#20 Washington State Edges Past Houston 31-24
By: Tony Thomas
September 14, 2019
It was definitely Friday the 13th for the Houston Cougars. Turnovers, penalties, and missed opportunities cost the Cougars a victory as #20 Washington State got past Houston 31-24.
The game was a reunion for Houston coach Dana Holgersen and Washington State coach Mike Leach. Holgersen was an assistant coach at Texas Tech in 2007 when Leach was the head coach for the Red Raiders.
It sure wasn’t the most efficiently executed game I’ve attended, with both teams combining for 19 penalties for 209 yards. A holding penalty nullified a 72-yard touchdown run by Houston QB D’Eriq King late in the game. Couple that with a missed FG by Houston in the 1st quarter and that was the difference in the ball game.
The game was scoreless at the end of the 1st quarter. It appeared that Houston’s gameplan was working as they went into halftime with a 14-7 lead.
But the second half was a different story, as Houston was held to just a field goal. Houston also fumbled twice in the game, killing 2 drives. And, they were held scoreless in the 3rd quarter.
King was 13-24 for 128 yards passing and 1 TD, and he also rushed for 94 yards and 2 TD’s. But at times, he was inaccurate with his throws and showed a lack of arm strength. Houston totaled 367 yards for the game.
The Houston defense held Washington State to 28 points below their season average and recorded 2 sack, 4 tackles for loss and an INT.
But the offensive line of Washington State was outstanding, giving QB Anthony Gordon all kinds of time to stand up in the pocket and go through his progressions. Gordon was 36 of 48 for 440 yards and 3 TD’s and an INT. He completed a whopping 75% of his passes. The Cougars gained 489 total yards for the game. The defense recorded 2 sacks and 4 tackles for loss.
Houston falls to 1-2 on the season, while Washington State improves to 3-0.
Next game for Houston: at Tulane
Next game for Washington State: vs UCLA
Thanks for reading.
Material for this article sourced from http://cfbstats.com http://sports-reference.com http://sportslogos.net
