Houston Cougars College Football Preview 2023: Keys To The Season, Top Players, What Will Happen

Houston Cougars College Football Preview 2023: Keys To The Season, Top Players, What Will Happen

Houston Cougars Key To The Season

2023 Houston Preview: Offense | Defense 
- Houston Schedule, Picks For Every Game

Complete passes - and do it earlier. Clayton Tune was fantastic when he needed to try saving the day, but it will make life easier if the offense doesn’t have to scramble so much.

The Cougars went 6-1 when they completed 69% or more of their passes and 2-4 when they didn’t. The number of passing yards didn’t really matter as much as it was about control. With Tune done, that means the team needs a huge year out of …

Houston Cougars Top Transfer, Biggest Loss

QB Donovan Smith in from Texas Tech, RB Alton McCaskill gone to Colorado. McCaskill ran for 961 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2021, tore his ACL and missed all of last year, and now he’s going to run for Coach Prime at Colorado.

Smith started for Texas Tech last season and was on fire, throwing for close to 1,500 yards and 12 touchdowns over the first six games with four touchdown runs. He had a few shoulder problems, Tyler Shough took over late in the year - Smith still saw time running for a few scores - and now he’s a Cougar. He’s got the size, the mobility, and the skills to rise up quickly into a national star. He’s the key player to the season, so with all of that said …

Houston Cougars Key Player

Jack Martin, PK Sr. Eight Houston Cougar games were decided by seven points or fewer, and four of them were decided by three points or fewer. There was a missed field goal against Texas Tech - Houston lost by three. There were two missed field goals against Tulane - Houston lost by three. In all, Cougar kickers hit 14-of-20 field goals.

Jack Martin started his career as a punter for Troy averaging over 46 yards per kick, he left for Alabama and made his lone field goal attempt over the last two years. Now the season might be on him with a lot more close games likely to come.

Houston Cougars Key Game

UTSA, Sept. 2. Basically, Houston, don’t blow up on the launching pad.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Big 12 games are going to be what everyone cares about, and TCU is making the trip to TDECU for the conference opener. But the season has to start by getting past a UTSA team that should be every bit as good as last year’s Conference USA champion. The Roadrunners came this close to pulling off a win in a thriller of a 37-35 Cougar victory.

Houston Cougars 10 Best Players

1. Patrick Paul, OT Jr.
2. Donovan Smith, QB Jr.
3. Nelson Ceaser, DE Jr.
4. Malik Robinson, LB Sr.
5. Adari Haulcy, CB Soph.
6. Chidozie Nwankwo, DT Jr.
7. David Ugwoegbu, DE Sr.
8. Matthew Golden, WR Soph.
9. Alex Hogan, CB Sr.
10. Tony Mathis, RB Jr.

Houston Cougars 2022 Fun Stats

- Penalties: Houston 103 for 915 yards - Opponents 41 for 396 yards
- Punt Return Average: Houston 15 yards - Opponents 5.8 yards
- Passing Yards Per Game: Houston 314 - Opponents 278.6

Houston Cougars Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen

Set The Win Total At: 6

Prove it time, Houston.

The program won 12 games in 2021, but it lost the two games against good teams. It won eight last year, but lost four games against good teams and one to Tulsa.

As a program there’s a recent history of success - it came in the Tom Herman era - but again, it’s not like it ripped it up when there’s been a challenge since Holgorsen took over.

And now it all changes. Rice might still be on the slate, but there’s no Navy. No USF. No Temple, East Carolina, or Tulsa. Instead there’s Texas. And TCU. And Kansas State, UCF, and Cincinnati.

In other words, now there are teams on the schedule at a level that Houston hasn’t been able to get by over the last few seasons, and don’t blow off the opener against UTSA, either.

On the plus side there’s no Oklahoma to deal with, and BYU, Iowa State, and Kansas are off the Big 12 slate, too, but there’s a potentially bad mix of things happening here. There’s a massive step up in overall competition at the same time that the team has to rebuild a bit.

That’s not to say it can’t happen. The starting 22 should be very fast and very good, and there are just enough should-be wins to get bowling. UTSA, at Rice - which is really like a home game - Sam Houston should be a base of three wins, and the Cougars should be able to get through a few home games in the Big 12 to get to six …

But it’s not going to be easy.

- Bet $5, Get $150 in Bonus Bets from DraftKings 

2023 Houston Preview: Offense | Defense 
- Houston Schedule, Picks For Every Game