The UH/AAC Report
Cougars rally late in win over Tulsa: UCF and USF are halfway to perfection
Alex Baltazar
Oct 10, 2018, 7:00 am
QB D’ Eriq King and the Cougar offense started the game in frustrating fashion in front of a nationally televised audience on Thursday night. The worst offensive first quarter of the season since Week 1 vs Rice was induced by an introductory TD pass from Tulsa’s QB Seth Boomer, who threw for 227 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT. UH tried to respond, but QB King tried to thread a needle so tight that it caused his receiver to bobble the catch attempt, leaving the Tulsa defense an opportunity for a pick six. Luckily for the Coogs, the turnover only lead to a Golden Hurricane field goal. King then threw a beautiful 32-yard TD pass into the end zone to WR Keith Corbin, who made an equally beautiful jump catch. Offensive Coordinator Kendal Briles tried to instill an up tempo offense early, something he has been successful at implementing all season, but their failure at finding a rhythm left UH with predictable play calling in third and long situations, which forced King to make awfully contested throws.
The entirety of the second quarter was also frustrating to watch. Both teams ended up turning the football over in back to back to back possessions. King again attempted to throw into a tight window resulting in a Tulsa interception. The UH defense began to constrict Tulsa at this point, and showed that they are capable of committing turnovers in moments that give the Cougars' offense and opportunity to come back. On 3rd and 10, with 8:44 left on the clock, King climbed the pocket and rushed for a 19-yard TD, putting the Coogs ahead 17-13 at halftime.
The third quarter was all Tulsa, who shut out the Cougar offense and scored 10 points of their own.
The fourth quarter, however, belonged to Houston. Briles finally found the rhythm he searched for all game and adjusted offensively. King displayed an intangible characteristic, to never panic. King exploded to the right side of the field on a designed QB run and drove into a hole created by his offensive line and receivers that was so big, it led him to an impressive 61-yard touchdown run. The Houston defense then created another turnover via fumble on the Tulsa 9-yard line, where King answered right away with another TD throw. Golden Hurricane QB Boomer then threw a pick in his own 25-yard line, which was turned into yet another King TD. The offense managed to score 17 points in under 2 minutes, leaving the final score 41-26 Houston. Tulsa’s record drops to 1-4, while Houston improves to 4-1.
The defensive performance set by everyone around Ed Oliver is encouraging. LB Austin Robinson had himself a day, with 2 sacks, 3 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble. LB Emeke Egbule recovered 2 fumbles. S Deontay Anderson created two turnovers via strip fumble and interception. UH has yet to play No. 23 USF, and a capable Memphis offense. Both teams are very run heavy, and must find a way to go around Ed Oliver and company. Houston showed the capability of complimentary football and will have to continue the trend next week at ECU, who is in last place in the American West division with a 2-3 record.
UH extends a triumphant record of 24-5 at TDECU Stadium in front of 29,823 fans.
The stars
DT Ed Oliver- 13 tackles (tied season high), 1.5 tackles for loss, one QB pressure.
QB D’Eriq King- 19/27, 165 passing yards, 2 INTs, 117 rushing yards, 5 total TDs.
Notable results in the American Athletic Conference
UCF 48, SMU 20
The #13 UCF Golden Knights extend their unrelenting win streak to 18-0 with a win at home vs SMU. The Golden Knights’ high octane offense scored three touchdowns in the first quarter. But a lot of credit is owed to the defense, who created several turnovers throughout the game that gave the offense opportunities to score on short fields. Running backs Adrian Killins and Otis Anderson combined for 26 carries, 187 rushing yards, and 3 TDs. SMU’s Ole Miss transfer, WR James Proche, had 12 receptions, 100 receiving yards, and 2 TDs. SMU is at 2-4, while UCF improves to 5-0 for the season and will face a formidable Memphis Tigers team in Tennessee next week.
USF 58, UMass 42
USF came into this week ranked at No. 23 as they visited UMass. This game began with a 65-yard touchdown thrown by the Bulls’ QB Blake Barnett, who ended up 17 of 24 with 1 TD, 1 INT, and 209 yards. But The real offensive display came from their rushing attack, where Jordan Cronkrite had an outstanding performance with 23 carries, 302 rushing yards, and 3 TDs. UMass had a weapon of their own. Minutemen WR Andy Isabella had 13 receptions, 191 yards, and 1 TD. USF will head into conference play at Tulsa, boasting a perfect 5-0 record.
Memphis 55, UConn 14
The Memphis Tigers won their first conference matchup with a huge offensive display from their RBs. Darrell Henderson and Patrick Taylor Jr. combined for an unstoppable 335 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns. QB Brady White had an efficient showing where he went 16 of 18, threw for 239 yards, and 1 TD. Memphis scored 41 points in the first half, propelling them early into a 4-2 record. But an intimidating UCF team that is on a 18-game win streak awaits.
Cincinnati 37, Tulane 21
The Cincinnati Bearcats started this game slow with a 3-point first quarter, but then adjusted and scored 21 points in the second. Tulane tried to inch their way back into the game, but a pivotal third quarter punt block by Cincinnati was later turned into 7 points, diminishing any possibility for a Green Wave comeback. The Bearcats improve to an impressive 6-0 record, their first since 2012, while Tulane falls to 2-4.
Other AAC Results
Temple 49, ECU 6
Air Force 35, Navy 7
They’ll be watching in Canada, not just because of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, though the NBA’s scoring champion and MVP favorite who plays for Oklahoma City surely helps lure in fans who are north of the border.
They’ll be watching from Serbia and Greece, the homelands of Denver star Nikola Jokic and Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo. Alperen Sengun will have them watching Houston games in the middle of the night in Turkey, too. Slovenian fans will be watching Luka Doncic and the Lakers play their playoff opener at 2:30 a.m. Sunday, 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Los Angeles. Fans in Cameroon will be tuned in to see Pascal Siakam and the Indiana Pacers. Defending champion Boston features, among others, Kristaps Porzingis of Latvia and Al Horford of the Dominican Republic.
Once again, the NBA playoffs are setting up to be a showcase for international stars.
In a season where the five statistical champions were from five different countries, an NBA first — Gilgeous-Alexander is Canadian, rebounding champion Domantas Sabonis of Sacramento is from Lithuania, blocked shots champion Victor Wembanyama of San Antonio is from France, steals champion Dyson Daniels of Atlanta is from Australia, and assists champion Trae Young of the Hawks is from the U.S. — the postseason will have plenty of international feel as well. Gilgeous-Alexander is in, while Sabonis and Daniels (along with Young, obviously) could join him if their teams get through the play-in tournament.
“We have a tremendous number of international players in this league,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this season. “It’s roughly 30% of our players representing, at least on opening day, 43 different countries, so there’s much more of a global sense around our teams.”
By the end of the season, it wound up being 44 different countries — at least in terms of countries where players who scored in the NBA this season were born. For the first time in NBA history, players from one country other than the U.S. combined to score more than 15,000 points; Canadian players scored 15,588 this season, led by Gilgeous-Alexander, the first scoring champion from that country.
Gilgeous-Alexander is favored to be MVP this season. It'll be either him or Jokic, which means it'll be a seventh consecutive year with an international MVP for the NBA. Antetokounmpo won twice, then Jokic won three of the next four, with Cameroon-born Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers winning two seasons ago.
“Shai is in the category of you do not stop him,” Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic said after a game between the Raptors and Thunder this season.
In other words, he's like a lot of other international guys now. Nobody truly stops Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Doncic either.
And this season brought another international first: Doncic finished atop the NBA's most popular jersey list, meaning NBAStore.com sold more of his jerseys than they did anyone else's. Sure, that was bolstered by Doncic changing jerseys midseason when he was traded by Dallas to the Los Angeles Lakers, but it still is significant.
The Slovenian star is the first international player to finish atop the most popular jerseys list — and the first player other than Stephen Curry or LeBron James to hold that spot in more than a decade, since soon-to-be-enshrined Basketball Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony did it when he was with New York in 2012-13.
“We’re so small, we have 2 million people. But really, our sport is amazing,” fellow Slovene Ajsa Sivka said when she was drafted by the WNBA's Chicago Sky on Monday night and asked about Doncic and other top Slovenian athletes. “No matter what sport, we have at least someone that’s great in it. I’m just really proud to be Slovenian.”
All this comes at a time where the NBA is more serious than perhaps ever before about growing its international footprint. Last month, FIBA — the sport's international governing body — and the NBA announced a plan to partner on a new European basketball league that has been taking shape for many years. The initial target calls for a 16-team league and it potentially could involve many of the biggest franchise names in Europe, such as Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.
It was a season where four players topped 2,000 points in the NBA and three of them were international with Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic and Antetokounmpo. Globally, time spent watching NBA League Pass was up 6% over last season. More people watched NBA games in France this season than ever before, even with Wembanyama missing the final two months. NBA-related social media views in Canada this season set records, and league metrics show more fans than ever were watching in the Asia-Pacific region — already a basketball hotbed — as well.
FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis said the numbers — which are clearly being fueled by the continued international growth — suggest the game is very strong right now.
“Looking around the world, and of course here in North America," Zagklis said, "the NBA is most popular and more commercially successful than ever.”