What may well prove to be the best football game played at Reliant Stadium this year will take place this Saturday, and I can guarantee the Cougars will win. What I don’t know is whether the victor will be our own University of Houston team or the visiting Cougars from Brigham Young.
On paper, the unbeaten home team (5-0) has the edge, but BYU (4-2) comes in with a three-game winning streak against a tougher schedule.
While traditionally Houston has been known for its pass-happy, high-scoring offense, its defense deserves plenty of credit for this year’s 5-0 start.
Houston’s defense, which is thriving under first-year defensive coordinator David Gibbs, has already forced 18 turnovers in 2013. Houston leads the nation with a plus-14 turnover margin. It has allowed just three second-half touchdowns this season, and in last Saturday’s victory over Memphis, Houston forced four turnovers and did not allow an offensive touchdown.
They’ll have their hands full BYU’s sophomore quarterback, Taysom Hill, who ran for 259 yards against the University of Texas back in September. The (BYU) Cougars beat the Longhorns 40-21.
ESPN said at the time that those 259 yards set a single game rushing record for a BYU quarterback. Well, it did and it didn’t. Back in 1962, Eldon Fortie rushed for 272 against George Washington.
Fortie was listed as a running back in that year’s single wing formation - but he was the guy who took the snap from center – so he would have been the quarterback if the team had a quarterback.
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