A Hall of Famer, one win in, and an FBS road trip
Marshall Faulk picked up his first win as a head coach last week. Southern handled Kentucky State 34-15, which washed away the taste of a Week 0 loss.
Now comes Houston. The Jaguars travel Saturday to face a Cougars side ranked No. 22 in the country, and nobody outside the Southern locker room gives them much of a chance.
Faulk isn’t playing along with that. “It’s a very good football team,” he said. “They’re well coached, disciplined, and this is the kind of game you look forward to. I want my team to understand we have to show up and compete against an FBS school. Once the whistle blows, nobody cares who is FCS and who is FBS. They’re just kids playing football and having fun.”
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Houston won by 13 and their coach still isn’t happy
The Cougars are 1-0 after beating Oregon State 33-20. That scoreline is generous. Houston very nearly gave away a 19-point second-half lead.
The Beavers struck late in the third quarter, then picked off Conner Weigman and turned the takeaway into another touchdown. Weigman steadied things with a 75-yard drive he capped himself from a yard out.
Willie Fritz was not in a celebrating mood. Minus-two on turnovers. Ten penalties, 65 yards.
“We tripped over ourselves a few times,” the coach said Monday. “We had the ball, we’re moving it well, and then we fumbled. Then we go down and score another touchdown, and we throw an interception. We had stupid penalties, and when we made mistakes we had to settle for field goals.”
Both offenses run first, and both do it well
Houston’s identity is not a secret. Makhi Hughes took 17 carries for 98 yards and a score. Re’Shaun Sanford II chipped in 75 yards on 11 attempts, one of them a 56-yard sprint into the end zone in the second quarter. Weigman went 20 of 30 for 305 yards with a touchdown and that interception.
Southern leans the same way. Trey Holly carried 21 times for 99 yards and two touchdowns against Kentucky State. Quarterback Christian Johnson finished 15 of 28 for 200 yards and two scores, arriving in Baton Rouge after dragging Hutchinson Community College to back-to-back NJCAA national title games.
What actually decided that opener was fourth down. Southern were outgained 378 to 372, a rounding error, and still won because they stopped Kentucky State on fourth down four separate times.
These programmes have met twice. Houston won both. Average margin: 50.5 points.
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