Sophomore Isaiah Chambers led the defense with two sacks and looks to be another strong addition to the already tough defense line. | Peter Scamardo/The Cougar
The Cougar’s took this weekend’s annual Red & White Game as an opportunity to show some new shades of offense.
The format of the scrimmage worked with each team alternating its lineup. The Red team was on offense while the White team was the defense, with the first team offense facing the second team defense and vice versa.
The game was played in four quarters consisting of 12 minutes each with a running clock, meaning the clock did not stop for first downs or out-of-bounds plays like it would in a normal college game.
Junior quarterback D’Eriq King led the Red team offense onto the field and found success with the deep ball, nailing a 58-yard pass for a touchdown to junior Terry Mark and then a 60-yard touchdown pass to junior Courtney Lark.
King was the standout quarterback of the four that played, throwing for 259 yards total in 13 attempts.
At half time, the 17 points the Red team scored was given to the White team, and Red had to try to out-do their earlier performance.
The Red team took their time clawing back into the game but blew it wide open with a couple touchdowns to win 31-17 late in the fourth quarter.
Redshirt freshman Ike Ogbogu showed off his arm with a 70-yard pass to close out the game and showed that Houston has a strong arm deep in the depth chart at quarterback.
“If I had to describe the team in one word, it would be hungry,” said sophomore tackle Ed Oliver. “Even though I am the one that gets all the spotlight, (the rest of the guys) are no sleepers.”
One of those sleepers could be sophomore Isaiah Chambers, who led the team with two sacks and three tackles.
Sophomore defensive back Deontay Anderson had a big day with five tackles, hinting that he is ready to take over the secondary after transferring from Ole Miss.
“I was happy to see our wide-outs make plays, and I told you before it is just consistency,” said head coach Major Applewhite.
With a new offensive coordinator in Kendal Briles, Applewhite said the team will be different from last year, but the team now doesn’t necessarily reflect what it will become in the fall.
“We want to be aggressive, but if you think we’re going to be throwing go routes in our sleep, that’s not it. It’s a mixed bag, and we’ve had different looks as we’ve had different groups out there,” Applewhite said.
The football season kicks off August 9 against Arizona at TDECU Stadium.
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“Red & White Game shows new shades of offense” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar