Roughnecks 32, Dragons 23

5 takeaways From The 5-0 Roughnecks

A Slow Start: No score to start for the Roughnecks first possession of the game. That's something you don't hear too often here in Houston, with the Roughnecks at least.

PJ Walker made it a point to look for his favorite target, Cam Phillips, early in the game. He managed to finally connect with Phillips later in the half. However, the momentum shifting play was a completed 20 yard catch by Khalil Lewis. After this, all of the receivers took their turn with deep catches to move the chains. Nick Holley was the first Roughneck in the end zone followed by James Butler. Blake Jackson and Sam Mobley also made some moves.

Offense Struggles: The O Line looked shaky the first quarter. A turnover in the red zone early in the game was the worst possible outcome. Just kidding, the touchdown Seattle was able to score off of the turnover was definitely worse. A missed 52 yard field goal attempt made this half a little less easy to watch.

Run Game: The Roughnecks run game is starting to pick up as each week progresses. With the combination of James Butler and now Andre Williams they combined for a total of 106 yards today against the Dragons.

Defense: ……..Um. Yeah. The first half? Not so much. Second half the Roughnecks finally stepped up. The guys were doing their best to hold it down. The goal line defense was clutch for the most part. The big concern is still is stopping the run. With the mix up of BJ Daniels and running back Trent Williams, Seattle's offense looked better than expected.

Attendance: The boys were back home and the fans made sure they knew the support was still there. TDECU Stadium was still rockin' bringing in as many if not more than they did opening weekend.

Your Houston Roughnecks play at New York against the Guardians next Saturday at 1p.m. on ABC.

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The Coogs play Miami on Friday night. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Number one seed University of Houston is favored by 7.5 points over No. 5 Miami, and No. 2 University of Texas is favored by 4 over No. 3 Xavier Friday night in the Midwest Regional semifinals in Kansas City.

Talk about opening acts. If both UH and UT win, they’ll meet Sunday in a good ol’ WWE-style Texas death match for a berth in the Final Four at NRG Stadium in Houston. Thank you, Mr. Schedule Maker.

How much do you think Cougar fans would love for UH to get their hands on the Longhorns with so much at stake?

For one example, let’s go back to the future, Oct. 21, 2023, when Big 12 rivals UH and UT meet in football at TDECU Stadium on the Houston campus. The game already is a lock sellout with tickets in the upper deck commanding $141 per ticket on the secondary market. It will be UH’s first year in the big boy Big 12 and UT’s last go-around before heading to the SEC.

One last opportunity for lasting bragging rights.

That’s for a UH football game. At home. Where the Cougars typically have trouble packing half the house. For example, the Cougars will be hosting the Sam Houston Bearkats at TDECU Stadium a month earlier. Tickets for that game, the same exact seat going for $141 against UT, can be had right now … $17.

Yeah, there’s something special about UH getting the opportunity to face UT. In anything. Anywhere. And it’s been a long time since the two teams, once co-members of the Southwest Conference together, have met on the basketball court. A full decade, in fact. The last time they played was March 20, 2013 with the Cougars prevailing 73-72 in something called the College Basketball Invitational. The UH coach was James Dickey. UT was coached by Rick Barnes. Joe Young led the Cougars with 18 points. The Horns’ leading scorer was Julien Lewis with 28. UH finished that season with a 20-13 record. UT limped home at 16-18.

That was then, this is now. The UH-Miami game will air at 6:10 p.m. Friday on CBS with UH grad Jim Nantz calling the play-by-play. The game will alsO stream on Hulu +++. ESPN’s BPI (basketball power index) gives the Cougars a 90 percent chance of winning. We’ll take it.

The UT-Xavier game will follow at 8:45 p.m. on CBS. The Horns have a 70 percent chance of beating the Musketeers. If both chalks come through, they’ll meet Sunday afternoon with the game on CBS.

The Cougars have made six Final Four appearances: 1967, 1968, 1982, 1983, 1984, 2021. The Horns have made three Final Fours, the last time two decades ago.

Here’s the only sure bet if UH and UT meet Sunday - get to your sports bar early if you want a seat. This could be memorable.

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