Houston returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, and many in the H.A. Chapman Stadium press box Friday night felt this would be indicative of the way the game was going to go. However, a couple penalty flags were thrown on the play, as Houston was called for holding and the ball was marked back at their own 10-yard line. But we weren’t wrong.

The Cougars went on to defeat the Tulsa Golden Hurricane 45-10, in a game that was characterized as extremely disappointing for Tulsa.

“Very disappointed in the way we played,” said Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery after the game. “I didn’t think we had enough energy about us. We didn’t execute at a very good level in any of the phases. We’re a much better football team than what we performed like tonight. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen us do it. But tonight, it was not there.”

Houston (4-1, 2-0 AAC) came into this game with the American Athletic Conference’s top defense and it showed as the Cougars held Tulsa to 289 yards of total offense. The Golden Hurricane (1-4, 0-1 AAC) threw for 258 yards but was held to just 31 yards rushing.

The Cougars had three interceptions, including one returned 45 yards for a touchdown. On offense, Houston gained a total 405 yards with 261 passing yards and 148 on the ground.

“We got to get back to work and we got to get some things corrected,” Montgomery said. “A tough night all the way across the board and we got to learn from it.”

One of the things Tulsa needs to fix is the team’s sieve-like offensive line. The running backs and quarterback had very little protection throughout the game, and it appeared Houston knew the Tulsa playbook very well. The Cougars had a total of four sacks for 26 yards, and that’s not even counting how many times their lineman and line backers got into the Tulsa back field, applying pressure to the TU backs.

“We’ve got to move on because we got another tough one next week,” Montgomery said.

Tulsa will play its third home game in a row this Saturday against the Memphis Tigers. The Homecoming game will begin at 8:00 pm at H.A. Chapman Stadium, and will air on ESPN2.

SCOUTS IN ATTENDANCE

There were several NFL and Bowl game scouts sitting in the press box for the TU-Houston game. Two of the scouts have some local ties; Chas Stallard with the Baltimore Ravens and Chris Watts with the Senior Bowl.

Stallard, a native of Cleveland, Oklahoma, played quarterback at UCO (2014-2017). He couldn’t do an interview with me because it would have to be cleared in advance with the Raven’s front office, however, we did get to chat a bit about his role with the team.

Stallard was hired by the Ravens in June 2018, and was a player personnel assistant before being named Southwest area scout earlier this year.

He was glad to be able to visit his family here in Oklahoma, while in town last weekend.

Watts spent the past 16 years in the National Football League as a member of the New York Giants scouting staff, before being named a scout for the Reese’s Senior Bowl earlier this year.

Watts’ time with the Giants included three years as a college scouting intern, nine years as the club’s BLESTO combine scout, and the final five years as southwest area scout. Before joining the Giants, Watts spent two years as an offensive line graduate assistant at his alma mater, Langston University. He earned four letters in football and one in track at Langston.

Other scouts in attendance were from the Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, LA Rams, NY Giants, San Francisco 49ers, and the NFLPA Bowl.

TU SOCCER RANKED NO. 4

Tulsa’s men’s soccer team was ranked No. 4 in the nation entering their home match against South Florida on Sunday. Tulsa was sitting at a program-best 8-0 mark on the season, including a 3-0 mark in American Athletic Conference.

The Golden Hurricane defeated sixth-ranked SMU 2-1 in double overtime the previous week.

This year’s team is extremely talented at all positions. Ten players have scored a goal for Tulsa, including a team-best seven goals by Alex Meinhard, and four goals by Malik Henry-Scott.

This is an amazingly talented college soccer team that’s fun to watch.