Houston QB situation "up in the air" after shutout loss to Cincinnati
Houston coach Willie Fritz sounds open to changes with the quarterback position moving forward. The Cougars first-year head coach replaced Donovan Smith with Zeon Chriss early in the second half of the 34-0 loss against Cincinnati.
"We need to go back to the drawing board," Fritz said when asked about the offense and change at QB, "and see this competition we are going to have, and play the right guys and have those guys do things they are capable of, and not have them do things they are not capable of."
The Cougars’ aerial game was unable to ever gain a rhythm. Quarterback Donovan Smith finished 11-of-16 for 73 yards, but excluding one 52-yard bomb to Joseph Manjack IV, the Cougars did not complete a pass exceeding eight yards with their starter. Backup Zeon Chriss checked into the contest in the middle of the third quarter and finished 2-of-5 for 19 yards in the passing game, although Houston primarily grounded its offense from that point forward.
Houston (1-3, 0-1 Big 12) moves forward in conference play with its Big 12 home opener versus Iowa State next Saturday. The Cougars hope to brush off the shutout, just like they did last year when they knocked off Baylor one week after Kansas State held them scoreless.
JEFF HAUSER