Space City Showdown, Sampson’s 800 wins
BY Garrett Ross | 365 Sports
After a week inside the Top 25, Houston finds itself unranked once again after getting upset by West Virginia 45-35 this past weekend. It was a recipe for disaster, as the Coogs found themselves in a 14-0 hole early and could never overcome it. Houston turned the ball over four times against the Mountaineers and was torched by freshman quarterback Scotty Fox Jr., who became the first freshman in program history to score three touchdowns in a game.
Conner Weigman had arguably his worst performance of the season, as he coughed the ball up three times—two interceptions and one fumble. Head coach Willie Fritz met with the media on Monday and addressed the poor performance and uncharacteristic turnovers that plagued the Coogs against West Virginia.
“Turn the ball over a few times, you just can’t do that, and that was disappointing,” stated Fritz. “To be so close and commit four turnovers doesn’t happen very often. So, we got to do a much better job in that area.”
Houston was outscored in the second half 24-14, as the Mountaineers earned their first Big 12 win on the season. The Coogs now have to shift their focus towards UCF, which is coming off an embarrassing 30-3 loss to Baylor. It’s a short week for both, as they will play on Friday night at the Bounce House in Orlando.
In the weird paradox of college football, UCF drilled West Virginia two weeks ago 45-13, but looked abysmal against the Bears, whose season has gone off the rails. Houston (7-2, 4-2) can’t take the Knights for granted, but has no reason to believe they can’t roll into Orlando and grab their eighth win of the season.
The Coogs’ weaknesses all season have been their inability to score at a high level and their tendency to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns. What has made up for those deficiencies are outstanding defensive performances and being the more physical team on the field.
Texas Tech was able to exploit that, as it was bigger, stronger and faster, while UCF (4-4, 1-4) is none of those three. Knights head coach Scott Frost is well aware that the loss to the Mountaineers was a fluke and that the Coogs will be looking for blood on Friday night.
“Give West Virginia credit, but Houston turned the ball over four times. WVU looked more physical against Houston than they did us,” said Frost. “Houston is a physical team, and we will be able to match that. They play extremely hard, and we need to make sure they don’t outplay us.”
Houston and UCF will kick off at 7 pm on FS1.
Hoops Begins
Kelvin Sampson earned his 800th career win as a head coach on Monday, as the No. 2 Coogs defeated Lehigh 75-57 in the season opener. Sampson is the 17th DI coach to reach 800 wins, joining Bill Self, John Calipari and Rick Barnes as the four active coaches to reach the milestone.
Emanuel Sharp led the way for Houston with 24 points, including 13 in the first half on 5-of-8 shooting. Joseph Tugler finished with 11 points, three assists, two rebounds and a game-high four blocked shots. Chris Cenac Jr. dominated the paint with a double-double with 10 rebounds and 12 points, while Miles Uzan dropped 12 points as well in the win.
The Coogs are now 61-20 in season openers, and have won 17 straight. Houston will be back in action on Saturday, hosting Towson at the Fertitta Center at 2 pm.