Houston Cougars' defense must recover if they want to beat Louisville

The Houston Cougars defense dominated early, but lately they’ve struggled. In the last two games, they’ve given up 841 total yards and 77 points.

The Houston Cougars are keeping their January bowl hopes alive by the skin of their teeth. They already lost their shot at the College Football Playoff losing to Navy 46-40 two weeks ago. They were missing multiple key defenders in the loss, but the playoff committee doesn’t care about that. They want to see wins.

Senior linebacker Tyus Bowser missed the start due to a fractured orbital bone. Fellow senior linebacker Steven Taylor missed the game due to disciplinary actions. Furthermore, secondary leader Brandon Wilson missed the game due to injury as well. These three were costly omissions to the game. The backs in Navy’s offense dominated the Cougars without their veteran leaders.

Fast forward a week and people expected them to adjust with the return of Taylor and Wilson. Instead, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane gave Houston all they could take. Their high-octane offense gashed the Cougars for 365 passing yards. Obviously, both squads the Cougars faced are solid. Navy and Tulsa are 4-1 and 4-2 on the season respectively.

Nevertheless, they haven’t been to the level of the Oklahoma game. Injuries play into that and the hurry up offense will cause some rough outings, but this team is certainly above that level.

The Solution

It comes from health for the most part, but also a lack of play making ability. The secondary just isn’t as solid as it was last season. Sophomore Howard Wilson leads the team with four interceptions, but he’s the only defensive back with an interception on the season. Interceptions do not make an entire secondary solid, but they do give extra possessions to the offense. Sophomore Jeremy Winchester leads the team with six passes defended, which should be a good sign for the youth movement.

In the team’s conference games and against Oklahoma the defense has allowed 262.8 yards, nine touchdowns and intercepted just four passes. The solution to this problem is experience. The American has a lot of underrated quarterbacks that can make defenses look silly.

Wilson, Winchester and safety Garrett Davis are all sophomores. They are young and have to improve. People knew the loss of multiple starters in the secondary including William Jackson III would cause problems. They need to rise above them if they want to make it to a January bowl for the second straight year.