REACTION: The Houston Cougars have a Rough Start to Open the Willie Fritz Era vs. UNLV

house well uh the fritz era started I think that's all we can draw from [Music] that you are locked on coup your daily podcast on the Houston Cougars part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome to lockon cou Today podcast by your Houston Cougars I'm your host Houston born teacher and Coach Parker Angel and with Houston fan not the hater com St by there might be a few of those tonight tell us we appreciate making us your first or in this case maybe last list of the day we just said locked on cougs postcast over in the locked on Houston Channel as well uh so if you're traveling with us thank you for making it over to this as well if you want enjoy the conversation but don't know what to say tell us in the comments down below why hide it give us your reaction to the first Houston Cougar football game Houston Falls to UNLV 27-7 and their home opener to kick off the Willie Fritz era we knew it was going to be a rebuild and that it looks like it's going to be I want to talk about a couple different things including a look around the Big 12 and kind of what uh this fits how this fits should say to the rest of the conference I want to talk some about uh some things that I thought were actually positive on the defense side of the football can I say that yet can I say that yet and then first we got to talk about the hole in the program which was the blocking up front I should point out this show today is brought to you by Five Hour Energy I might have had one of those at some point today to make it all the way through this game and a couple postgame shows today we got a couple comments as well uh Alfred Matthews a longtime listener good guy uh is not so high on Donan Smith and I'll leave it that and then uh he also says one of the worst fors you ever seen and that saying something I will say that that was one of the harder watches of Houston Cougar football I've ever watched and Donovan made plent of mistakes like the pick six he should just thrown in the dirt right like those kinds of things I think um make a lot of sense I don't I don't want to go too far down the rabbit Hall like well the guy's trying to make a play and like sure sure right at the end of the day that ball should gone in the dirt shouldn't never been thrown um I will say and the reason I want start the first segment being about the blocking it felt like honestly that was truly as bad of blocking as I've ever seen at any level of college football at least compared relative to the opponent and um and and I I think that it's important to stress that like that throws off everything you're keeping in tight ends and running backs to block you've got less people out in the pattern to run routes well that means it's more cover guy they weren't blitzing they they were only sending four down line in the occasional dog linebacker you've got five offensive line blocking um that's abysmal it's it's abysmal and um um I frankly I think the unfortunate thing is is that like the frustrating thing is I I didn't knew it wasn't going to be as good as it was in like 20 15 16 we're not quite there um I did not think it would be this bad I I've talked about the tackles being weak spots since the spring game stuck out to me in the spring games being weak spots but again I I did not think it look like this um it it just throws everything off um and then you got you know people human being so the tight ends are helping out blocking getting frustrated they can get the ball in pass game because they got to help out blocking and and stuff like that and then frankly um we have a couple tight ends are really good a lot of things I would argue after watching tonight that they're not great pass blockers uh I think you know they can do a little bit more in the Run game maybe um but that wasn't necess so their problem either I I go on and on about this I guess I I do want to you know point out that OA did come in and I don't want to act like it didn't happen um came into the uh came in the game for the last drive it looks like Zeon Chris might have gotten dinged up in his Drive which led to U getting the call as the third string quarterback on the death chart for that final drive um who drove in the field for a 74 yard drive and did score a touchdown and a little uh back shoulder is kind of Fade to Joseph manjack manjack got in the end zone good for him individually also I think think it's good to get just not be shut out in the home opener um and I think that any I could go on and on about like why that happened in the final drive of the game with Ula and not Donan Smith I would point out that it looked like a lot of UNLV Subs were in the game as well I I go round and round with this because I feel like when I talk about the offensive line as the problem and I think definitively the reason they only scored seven points on Saturday night was because the offens line it was that it was that kind of bad big plays called back on holding penalties no push on run plays sacks on sacks on sacks I mean Donovan Smith's a running quarterback had like negative bajillion I think it was actually 24 yards something that right like that's that's bad he also got like intentional grounding penalties trying to avoid sacks I mean these these were bad plays right um what I think I I don't want to delineate too is like people typically here them think I'm giving someone a pass the two easiest people to blame a loss on the coach and the quarterback and we fired last year's coach right and so I think that it's natural that Don's going to catch a lot of the flak on that this year um I I do I I do think he he played okay in spots gas I think the deal is is that to play with that offensive line he kind of needed to be perfect and he only had one or two plays I would call perfect uh much less a drive or a quarter or anything right um first game offenses for new offense and he also didn't play in the spring didn't get physical reps in spring right um that was a bad first game uh we have Patty pointing out the U ofh and rice both had horrible opening games maybe something in the water we need to check the water I don't know uh David K said I I pronounced it right David k um said that offensive line was bad manabi isn't coordinating a fart um or maybe he's only coordinating a fart maybe that's should that be the thing I don't know discussion here about if we're a basketball school or not between a couple people um Brian lyd said the Grinch from Vegas came and old Fritz which was clever that probably should have been the titly episode good work Brian um so I would say that you know unov and I don't mean to say um that well I got I think these are unov folks uh maybe they're not talking about welcoming themselves to lock on CBS um I feel like we also like should take into account here that unv isn't the typical FCS scrub this isn't um I don't know Southeast West jior Community College I mean they they're hoping to get to the college football playoff and I said that this week and I had some comments like what are you talking about but in the 12 team playoff a group of five team is guaranteed a spot UNLV thinks they absolutely can be the highest ranked group of five team and claim that spot they were in the NWC championship game last year uh Boise beat them in that and Boise would have been it a year ago right and so I think that's the the thought right it's comr like HR oh my bad David comr gotch you um so I think across the board um again I was predicting Houston wins 3528 right and so 27 points with one of those touchdowns being defensive I felt like it had a pretty good read on what Houston's defense was going to do in this game against the go- go offense if anything I actually they give up more touchdowns on on truly defense versus offense the deal here is that that offensive line was that surprisingly far behind in the rebuild I'll say um and that's not to say offensive line is a funny part it's you know people forget that you get 11 players on the field five of them are offensive lineman that's half your offense more or less is the offensive line right and you can have a play where a center plays really well or a Right Guard does really job really well and it doesn't matter because the other four don't or the inverse G when we have four people uh do very well but one guy doesn't that gives up a sack right those kinds of things make a you know make for a hard job as offensive line I don't mean make this easy but they just weren up to stuff they they plainly played as bad as I've ever seen a college offensive foot line play in a football game it just wasn't good um and John points out here that people on Facebook mentioned that cougars have 60 new players they have 63 new players between freshman and transfers at the second highest in F FBS football behind Colorado and I think that that did play a role in the night as well a lot of guys you know you mentioned guys new to coaching staff right but offensive line has to gel together some these guys haven't played a whole lot of game like snaps together across the board but they just didn't get the job done and it I joked with Michael on locked on Houston sports the cougs post postcast show um you know is there offense that you can realistically run that just doesn't have to block people and we both jokingly said oh the bilman ve I mean like I don't know what you're supposed to do if you can't block anyone you can't run you have trouble passing uh the couple of good pass they had Donovan Smith is on the rooll moving and I think that's something they got to do you saw Russell Wilson did a lot in Seattle when they were good the deal is is that that really limits your route tree because as you're rolling to the right or left you're kind of cutting off the other side of the football field right and so only so many RS can get run in that it's a really really not not a great solution now I want to talk about the defense um because I want to stop feeling crappy about the way the team played I think the defense played all right but first if you're looking to feel all right about yourself or about your diet or what have you factor meals to the place to get it done you can fuel up with factors no prep No Mess meals meet your Wellness goals thanks to the menu of Chef crafted meals options like calorie smart Protein Plus and keto factors Fresh n PR meals are dietician approved and ready to eat in just two minutes so no matter how busy you are you always have time to enjoy nutritious and great tasting meals I know myself I got a 14-month old still working through this dadp thing to shake that we're a factor family as well I got 35 different meals and more than 60 different add-ons to choose from you can Crush all your Wellness goals uh with dietitian approved meals and ingredients you can add and Trust as you go um keep the kitchen time to a minimum again two minutes is all it takes enjoy effortless support for your lifestyle whether that's uh calories maximizing protein intake avoiding meat or just for any better balanced meals they got all those things head TOA meals.com loock onol 50 use code locked on College 50 to get it 50% off your first box plus 20% off the next month that's code locked on colge 50 for Factor meals.com loock on50 get 50% off your first box and 20% off the next month while your subscription lasts all right now Houston is eventually going to try and turn this thing into a championship caliber team even if it's not in fr's year one passion driver and patience the thing you're going to need and patience might be key the formula for winning Championship is that simple it's also keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors is everything you need to maintain your vehicle leveled up to Peak performs Super Chargers roof kits exhaust kits LED headlights all the things you need for your car whether you're in a speed speed power or style eBay Motors has got you cover the 122 million parts for number one ride or die you always find exactly what you're looking for and the eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back because the eBay Motors are burning rubber and not cash all the parts need the price you want easy make car the MVP and bring on that huge win keep R ebay.com only ex bu eBay guaranteed F only a to us customers back here on the cougs postcast and I want to talk about the defense because I want to feel better about myself and the game um so I want to point out I guess that two if we doing player the game kind of stuff Houston had a couple of players of the game in a big way um I think AJ Hy showed up and showed out and I commented on Twitter I still call it Twitter sorry that I think he looked like an all Big 12 caliber safety I really do um big pick with a 50- yard return in the end zone um he had a couple big big hits as well I think he totaled five tackles and a couple pass breakups um I think that you you got to give him a nod for like yes did Houston give up 27 points yes did Houston give up 20 points to that offense for the first time that quarterbacks played in the FBS yes although I would point out he was like multi-time conference Player of the Year in the FCS and his at Holy cross's conference or whatever like that side note I saw someone commenting this week I think it was baral Guy about going from Holy Cross to Las Vegas gigantic culture jump and now he's looking a little looser imagine that um no I think that the defense keeping them to 20 at least 20 points their offense scored is commendable this team is g to score 40 points on more teams on their schedule than not they might score 50 on more teams on schedule than not and Houston's defense held them to 20 now I know that they're a group of five school but that again if they'd won this game 40 to20 we wouldn't be thinking that badly about giving up 20 the deal is is that they didn't and so the defense on the field a lot um Michael brought up in the postcast for uh locked on Houston sports I thought was clever he's mentioned you know yes they played good defense they couldn't get off the field and I I think that's probably the only criticism I have of the defense is there are several third Downs where it's like third and three and they give a four- yard run it's like you got to find ways to keep guy short at some point um I saw a handful of comments here Houston Cougars in Germany frequent listener says stay proud stay confident stay true I appreciate the optimism on the inverse Scott Akens says I see no fire to see and get a win in Donovan Smith I I don't know if I'd go that far about fire uh I think it died at some point in the game because everyone got everyone was frustrated but um Houston K JY said very difficult to win games and track Talent the stadium is empty and also agrees with Scott so there goes some of that optimism um no I think that the crowd attendants got you know called out by several people um there's a Houston thing Houston sports winners you gotta win to get people to come that's the way things go in Houston a lot of stuff to do why would you go I mean the Astros played the exact same time on the other not the other side down downtown right so you got to find a way to get people to come to you as opposed to them and the best way to do that by winning um I I I firmly believe in that the the truth is that they had I think 25,000 people announced and then get to be being a blowout and people left uh I think the pick six I saw I think it was Andy jannes if a Mis quoting that tweet I'm sorry Andy um or whoever it was I think Andy Janes said um that most people left the stadium after the pick six and that was kind of the nail and the coffin moment I certainly was still optimistic it was uh 14 to nothing at halftime and Houston come out and got the ball start the half and I like okay refresh restart down 14 ain't no thing and they move backwards the next three offensive plays and so I I just I just don't know if um I don't know I don't I I I don't know if I can blame people not com to watch that right now I talk to you about the cougs every day so that's why I watched that but I get why people wouldn't uh Richard point out that la did put a good drive together um we did put a good drive together I've been trying to stress there were a lot of twos on the field for that um not to like discredit him playing well I'm glad somebody played well but I think there's people already calling for massive changes and things like that um I'm not I wasn't quite that shipped last year when he came in and did the same thing against Sam Houston State um you know who knows um I I as far as the defense go trying to be positive you'll give me off trap trying to be positive the defense um the other guy I talk about as far as play of the game goes I mentioned uh I mentioned AJ Hall also bring up Keith Cooper I guess Keith got cramps at one point um but as a defensive lineman that Frank was fairly easy to run away from he had a sack and three tackles um did I thought he's involved in a lot of different run fit and stuff like that some pressure on the quarterback uh the defense held sluka to just six completions in the past game and I thought that that you know uh I thought this go- go offense had a little bit more to its pass game um not that it's a pass heavy but six of 13 I would have thought theyd throw the ball a little more I guess when you're up by that much second half you don't quite have to um but I I really thought that they'd probably have a little better passing numbers defensive secondary did very good job um the the trick was is that it's back to those lines of scrimmage um Houston's defensive line looked gassed at times and the concerning part there as John here points out the Big 12 T the a the AAC that was not a big 12 team but I think that's probably Fair um is that honestly that's if you're if your defense Line's going to gas there what's it GNA look like against Oklahoma next week against Arizona against I don't know Colorado whomever right Colorado's not good but you know um people commenting about the fritz a and stuff like that I don't think that this is the indictment on the fritz era that people say it is again we've known for a while this G be a three-year rebuild minimum to get things going the right way I don't know that we realize we were for this far behind the eightball um I I certainly didn't think that'd be like this kind of game to start the fritz era um but I I and I like I said I think anyone listen me talk all week that I'd predicted a win um I didn't think they'd look great but I thought they could still win that game um but I don't think anyone thinks that this is the kind of team that's going to go to like a college football playoff or anything like this year the goal is to be really good in three years right this is a three-year rebuild threee rebuild threee rebuild U things don't get easier with Oklahoma next week Oklahoma is not a big 12 game it's a non-conference power four game big to requires you to play one of those every year and ours is Oklahoma next year or next week um in the meantime uh there's a lot going on the Big 12 and I'm kind of look at a big 12 round I'm going kind of see and talk about how the rest of the conference looks um and I'll probably still continue to talk about this a little bit we'll talk about this one on today and then on Monday show and maybe a little on Tuesdays as well at some point but first before we get too far down that road if you need a little bit more energy after a deflating loss like that or you're just hitting that wall after lunch again I am a teacher I am a coach I'm a podcaster I don't get a whole lot of sleep I've got a 14-month-old on the baby monitor right now um I don't get a whole lot of sleep right but five energy I push through that wall whether after lunch or whenever it is to make sure I get on and have the energy to do everything I need to do in the day with zero sugar convenient portable size it's the perfect pickme up for just getting stuff done if you go to 5 energy.com the number three the number five hour energy.com you get some five Energy Products a day code locked on CFB in all caps you get 20% off your order the offers only valid through September 30th so get on it today only valid on one order you can't use it on other promotions or the subscriptions and stuff like that you go to 5 Hour energy.com code locked on CFB go to 5our energy.com today all right now around the Big 12 first of all I should point out it's weird how late Big 12 games now go I've got Arizona State and Wyoming on one screen I've got New Mexico and Arizona on the other New Mexico and Arizona are in a tie ball game at the end of the first quarter 1414 crazy going on over there whatever's going on over there uh but the big 12 was kind of a roller coaster doing no minimal part to the Houston loss as well um I think what's interesting though so Houston loses bad to UNLV it's not great 277 not how you want to start the year now you want to start the fritz era but there were a lot of other interesting things across the League West Virginia got beat bad at home 34-2 in the the right I forget their name it's called the r game they have with Penn State uh Texas Tech after losing last year's opener barely beats abalene Christian 51 to 52 in overtime barely beats abing Christian Texas Tech does um Oklahoma State South Dakota State 4420 it's not bad I guess Cincinnati 38 talson 20 that's not bad I guess Iowa State 21 North Dakota three right Colorado 31 North Dakota State 26 TCU 34 Stanford 27 like some of these games got to be close and I feel like you know that's that's encouraging we can compete with some of those teams right uh Baylor 45 to3 over charlon State I still think that tells a lot more about charlon State than it is about Baylor Kansas beat lyndenwood 48 to3 okay but it's Lindenwood Utah beat Southern Utah 49 to nothing okay but it's Southern Utah those aren't even those AR even a group of five schools right those are tiny tiny T State tiny tiny right um Kansas State be UT Martin 41 to6 again tiny tiny um interestingly while Arizona State Wyoming is currently happening Arizona state is up big uh Ariz know New Mexico seem like they're in something tight um this does feel like the kind of conference that is as wide open as we thought it was going to be I think that's what makes this frustrating that's what makes this spot frustrating is at a time when the Big 12 was kind of up for the taking like back up the 2016 Houston Cougars 2015 Houston Cougars would win the Big 12 this year bull stop they they would I would dare to say that the 2021 Houston Cougars would have a shot not right and instead we've had to do this rebuild thing a few times and we're sitting here thinking oh man we're at 27 to7 with with unlb now friendly uh friendly enemies says it seems like it's be every Saturday shaking their head uh Arkansas uh doing at least what's inspected Richard Rigsby is down on Smith as say he lost confidence in the line already and won't trust the won't last the season as the starter I had an interesting conversation may be mentioning throughout the year this year we'll see how it goes uh with again Michael Conor over locked on Houston sports city of Houston sports um and the conversation kind of was around like at one point do you think if we're building for the future do we need to have a younger quarterback in there interesting thought um I don't know that I agree with this necessarily say we can't win with number one last year's uh last year's comments something I don't know ouie needs to start I think it's a whole different task to be the third string quarterback and I think we need to make sure that while ouie played well in his one drive like he played well in his drive against Sam Houston State we also saw him come in the game against uh Central Florida last year and like kind of crap his pants a little bit right like I think it's easy to see games where you play against second and third teamers and play well and think like oh man he can do the D1 truthfully like I think he's got a lot of growing to do still is Young I don't mean to say he'll never be any good or anything like that that that would be far too damning for me to say about any young player but I he's really young I think that that's the way this goes um um I think the truth is you're seeing like at some point tonight Donovan got gunshine I think it happened well before his pick six where he was just like what is happening I've got no time I've got nowhere to go with the ball the pick six felt very much like he's thinking okay I've got to find something to make out of this I got to find somewhere to go with this what can I do right and so instead of throwing the ball in the dirt like you're supposed to when they sniff out the screen pass or the swing pass he tried to Loft it over allaha Patrick Mahomes don't don't know this he's not Patrick Mahomes right um there were moments he took sacks where he's running around and I don't think his eyes are quite down field anymore because he's got the pressure and just has to get out of it and that's a very natural thing I think the deal is is like the the step we expected or step we hop to seeing Don make was do that less the trick is is that the awesome line got worse and so doing that less with the worse offensive line I mean that that might look like what tonight looked like right um I don't know um I got comments on helmets now Jay doesn't like the helmets um I kind of like the script Houston on the helmet I don't know um made you look like top 12 college football playoff Contender we talked about that earlier um they actually might be so there you go um Vanderbilt gave you a harder time last season Vanderbilt also beat viring Tech today um so I don't know maybe vanderville is not what they used to be I don't know when do I know um no I I look at okay if I'm gonna try and be positive the offensive line bluntly has to be better I for for anything to get going on this team the offensive line has to be better um this is just not true no one's scoring 20 points that offensive line played sorry Houston sky at says that a guarantee F La starts he scored 20 points that's just that's just not no one was scoring 20 Patrick Mahomes that offensive line was not gonna score 20 points he just wasn't right um again digressing a little bit but that has to get better as that jails as they break down film as they get better with the season goes um I I don't think that I don't I don't think that it's crazy I think this team takes a big leap once that group takes a small leap right because that will fix a lot of problems right um you'll have suddenly um you know you'll have a little bit more time to throw you want to keep the tight ends to block you get the running backs on swing patterns that'll open up other guys because the Defenders have to go cover other players or not just three guys in a pass pattern I when you have to Max protect that means especially when you have to Max protect and they're only sending five that means they've got six dudes to cover your three that math don't math I teach history but that math don't math right and so I feel like right as those things open up it will be better as the pass game opens up you'll get guys out of the box you can run the ball better those things can all be complimentary and play well together right but it all starts with being able to block five on four therefore down lineman if they send a dog a fifth guy gota be to block them with your Five Guys right um I I'd love if that happened between now and Saturday against Oklahoma um I I really would um I just I Gotta See Improvement at couple of those spots um I said throughout the episode though so I don't mean to keep dogging them but they just got to be better um and domin's be better too manjack dropped a catch he needs a catch um you know I thought couple different times the receivers bobbled balls didn't need to be bobbling um there were one or two times I can think of where I guess one or two times for Parker and one or 10 for Vashon um when they were back there I thought they kind of cut into traffic meaning that they like are reading the zone and jump into a gap that there were unov guys in um I I think a lot of people have to be better but again I think this team makes a gigantic big leap once that position group the offensive line makes a small leap I just hope it happens soon we'll be breaking down the game more uh probably watch it again at some point Sunday afternoon evening and then give another little bit more detailed breakdown um Monday is Labor day Monday can throw things off and then we'll try and flush it by Tuesday move on to the next one uh recruiting news as always throughout the week as well Houston basketball had a big time recruit a big time Big Man recruit on campus this weekend so if news happens there obviously we got to break that down as well lots happening in around the Third Ward here at lockon C make sure you subscribe hit the Bell live locked on C is primary locked on podcast Network that means your team every day even the hard ones you lose 27 to7 go CS