Awards and Staff Changes for Football; AP Poll Drop for MBB
By Garrett Ross | 365 Sports
Houston (9-3, 6-3) continues its preparation this week as it gets set to face LSU (7-5, 3-5) in the Kinders Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium on Saturday, December 27th. As expected, LSU will be without multiple starters against the No. 21 Coogs, headlined by Garrett Nussmeier, Whit Weeks, Mansoor Delane and Aaron Anderson.
It’s all hands on deck for Willie Fritz’s squad, including four Coogs who earned AP All-Big 12 honors. Amare Thomas was selected First-Team, while Tanner Koziel, Latrell McCutchin Sr. and Carlos Allen Jr. were selected Second-Team.
Thomas finished second in the Big 12 with ten receiving touchdowns, 906 receiving yards and six touchdowns of 20+ yards, of which three were 50+ yards. His historic season consists of single-season highs in touchdowns (10), yards (906), and yards per catch (15.4).
Koziel led all FBS tight ends in receptions (65) and ranked third amongst FBS tight ends and second amongst Big 12 tight ends in receiving yards (651). He ranks fourth in the FBS for tight ends in touchdowns (5) and has recorded multiple receptions in 23 consecutive games.
McCutchin Sr. set a single-season record in tackles (47) and was second in the Big 12 in pass breakups (9). He also recorded two TFLs and wrapped up his career with at least one forced fumble in every season he played.
Allen Jr. led FBS interior linemen in tackles (75), which was also a team-high. He posted a run-stop of 8.4%, and led all Big 12 interior linemen in stops (26).
The Coogs are currently listed as 3.5 favorites against LSU, with the over/under sitting at 41.5. ESPN’s FPI early prediction gives Houston a 32.6 percent chance to win, while the Bayou Bengals hold a 67.4 percent chance of winning.
Coaching News
Houston pulled off the coveted dual package, as Michael Bishop was added to the staff as an offensive assistant. Bishop was the head coach of five-star quarterback signee Keisean Henderson at Legacy School of Sports and Sciences in Spring (TX).
The former Kansas State dual-threat quarterback and College Football Hall of Famer originally began his career for Fritz at Blinn College, where they went 24-0 in 1995-96, claiming back-to-back NJCAA national championships. After winning the Davey O’Brien Award in 1998 and finishing second to Ricky Williams in the Heisman Trophy race, Bishop spent two seasons in the NFL.
Hoops
The Coogs (10-1) fell one spot in the AP Poll this week to No. 8 after defeating New Orleans over the weekend 99-57. The win over the Privateers was the 10th consecutive home victory, and extended Houston’s non-conference home winning streak to 22.
Houston has two non-conference games remaining—No. 14 Arkansas and Middle Tennessee State—before beginning the Big 12 gauntlet, where six teams rank inside the AP Top 25 Poll. The Coogs are currently ranked third in the conference behind No. 4 Iowa State and No.1 Arizona.