2016 UH Cougar Watch- Battling SMU

The 6-1 University of Houston Cougars rebounded from their 46-40 AAC West Division conference loss at Navy and falling to number 13 in the rankings to come home to the comfy confines of The Cage and see the defense literally win the game for them in the last 81 seconds.

The Third Ward Defense forced a fumble from Tulsa QB Dane Evans that linebacker Emeke Egbule scooped up and raced 24 yards for a touchdown to take the lead with 1:21 remaining in the game..

 After the UH offense punted.  Tulsa drove from their own 11 yard line to the UH 1.  The defense then made two huge plays with freshman defensive tackle Ed Oliver stuffing a running play for a one yard loss,.

With seven seconds left on the game clock, after blitzing and flushing Evans out of the pocket, kept Golden Hurricane defense end Jesse Brubaker from turning and scoring after he caught a pass on the goal line from Evans and was kept out of the endzone by safeties Khalil Williams and Austin Robinson as the clock expired to cap a thrilling 38-31 win.

It was also redemption for a defense that got shredded for 306 rushing yards in the loss to the Midshipmen and 365 passing yards by Tulsa.  The win also made them bowl eligible for the tenth time in the last 12 seasons.

The number 11 ranked Cougars head up I-45 today to face off at Gerald J. Ford Stadium with an old Southwest Conference rival in the SMU Mustangs.

While the Mustangs are 2-4, and at the bottom of the American West Division standings, they do have weapons on the offensive side to make this a problematic game if the Cougars repeat the turnover filled performance they had in that Navy loss.

It would make the Mustangs season if they could pin another loss on the Cougars and wreck their chances of playing in a New Years Six bowl and their chances of repeating as The American champions.

The game will be televised on ESPN2 starting at 6 PM CDT.

TransGriot Update: Cougars were upset by SMU 38-16