Willie Fritz didn’t spend much time dressing up Houston’s 42-32 loss to Colorado. After bringing a ranked team into Boulder with November ambitions still alive, the Cougars coach walked out of Folsom Field on Friday night pointing to the same issue over and over: Houston simply didn’t handle the game well enough in any phase.
“Obviously, very disappointing. I didn’t think we played our best on all three phases,” Fritz said after the loss.
Colorado’s offense made the biggest dent. Fritz said the Buffaloes did a strong job on the ground, and Houston had a hard time matching it.
“Well, there’s a lot of things. They did a good job running the ball on us offensively. We haven’t had that happen a whole lot,” Fritz said.
The numbers backed him up. Houston came in giving up about 107 rushing yards per game, but Colorado piled up 249 and found the end zone on the ground five times. That was nearly half of the 12 rushing touchdowns the Cougars had allowed through their first nine games.
Colorado’s attack, built around Brennan Marion’s Go-Go offense and its option looks, repeatedly stressed Houston on the edges. Fritz said the problem came down to leverage.
“I think we just had really poor leverage. One time our pitch player kept fighting underneath the blocker, and you can’t have leverage when you do that.
If he stays outside, we got an opportunity to play on it. So just really poor leverage on the outside plays,” Fritz said.
Houston did move the ball early. Fritz said the Cougars scored on every first-half possession except one, and that lone punt became a turning point. Colorado’s DeAndre Moore Jr. brought it back 34 yards, and the Buffaloes scored soon after to take their first lead into halftime.
“So special teams, they had a big punt return right before half. It allowed them to get a score as well,” Fritz said.
The third quarter gave Houston a chance to swing momentum back. The Cougars intercepted Colorado quarterback Isaac Wilson, but the advantage vanished almost immediately when Colorado safety Randon Fontenette’s sack forced a fumble on the next snap. Colorado then turned that mistake into a touchdown pass.
Fritz said that sequence summed up the night.
“I thought that was big in the beginning of the second half. We get the takeaway and then we turn it over ourselves on the very next play. So it was a little bit indicative of the evening for us,” Fritz said.
Houston also hurt itself with penalties, including several early jumps that Fritz said had nothing to do with the noise at Folsom Field. When it was over, he returned to the bluntest lesson of the night.
“As I’ve said many times before, everybody in this league is good. If you don’t play well, you’re gonna get your butt beat, found that out tonight,” Fritz said.
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