Houston Stays Perfect in Conference Play, Defeats SMU 35-22

First Half:

There was plenty of scoring in the first half as the first three drives resulted in scores. SMU opened the scoring with a long 10 play drive that resulted in a Josh Williams field goal. Houston then countered this with a Kyle Postma 17 yard passing touchdown to D’Eriq King. SMU continued the scoring on a 12 play, 75 yard drive that resulted in a Trey Quinn receiving touchdown. After this moment, the momentum went to Houston. Josh Williams missed the ensuing PAT, making it a 9-7 game.

Houston punted on their next possession, and SMU put together another good drive, but only put up three points. Houston was done toying around as they responded and pulled a trick play. D’Eriq King, the receiver, threw to Kyle Postma for the touchdown, making the game 14-12. After this, Houston never looked back despite some mistakes.

During the next three series stretch, SMU punted, Houston threw an interception, and SMU failed to capitalize on the turnover with a punt. The punt was a beauty, pinning Houston back at their own five yard line. This didn’t stop Houston though as they marched 95 yards against the mediocre defense for a touchdown pass to Ellis Jefferson. SMU had a drive of their own getting all the way to Houston’s 13 yard line, but Josh Williams missed a 30 yard field goal to end the half.

Second Half:

The second half contained a bunch of missed opportunities for SMU. The second half started with an interception by SMU’s Christian Davis to stop a driving Houston. They could not capitalize on the turnover yet again as they punted to Houston. Houston would do the same, putting SMU at their own 46 yard line. SMU then finally capitalized on good field position with big plays. Ben Hicks hit Cortland Sutton, who had a huge game, for a big play that got them to the 15 yard line. Xavier Jones ran it for 14 yards, and Ke’Mon Freeman ran it in from the one yard line to make it a close game.

But Houston would separate. Houston had a quick two play drive that ended with a Duke Catalon 52 yard scamper for a touchdown. SMU would get one more score with a field goal to make it a 28-22 game, and Houston would end their scoring on the following drive by another 16 yard run by Duke Catalon.

SMU had three drives to win the game, as Houston could only punt in their two possessions. SMU turned the ball over on downs, and threw two interceptions in the red zone. For SMU, the opportunities were there but could not finish the game.

Game Notes:

• Cortland Sutton had a huge game racking up 11 catches for 160 yards, while Trey Quinn had 17 catches for 156 yards. These receivers are legit.
• SMU’s defense played well enough to win the game, in my opinion. SMU needs to start capitalizing, even though you could say the offense played a pretty good game.
• SMU needs to start up the run game again. They lean on Xavier Jones, but the total amount of carries was 26 to 59 passes. SMU needs to get back to the run game a little more.
• Houston was the opposite of SMU. They ran the ball 40 times with a huge amount of success.
• Should Kyle Postma still play QB for Houston? I think Kyle Allen gives them a better chance, after a sub par day from Postma.