
With possession and down three scores with just over five minutes remaining, UA’s Kevin Sumlin opted to punt the ball away.
HOUSTON — The ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Wildcats never really made Houston sweat Saturday. The humidity took care of that.
But the Wildcats crept within three scores midway through the fourth quarter of their 45-18 loss to the Cougars at TDECU Stadium and had an excellent chance to get even closer.
Down 38-16, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ forced a three-and-out. Khalil Tate completed a 46-yard pass to Tony Ellison to the UH 1-yard line.
The Wildcats had four cracks from the 1 — two rushes by Darrius “Bam†Smith and one apiece by Tate and Gary Brightwell — and couldn’t score.
UA coach Kevin Sumlin cited a collapse by the right side of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s offensive line. Said Tate: “They got four stops. It’s pretty simple.â€
The Wildcats still weren’t completely cooked. Schooler and defensive tackle Finton Connolly swarmed into the backfield on the next play, with Colin Schooler getting credit for the tackle and the safety. ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ got the ball back down 20 with 6:35 remaining.
The Wildcats advanced from their 26 to their 45. Facing fourth-and-9, with one timeout unused and a little over five minutes remaining, Sumlin elected to punt. The decision left ESPN’s announcers and ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s fans baffled.
“We wanted to pin them back down in there again,†Sumlin explained. “We just got a safety. It was fourth-and-almost-10. We hadn’t been very successful on third-and-long-yardage plays. So I wanted to … see if we could make something happen.â€
Dylan Klumph’s punt went out of bounds at the Houston 5-yard line. But on third-and-4 from the 11, the Cougars’ Marquez Stevenson gained 60 yards on an end-around.
It’s highly questionable whether the Wildcats would have had enough time to score three times even if they had gotten a stop.
“Once they broke out on the jet sweep,†Sumlin said, “that was really the ballgame right there.â€