2018 Houston Cougars football team

Last updated

2018 Houston Cougars football
Houston Cougars logo.svg
AAC West Division co-champion
Armed Forces Bowl, L 14–70 vs. Army
Conference American Athletic Conference
DivisionWest Division
Record8–5 (5–3 American)
Head coach
Offensive coordinator Kendal Briles (1st season)
Offensive scheme Hurry-up, no-huddle spread
Defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio (2nd season)
Base defense 4–3
Home stadium TDECU Stadium
Seasons
  2017
2019  
2018 American Athletic Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
Team W L  W L 
East Division
No. 11 UCF x$  8 0   12 1  
Temple  7 1   8 5  
No. 24 Cincinnati  6 2   11 2  
South Florida  3 5   7 6  
East Carolina  1 7   3 9  
UConn  0 8   1 11  
West Division
Memphis xy  5 3   8 6  
Houston x  5 3   8 5  
Tulane x  5 3   7 6  
SMU  4 4   5 7  
Navy  2 6   3 10  
Tulsa  2 6   3 9  
Championship: UCF 56, Memphis 41
  • $ Conference champion
  • x Division champion/co-champions
  • y Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2018 Houston Cougars football team represented the University of Houston in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cougars played their home games at TDECU Stadium in Houston, Texas, and competed in the West Division of the American Athletic Conference. They were led by second-year head coach Major Applewhite. They finished the season 8–5, 5–3 in AAC play to finish in a three-way tie for the West Division championship. After tiebreakers, they did not represent the West Division in the AAC Championship Game. They were invited to the Armed Forces Bowl where they lost to Army by a score of 14–70, in the process tying records for the most points given up (70) and the largest margin-of-loss (56) in NCAA bowl game history. [1]

Contents

On December 30, Houston fired Applewhite after 2 seasons. [2]

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

AwardPlayerPositionYear
Lott Trophy [3] Ed Oliver DTJR
Rimington Trophy [4] Will NobleCSR
Chuck Bednarik Award [5] Ed OliverDTJR
Maxwell Award [6] Ed OliverDTJR
Bronko Nagurski Trophy [7] Ed OliverDTJR
Outland Trophy [8] Will NobleCSR
Ed OliverDTJR
Ray Guy Award [9] Dane RoyPJR
Wuerffel Trophy [10] Mulbah CarRBJR
Walter Camp Award [11] Ed OliverDTJR
Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award [12] D'Eriq King QBJR

AAC media poll

The AAC media poll was released on July 24, 2018, with the Cougars predicted to finish in second place in the AAC West Division. [13]

Media poll (West)
Predicted finishTeamVotes (1st place)
1Memphis171 (23)
2Houston146 (4)
3Navy129 (3)
4SMU72
5Tulane68
6Tulsa44

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 111:00 a.m.at Rice * CBSSN
Ben Holden, Jay Feely, Tina Cervasio
W 45–2726,390
September 811:00 a.m. Arizona *
ABC/ESPN2
Steve Levy, Todd McShay, Paul Carcaterra
W 45–1832,534
September 153:00 p.m.at Texas Tech * Fox Business Network/FOX
Joe Davis, Brady Quinn, Bruce Feldman
L 49–6353,484
September 227:00 p.m. Texas Southern *
  • TDECU Stadium
  • Houston, TX
ESPN3
Joel Meyers, Forrest Conoly
W 70–1429,970
October 47:00 p.m. Tulsa
ESPN
Dave Flemming, Greg McElroy, Laura Rutledge
W 41–2629,823
October 136:00 p.m.at East Carolina CBSSN
Dave Ryan, Corey Chavous
W 42–2029,851
October 202:30 p.m.at Navy CBSSN
John Sadak, Randy Cross, Sheehan Stanwick Burch
W 49–3633,924
October 272:30 p.m.No. 21 South Florida
  • TDECU Stadium
  • Houston, TX
ABC/ESPN2
Mark Neely, John Congemi, Alex Chappell
W 57–3631,631
November 36:00 p.m.at SMU ESPNU/ESPNews
Mike Couzens, Kirk Morrison, Alyssa Lang
L 31–4523,654
November 106:00 p.m. Temple Dagger-14-plain.png
  • TDECU Stadium
  • Houston, TX
CBSSN
Dave Ryan, Randy Cross
L 49–5930,862
November 157:00 p.m. Tulane
  • TDECU Stadium
  • Houston, TX
ESPN
Dave Flemming, Jordan Rodgers, Laura Rutledge
W 48–1724,209
November 2311:00 a.m.at Memphis ABC
Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht, Rocky Boiman
L 31–5227,790
December 222:30 p.m.vs. Army * ESPN
Chris Cotter, Emmanuel Acho, Jim Mora, Quint Kessenich
L 14–7044,738
Schedule Source: [14]

Roster

2018 Houston Cougars football team roster
PlayersCoaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
QB 1Bryson Smith Redshirt.svg  Fr
WR 2Keith CorbinJr
QB 3 Clayton Tune Fr
QB 4 D'Eriq King Jr
WR 5 Marquez Stevenson So
WR 6Kinte HattonSr
WR 9Courtney LarkJr
WR 10Jeremy Singleton Redshirt.svg  Fr
QB 12 Quinten Dormady Sr
QB 14Ike Ogbogu Redshirt.svg  Fr
WR 15Raelon SingletonSr
WR 17Terry MarkJr
WR 19Julon Williams Fr
RB 21 Patrick Carr Jr
RB 22Terence WilliamsSr
RB 23Chandler SmithSo
RB 25Kelan WalkerFr
WR 26Ja'Kori MorganFr
WR 27Henry ThomasFr
RB 28Josh BurrellJr
WR 30Timon NolanJr
RB 32Kevrin JusticeJr
RB 34Mulbah CarJr
WR 36James HomanSr
WR 37Payton PardeeJr
WR 39Andrew SegoviaJr
TE 45Spencer WellsFr
OL 52Braylon JonesJr
OL 53Hayden MarkSo
OL 56Dixie Wooten III Redshirt.svg  Fr
OL 60Kordell SnyderSo
OL 62Jarrid WilliamsJr
OL 64Dennis BardwellSo
OL 65Bo AlexanderJr
OL 66Cole MillerSo
OL 69Will NobleSr
OL 70Jordan Boatman Redshirt.svg  Fr
OL 71Max BanesFr
OL 72Mason DenleySr
OL 73Kameron LewisFr
OL 74 Josh Jones Jr
OL 75Jack FreemanFr
OL 76Kameron ElophJr
OL 77Keenan MurphySo
WR 80Colton CerdayJr
WR 81Tre'von BradleyFr
TE 82Romello BrookerSr
WR 83Peyton SawyerFr
WR 84Cole McGowanSo
TE 85Christian TrahanFr
TE 86Payton HaslamSr
TE 87Sid Turnbull-FrazierJr
TE 88Shane Creamer Redshirt.svg  Fr
TE 89Parker Eichenberger Redshirt.svg  Fr
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DB 1Garrett DavisSr
DB 2Deontay AndersonSo
DB 3 Grant Stuard So
LB 4Leroy GodfreyJr
LB 5Darrion OwensSr
DB 6Khari DotsonSr
LB 8 Emeke Egbule Sr
CB 9Nick WatkinsSr
DT 10 Ed Oliver Jr
LB 12 David Anenih So
CB 13Joeal WilliamsSr
CB 14 Isaiah Johnson Sr
CB 16Ka'Darian SmithJr
CB 18 Alexander Myres Sr
CB 19Javian SmithSo
LB 20Roman BrownSr
DB 21Gleson SprewellSo
LB 22Austin RobinsonSr
DE 23Willie Smith IIIFr
LB 24Donavan MutinFr
DB 25D. J. SmallSo
LB 26Elijah GoodenSo
LB 27Amaud Willis-DaltonFr
DB 29Darius GilbertJr
LB 30Alexander Duke Redshirt.svg  Fr
LB 31 Derek Parish Redshirt.svg  Fr
DB 33Garrison VaughnFr
DB 35Johnathan PhenixFr
CB 36Zaire TaylorFr
LB 37Zamar KirvenFr
DB 39Shaun Lewis Redshirt.svg  Fr
LB 40Jordan CarmoucheSo
DB 41Bradley MbuJr
LB 43Dekalen GoodsonFr
LB 45Jordan MilburnJr
LB 46Melvin LarkinsFr
DB 48Torrey RichardsonFr
DT 50Aymiel FlemingJr
DL 51Tariq FreenySo
DE 52Jerard CarterSr
LB 59Jacob Daulong Redshirt.svg  Fr
DL 80Noah Jones Redshirt.svg  Fr
DE 90Zach VaughanSr
DE 91Tahj BrownFr
DL 92 Logan Hall Fr
DL 94Isaiah ChambersSo
DL 98 Payton Turner So
DL 99Blake YoungJr
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
P 38Dane RoyJr
K 42Caden NovikoffSr
LS 44Anthony CantuJr
K 47Dalton WitherspoonSo
LS 97Nick WildbergerJr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injury icon 2.svg Injured
  • Redshirt.svg Redshirt

Roster
Last update: May 13, 2020

Game summaries

At Rice

1234Total
Cougars314141445
Owls7173027

Arizona

1234Total
Wildcats0010818
Cougars21107745

At Texas Tech

1234Total
Cougars21714749
Red Raiders1421141463

Texas Southern

1234Total
Tigers007714
Cougars142872170

Tulsa

1234Total
Golden Hurricane13010326
Cougars71002441

At East Carolina

1234Total
Cougars14771442
Pirates0331420

At Navy

1234Total
Cougars714141449
Midshipmen101401236

South Florida

1234Total
No. 21 Bulls02115036
Cougars1414151457

At SMU

1234Total
No. 17 Cougars01431431
Mustangs10217745

Temple

1234Total
Owls1414211059
Cougars77211449

Tulane

1234Total
Green Wave630817
Cougars141710748

At Memphis

1234Total
Cougars71410031
Tigers314142152

Vs. Army (Armed Forces Bowl)

1234Total
Cougars070714
No. 22 Black Knights1428141470

Players drafted into the NFL

RoundPickPlayerPositionNFL Club
19 Ed Oliver DT Buffalo Bills
4129 Isaiah Johnson CB Oakland Raiders
6200 Emeke Egbule LB Los Angeles Chargers

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
AP RVRVRVRVRVRV17RVRV
Coaches RVRVRVRVRVRVRV17RV
CFP Not releasedNot released

References

  1. "Army West Point dominates en route to 70-14 victory". Armed Forces Bowl . Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  2. Sallee, Barrett. "Houston fires coach Major Applewhite after just two seasons with the Cougars". cbssports.com. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  3. "2018 Watch List | Lott IMPACT Trophy | Honoring College Football's Defensive Best". lottimpacttrophy.org. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  4. "Rimington Trophy Press Release". May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  5. "2018 Bednarik Award Watch List". July 16, 2018. Archived from the original on July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  6. "2018 Maxwell Award Watch List". July 16, 2018. Archived from the original on July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  7. "2018 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  8. "22018 OUTLAND TROPHY WATCH LIST UNVEILED". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  9. "Ray Guy Award preseason watch list unveiled". July 25, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  10. "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  11. Carbone, Al (July 27, 2018). "Walter Camp Football Foundation Announces 2018 Player of the Year Preseason "Watch List"" . Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  12. "2018 Nominations The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award" (PDF). August 16, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  13. "UCF Tabbed as Favorite in 2018 Preseason Media Poll". TheAmerican.org. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  14. "2018 Houston Cougars Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  15. "Houston vs. Rice - Game Summary - September 1, 2018". ESPN . Retrieved September 8, 2018.
  16. "Arizona vs. Houston - Game Summary - September 8, 2018". ESPN . Retrieved September 8, 2018.