Houston football was upset by an upstart SMU team on the road, effectively ending any hope the Cougars had at a New Year’s Six bowl appearance.
When the College Football Playoff rankings were on Tuesday there were several repeated cries. First, why was LSU ranked above an undefeated Notre Dame? Two, where are the Houston Cougars? With the lone blemish coming in a shootout loss to Texas Tech, Houston was 7-1 with victories over Arizona, Navy and No. 21 USF.
Now they’re losers to SMU. Heisman hopefuls D’Eriq King and Ed Oliver were unable to solve an upstart Mustang squad that had their number from the start. SMU quarterback Ben Hicks torched the Houston secondary, racking up 318 yards through the air with four touchdowns. Running back Ke’mon Freeman added 107 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns.
14.5 point favorites entering the game, the Cougars fell behind 17-0 before they knew what hit them. Twice the team rallied to bring the game within one score, but each time SMU had an answer, outpacing the Houston offense every step of the way.
There was a time when this Houston team thought they would challenge UCF for the Group of 5 bid to a New Year’s Six bowl. UCF survived a scare from Temple on Friday night, but stayed undefeated. Houston has two losses, putting a damper on what had seemed to be such a promising season.
SMU, on the other hand, has made big strides from their 0-3 start. The Mustangs are winners of four of their last six, including an overtime victory over Navy and an overtime defeat to Cincinnati. Their win over Houston confirms that while they might not be AAC favorites any time soon, there a team that shouldn’t be overlooked. Just ask the Cougars.