(AP Photo/Dave Einsel; previous weekly reviews for this season are here).
The Texans (9-7) finished off their eighth season in grand style by beating the mostly-trying Patriots (10-6) with an impressive 21 point 4th quarter comeback.
The win wasn’t enough to propel the Texans into the playoffs, but it was enough to give the franchise it’s first winning record. In Texansland, that’s a major accomplishment.
There was much to like about the Texans’ performance in this game. WR Jacoby Jones showed heretofore unexhibited resilience by making several key plays down the stretch after muffing a pass that was returned by the Patriots for a TD. The Texans’ defense forced the interception that set up the go ahead TD by applying pressure on Brady and scored another TD on a Patriots’ fumble in the end zone after the Texans offense failed to score in close. The Texans’ nascent rushing attack again looked good as previously fourth-team RB Arian Foster reeled off 120 yds on 20 carries and 2 TD’s. And QB Matt Schaub completed his first injury-free season in three seasons with the Texans by emerging as one of the most productive passers in the NFL.
Texans’ owner Bob McNair will almost certainly retain head coach Gary Kubiak, although he is the only coach in the NFL who has not made the playoffs or been fired during the four seasons he has served as head coach of the Texans. Nevertheless, the Texans have steadily improved under Kubiak and the players clearly play hard for him, as Sunday’s 21-point comeback reflected.
Moreover, McNair is unlikely to break the bank to hire one of the "free agent" coaches in waiting, particularly given the uncertain nature of the stalled collective bargaining negotiations between the NFL owners and the NFL Players Association.
So, expect more of the same from the Texans. Although major improvement is unlikely in 2010, improvement on the level of what occurred between last season and this one would likely propel the Texans into the AFC playoffs. At this juncture, that seems reasonably likely to occur.
But a suggestion for Coach Kubiak — bring in a few more placekickers for training camp next season.
Air Force 47 Houston Cougars 20
The Air Force (8-5) version of Paul Johnson’s triple-option offense ground Houston (10-4) into the turf at the Bell Helicopter Armed Services Bowl at Ft. Worth on New Year’s Eve afternoon, while the Falcons’ defense harassed Cougars QB Case Keenum into an uncharacteristic 6 interceptions (Keenum only had 9 interceptions against 42 TD’s in 450 attempts coming into the game).
That, plus the damp mid-30’s temperature and windy weather, was enough to make this bowl experience a particularly forgettable one for the Cougars.
However, I can’t really blame the Cougars for their uninspired play. They were at a psychological disadvantage playing in the same bowl game against the same team that it had beaten in last year’s game. That Houston had to do so is a travesty of the current bowl system and the inequitable current demarcation between the BCS and non-BCS conferences in big-time college football.
The Cougars were one of the best non-BCS conference teams in the country this past season. They beat three BCS conference teams, two of which (Texas Tech and Oklahoma State) went on to play in more prestigious bowls than the Cougars despite not having as good a record. Given Conference USA’s anemic bowl alliances, even had the Cougars won the conference championship game, the best they could have hoped for was a trip to Memphis to play in the Liberty Bowl.
No offense to either Memphis or Ft. Worth, but no one ever mistook them for Pasadena, Miami, New Orleans, Phoenix or even San Antonio during college football bowl season.
So, UH is clearly at a crossroads. Head Coach Kevin Sumlin, his coaching staff, Keenum, and most of the offensive and defensive personnel return next season. Moreover, another solid recruiting class is on deck that emphasizes the defensive players that the previous coaching staff ignored. Accordingly, the Cougars appear on course for another stellar season in 2010.
But Houston clearly aspires for success in a BCS Conference membership, not the outback of a non-BCS conference such as Conference USA. Such a membership will require a major financial investment in upgrading or rebuilding the UH football stadium, plus securing Sumlin and his coaching staff with BCS conference-level compensation.
The University of Houston has received the lowest amount of financial subsidy from the state of any major university in Texas, so UH cannot expect much funding help from the state in its effort to move into a BCS conference. Will the Houston community and UH alumni pitch in what it will take to make the Cougars an attractive candidate for a BCS conference membership?
We will soon find out.
The Bulldogs (8-5) broke open a close game early in the fourth quarter and cruised to an easy victory over the Aggies (6-7) in Shreveport’s Independence Bowl last week.
The game was basically a replay of many of the Aggies’ losses this past season. The offense was generally productive, but was forced into taking too many risks by the Aggies’ porous defense and poor special teams play. Thus, even though the Aggies had a sizable advantage in total offense, Georgia controlled the ball and the second half with over a hundred more yards rushing than the Aggies.
As with UH, the Aggies find themselves at a crossroads leading into next season. The potent offensive personnel returns virtually intact next season, but young and mostly horrible defense loses both its best player (DE Von Miller) and its coordinator, the retiring Joe Kines. The Aggies are lining up another solid recruiting class, but it will mean very little unless head coach Mike Sherman hires a new defensive coordinator who can generate rapid improvement in the defensive unit.
As a result, Sherman’s decision on a new defensive coordinator is very likely to make or break his tenure as head coach of the Aggies.
I have no idea who Sherman is considering as candidates for the Aggies defensive coordinator position. But if I were in his shoes, I’d take a look at hard look at Air Force’s Tim DeRuyter, whose Air Force unit was one of the top defenses in the nation this past season and was magnificent in the Falcons’ bowl victory over Houston.