2018 Houston Cougars football team

The 2018 Houston Cougars football team represented the University of Houston in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cougars played their home games at TDECU Stadium in Houston, Texas, and competed in the West Division of the American Athletic Conference. They were led by second-year head coach Major Applewhite. They finished the season 8–5, 5–3 in AAC play to finish in a three-way tie for the West Division championship. After tiebreakers, they did not represent the West Division in the AAC Championship Game. They were invited to the Armed Forces Bowl where they lost to Army by a score of 14–70, in the process tying records for the most points given up (70) and the largest margin-of-loss (56) in NCAA bowl game history.[1]

2018 Houston Cougars football
AAC West Division co-champion
Armed Forces Bowl, L 14–70 vs. Army
ConferenceAmerican Athletic Conference
DivisionWest Division
Record8–5 (5–3 American)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorKendal Briles (1st season)
Offensive schemeHurry-up, no-huddle spread
Defensive coordinatorMark D'Onofrio (2nd season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumTDECU Stadium
Seasons
← 2017
2019 →
2018 American Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
No. 11 UCF x$   8 0     12 1  
Temple   7 1     8 5  
No. 24 Cincinnati   6 2     11 2  
South Florida   3 5     7 6  
East Carolina   1 7     3 9  
UConn   0 8     1 11  
West Division
Memphis xy   5 3     8 6  
Houston x   5 3     8 5  
Tulane x   5 3     7 6  
SMU   4 4     5 7  
Navy   2 6     3 10  
Tulsa   2 6     3 9  
Championship: UCF 56, Memphis 41
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

On December 30, Houston fired Applewhite after 2 seasons.[2]

Preseason

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Award watch lists

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Listed in the order that they were released

Award Player Position Year
Lott Trophy[3] Ed Oliver DT JR
Rimington Trophy[4] Will Noble C SR
Chuck Bednarik Award[5] Ed Oliver DT JR
Maxwell Award[6] Ed Oliver DT JR
Bronko Nagurski Trophy[7] Ed Oliver DT JR
Outland Trophy[8] Will Noble C SR
Ed Oliver DT JR
Ray Guy Award[9] Dane Roy P JR
Wuerffel Trophy[10] Mulbah Car RB JR
Walter Camp Award[11] Ed Oliver DT JR
Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award[12] D'Eriq King QB JR

AAC media poll

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The AAC media poll was released on July 24, 2018, with the Cougars predicted to finish in second place in the AAC West Division.[13]

Media poll (West)
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Memphis 171 (23)
2 Houston 146 (4)
3 Navy 129 (3)
4 SMU 72
5 Tulane 68
6 Tulsa 44

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 111:00 a.m.at Rice*CBSSNW 45–2726,390
September 811:00 a.m.Arizona*
ABC/ESPN2W 45–1832,534
September 153:00 p.m.at Texas Tech*FOXL 49–6353,484
September 227:00 p.m.Texas Southern*
  • TDECU Stadium
  • Houston, TX
ESPN3W 70–1429,970
October 47:00 p.m.Tulsa
ESPNW 41–2629,823
October 136:00 p.m.at East CarolinaCBSSNW 42–2029,851
October 202:30 p.m.at NavyCBSSNW 49–3633,924
October 272:30 p.m.No. 21 South Florida
  • TDECU Stadium
  • Houston, TX
ABC/ESPN2W 57–3631,631
November 36:00 p.m.at SMUESPNUL 31–4523,654
November 106:00 p.m.Temple 
  • TDECU Stadium
  • Houston, TX
CBSSNL 49–5930,862
November 157:00 p.m.Tulane
  • TDECU Stadium
  • Houston, TX
ESPNW 48–1724,209
November 2311:00 a.m.at MemphisABCL 31–5227,790
December 222:30 p.m.vs. Army*ESPNL 14–7044,738
Schedule Source:[14]

Roster

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2018 Houston Cougars football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB 1 Bryson Smith   Fr
WR 2 Keith Corbin Jr
QB 3 Clayton Tune Fr
QB 4 D'Eriq King Jr
WR 5 Marquez Stevenson So
WR 6 Kinte Hatton Sr
WR 9 Courtney Lark Jr
WR 10 Jeremy Singleton   Fr
QB 12 Quinten Dormady Sr
QB 14 Ike Ogbogu   Fr
WR 15 Raelon Singleton Sr
WR 17 Terry Mark Jr
WR 19 Julon Williams Fr
RB 21 Patrick Carr Jr
RB 22 Terence Williams Sr
RB 23 Chandler Smith So
RB 25 Kelan Walker Fr
WR 26 Ja'Kori Morgan Fr
WR 27 Henry Thomas Fr
RB 28 Josh Burrell Jr
WR 30 Timon Nolan Jr
RB 32 Kevrin Justice Jr
RB 34 Mulbah Car Jr
WR 36 James Homan Sr
WR 37 Payton Pardee Jr
WR 39 Andrew Segovia Jr
TE 45 Spencer Wells Fr
OL 52 Braylon Jones Jr
OL 53 Hayden Mark So
OL 56 Dixie Wooten III   Fr
OL 60 Kordell Snyder So
OL 62 Jarrid Williams Jr
OL 64 Dennis Bardwell So
OL 65 Bo Alexander Jr
OL 66 Cole Miller So
OL 69 Will Noble Sr
OL 70 Jordan Boatman   Fr
OL 71 Max Banes Fr
OL 72 Mason Denley Sr
OL 73 Kameron Lewis Fr
OL 74 Josh Jones Jr
OL 75 Jack Freeman Fr
OL 76 Kameron Eloph Jr
OL 77 Keenan Murphy So
WR 80 Colton Cerday Jr
WR 81 Tre'von Bradley Fr
TE 82 Romello Brooker Sr
WR 83 Peyton Sawyer Fr
WR 84 Cole McGowan So
TE 85 Christian Trahan Fr
TE 86 Payton Haslam Sr
TE 87 Sid Turnbull-Frazier Jr
TE 88 Shane Creamer   Fr
TE 89 Parker Eichenberger   Fr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 1 Garrett Davis Sr
DB 2 Deontay Anderson So
DB 3 Grant Stuard So
LB 4 Leroy Godfrey Jr
LB 5 Darrion Owens Sr
DB 6 Khari Dotson Sr
LB 8 Emeke Egbule Sr
CB 9 Nick Watkins Sr
DT 10 Ed Oliver Jr
LB 12 David Anenih So
CB 13 Joeal Williams Sr
CB 14 Isaiah Johnson Sr
CB 16 Ka'Darian Smith Jr
CB 18 Alexander Myres Sr
CB 19 Javian Smith So
LB 20 Roman Brown Sr
DB 21 Gleson Sprewell So
LB 22 Austin Robinson Sr
DE 23 Willie Smith III Fr
LB 24 Donavan Mutin Fr
DB 25 D. J. Small So
LB 26 Elijah Gooden So
LB 27 Amaud Willis-Dalton Fr
DB 29 Darius Gilbert Jr
LB 30 Alexander Duke   Fr
LB 31 Derek Parish   Fr
DB 33 Garrison Vaughn Fr
DB 35 Johnathan Phenix Fr
CB 36 Zaire Taylor Fr
LB 37 Zamar Kirven Fr
DB 39 Shaun Lewis   Fr
LB 40 Jordan Carmouche So
DB 41 Bradley Mbu Jr
LB 43 Dekalen Goodson Fr
LB 45 Jordan Milburn Jr
LB 46 Melvin Larkins Fr
DB 48 Torrey Richardson Fr
DT 50 Aymiel Fleming Jr
DL 51 Tariq Freeny So
DE 52 Jerard Carter Sr
LB 59 Jacob Daulong   Fr
DL 80 Noah Jones   Fr
DE 90 Zach Vaughan Sr
DE 91 Tahj Brown Fr
DL 92 Logan Hall Fr
DL 94 Isaiah Chambers So
DL 98 Payton Turner So
DL 99 Blake Young Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P 38 Dane Roy Jr
K 42 Caden Novikoff Sr
LS 44 Anthony Cantu Jr
K 47 Dalton Witherspoon So
LS 97 Nick Wildberger Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt

Roster
Last update: May 13, 2020

Game summaries

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At Rice

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1 2 3 4 Total
Cougars 3 14 14 14 45
Owls 7 17 3 0 27

[15]

Arizona

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1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 0 0 10 8 18
Cougars 21 10 7 7 45

[16]

At Texas Tech

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1 2 3 4 Total
Cougars 21 7 14 7 49
Red Raiders 14 21 14 14 63

Texas Southern

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1 2 3 4 Total
Tigers 0 0 7 7 14
Cougars 14 28 7 21 70

Tulsa

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1 2 3 4 Total
Golden Hurricane 13 0 10 3 26
Cougars 7 10 0 24 41

At East Carolina

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1 2 3 4 Total
Cougars 14 7 7 14 42
Pirates 0 3 3 14 20

At Navy

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1 2 3 4 Total
Cougars 7 14 14 14 49
Midshipmen 10 14 0 12 36

South Florida

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1 2 3 4 Total
No. 21 Bulls 0 21 15 0 36
Cougars 14 14 15 14 57

At SMU

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1 2 3 4 Total
No. 17 Cougars 0 14 3 14 31
Mustangs 10 21 7 7 45

Temple

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1 2 3 4 Total
Owls 14 14 21 10 59
Cougars 7 7 21 14 49

Tulane

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1 2 3 4 Total
Green Wave 6 3 0 8 17
Cougars 14 17 10 7 48

At Memphis

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1 2 3 4 Total
Cougars 7 14 10 0 31
Tigers 3 14 14 21 52

Vs. Army (Armed Forces Bowl)

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1 2 3 4 Total
Cougars 0 7 0 7 14
No. 22 Black Knights 14 28 14 14 70

Players drafted into the NFL

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Round Pick Player Position NFL Club
1 9 Ed Oliver DT Buffalo Bills
4 129 Isaiah Johnson CB Oakland Raiders
6 200 Emeke Egbule LB Los Angeles Chargers

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
APRVRVRVRVRVRV17RVRV
CoachesRVRVRVRVRVRVRV17RV
CFPNot releasedNot released

References

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  1. ^ "Army West Point dominates en route to 70-14 victory". Armed Forces Bowl. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  2. ^ Sallee, Barrett. "Houston fires coach Major Applewhite after just two seasons with the Cougars". cbssports.com. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  3. ^ "2018 Watch List | Lott IMPACT Trophy | Honoring College Football's Defensive Best". lottimpacttrophy.org. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  4. ^ "Rimington Trophy Press Release". May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  5. ^ "2018 Bednarik Award Watch List". July 16, 2018. Archived from the original on July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  6. ^ "2018 Maxwell Award Watch List". July 16, 2018. Archived from the original on July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  7. ^ "2018 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  8. ^ "22018 OUTLAND TROPHY WATCH LIST UNVEILED". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  9. ^ "Ray Guy Award preseason watch list unveiled". July 25, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  10. ^ "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  11. ^ Carbone, Al (July 27, 2018). "Walter Camp Football Foundation Announces 2018 Player of the Year Preseason "Watch List"". Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  12. ^ "2018 Nominations The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award" (PDF). August 16, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  13. ^ "UCF Tabbed as Favorite in 2018 Preseason Media Poll". TheAmerican.org. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  14. ^ "2018 Houston Cougars Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  15. ^ "Houston vs. Rice - Game Summary - September 1, 2018". ESPN. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
  16. ^ "Arizona vs. Houston - Game Summary - September 8, 2018". ESPN. Retrieved September 8, 2018.