on both offense and defense. Also, both the offensive and defensive lines are not playing very well. The reason why their blitzes have been effective so far is that it looks like So. Miss' offensive line is not used to picking up blitzes.
Also, Keenum, so far, hasn't shown anything near Heisman quality. Nowhere near Luck or Griffin.
EDIT - The Houston offensive line is clearly superior to the D-line of So. Miss. But seriously, So. Miss looks really undisciplined. Even though So. Miss apparently doesn't know how to tackle, Houston has only picked up yards here and there.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:40 PM ^
They run almost the same offense Texas Tech use to run under Leech. I think they have a recruiting advantage being in Texas for the CUSA so they just can dominate people. Put them up against a good team...and it might not fair well for them.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:37 PM ^
and just saw the Lexus commercial. Do guys really buy their wives a Lexus for Christmas??? I know some people are rich and can afford it (sure as hell not me) but it's a woman we are talking about. If her husband's rich and she wants a Lexus she would have bought that long before Christmas. She should just be happy with the mechanism that plays the Lexus song .... My wife would be lucky to get that!
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:45 PM ^
I bought my wife an Audi A4...
But after driving around in a 2002 Grand Prix with over 140K miles, I figured she was due for a new car.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:48 PM ^
I've always loved those commercials.
YOU SPENT $50,000 ON A CAR WITHOUT TELLING ME?!?! THAT'S IT, I'M CALLING MY LAWYER. My mother was right, I should have married Larry from high school.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:57 PM ^
Especially given that if I was going to get a new car (a large $ investment) I want to pick out the color and the features and etc. I would HATE to get a car as a gift.