Houston has the worst offense in Power 4 college football
Wilie Fritz knows how to win.
Houston's head football coach went 23-4 the past two seasons at Tulane and has won 210 games in his college career.
Now he has to figure out how to get the Cougars over the hump. Seven games into his Houston tenure, his team is not where he wants it to be.
Sitting at 2-5 and coming off a blowout loss to a team that was winless in the Big 12, the Cougars are licking their wounds and trying to figure out a path forward - specifically on the offensive end.
Entering Week 9 of the 2024 season, the Cougars have the worst scoring offense in Power 4 college football - by a wide margin. The Cougars are averaging 13.7 points per game. In all of Division I-A college football, only Kennesaw State is worse.
"I think everybody's frustrated a little bit," Fritz said in his weekly press conference when asked about Houston's offensive struggles. "You've gotta put that on the back burner and be as positive as you possibly can, and work hard. We've all got a part in this. I've got a big part in it. The coaches and the players and everyone involved in the program. There's a lot of things we can get better at."
Houston has been shut out twice and has scored in single digits twice. In their 42-14 loss to Kansas they turned the ball over four times and managed just 3.1 yards per rush.
On Saturday they face a Utah team that is 12th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 16.4 points per game. The oddsmakers are predicting a low scoring game, with the over/under at 36.5.
"We're going to have to do a great job of not beating ourselves, because they do everything in their power to not beat themselves," Fritz said. "They're a very sound football team."
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Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of his favorite memories was covering the 1999 Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS National Championship Game - at Sun Devil Stadium.