No. 24 Houston 42, Tulane 7: What We Learned

[caption id="attachment_19294" align="alignright" width="300"]Photo by Diana Porter Photo by Diana Porter[/caption] Houston’s offense is dominant. No one doubted Houston’s ability to score coming into this game. The Cougars have been efficient and explosive all season, but they put on a show on Friday night. Houston racked up 461 yards of offense in a very balanced attack that showed off a lot of its offensive weapons. Quarterback Greg Ward, Jr. played another fantastic game, finishing the night 17-of-25 with 222 passing yards and a touchdown along with three rushing scores on 77 yards. Ward was very impressive on the ground once again, but showed off his arm a few times with some well thrown long passes. Ward did have one interception, but overall he had a solid outing and is becoming a dark horse candidate for the Heisman. The Houston offensive line is as solid as they come and provides great protection and opportunities for the playmakers. They deserve those first class seats everyone keeps talking about.  The Cougar defense is aggressive. Tulane’s offense never had a chance against Houston’s front seven. Almost every play the Green Wave ran was hurried or broken up by a Cougar that broke through the line shortly after the snap. Tulane tallied a pedestrian 262 total yards of offense, and big third down stops from Houston kept it out of the end zone. However, there are a few areas that could still use improving in Houston’s defense. Several missed tackles allowed Tulane to resurrect and extend plays that should have been stopped early on. The secondary missed a few interception opportunities as well, but overall the Cougar defense showed a knack for clutch plays. They held Tulane to just 11 first downs and were lights-out on third down. Continue addressing these minor miscues, and this defense will be awfully tough to score against. Special teams are living up to the name. Houston, you have yourself a punt returner. Wide receiver Demarcus Ayers took a 73-yard punt return to the house against Tulane and showed his big-play ability. Ayers has great hands and a lot of speed, which he shows as a key part of Houston’s offense, but he’s starting to excel on special teams, too. Punter Logan Piper had a good outing, averaging 39.3 yards per boot and keeping Tulane from having any chance at a big return of its own. Everything went right for Houston on Friday and this team keeps rolling.