One Major Flaw Holding Houston Cougars' Defense Back
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For the most part, the Houston Cougars' defense enjoyed an exceptional start to the season, allowing just 29 total points over the first three games. More recently, though, cracks have begun to show.
Last week's 35-11 loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders, the Cougars' first defeat of the season, showed the flaws of their defense. The Red Raiders, who have a very strong offense, racked up 552 total yards and held the ball for nearly 38 minutes of game time. If the Cougars hadn't forced field goals early in the game, the score would've been even more lopsided.
There were many reasons for the Cougars' lackluster performance on defense, but one stands out above the rest.
Houston Cougars' Tackling Issues Prove Costly vs. Texas Tech
In his press conference on Monday, Houston head coach Willie Fritz lamented his defense's poor tackling in the loss to Texas Tech. He specifically noted that the Cougars didn't tackle "as crisply" as they did in the first four games of the season.
"Part of it is you're tackling good players, but more importantly it was the approach to tackling, throwing too early," Fritz told reporters. "When you lead with your head or your hands or both, you're not gonna make the tackle. We talk all the time about getting your near foot in the hoop and attacking the near hip, attacking with your leverage. We were just a little bit too far away when we initiated our tackling technique and then using your arms.
"We've got to do a better job at gain tackling. The first part is tackling and then the second part is getting the ball out, not the other way around."
The Red Raiders also gashed the Cougars on the ground, rushing for 207 yards and averaging over four yards per carry. Fritz attributed the struggles against the run to the poor tackling on defense.
"Yeah, a big part of that was missed tackles," Fritz said. "We probably had four or five tackles that could have been minus plays that ended up being big positive chunk plays for them and a few of them weren't anything special. We had leverage and the guy got bounced the outside, just have to go make the play but we lunged too early and weren't in a good tackling position and didn't make the play."
The Cougars have a chance to get right on Saturday when they face the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who have the Big 12's second-worst rushing offense, but that is much easier said than done.
