Big 12 preview: Like BYU, Houston is replacing a veteran QB with a Power Five transfer

Jay Drew
·4 min read
Texas Tech quarterback Donovan Smith warms up before a game Iowa State, Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, in Ames, Iowa. Smith transferred to Houston in the offseason and the frontrunner for starting QB duties in 2023.
Texas Tech quarterback Donovan Smith warms up before a game Iowa State, Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, in Ames, Iowa. Smith transferred to Houston in the offseason and the frontrunner for starting QB duties in 2023. | Charlie Neibergall, Associated Press
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Editor’s note: Thirteenth in a series previewing each team in the Big 12.

What do the Houston Cougars bring to the Big 12?

There’s that huge media market, the fertile recruiting area, and a top-flight men’s basketball program that has flirted with an NCAA championship the past few years.

On the football field, Houston brings a fiery coach, Dana Holgorsen, who should make post-game news conferences interesting even if the Cougars don’t make much noise in the standings their first year in the Power Five conference.

“The schedule is hard, but it is what we’ve signed up for, so let’s go.” — Houston coach Dana Holgorsen

Holgorsen faces a bit of a rebuilding project in the Bayou City, after the Cougars were supposed to be really good last year but were just slightly above average, finishing with an 8-5 record, 5-3 in the American Athletic Conference.

Gone are veteran QB Clayton Tune and his favorite target, Nathaniel “Tank” Dell, and a host of other veterans who were seemingly on track to make 2022 the Cougars’ year, until defensive struggles doomed them to a bit of a disappointment.

As injuries and penalties mounted, and after the Cougars gave up a whopping 77 points to SMU on Nov. 5 — the same SMU team that could muster only 23 points in a one-point loss to BYU in the New Mexico Bowl — Holgorsen had some explaining to do.

“I need to coach better,” he often said.

The former West Virginia coach, who brings that Power Five coaching experience with him into the Big 12, is just 27-20 in four seasons at Houston, but doesn’t believe he’s on the hot seat. He signed a contract extension after the 2021 season in which the Cougars went 12-2 overall, 8-0 in the AAC, and knocked off Auburn in a bowl game.

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Working against the Cougars this year is a rough schedule that includes outgoing Texas — much to UH’s delight — at home, along with TCU on Sept. 16 in the school’s first Big 12 matchup. Houston also has Holgorsen’s former school, West Virginia, at home.

“The schedule is hard, but it is what we’ve signed up for, so let’s go,” Holgorsen told The Athletic.

At the top of the to-do list when preseason training camp opens in August is finding an adequate replacement for Tune, who was UH’s signal-caller in 2020 when No. 14 BYU dumped the Cougars 43-26 at TDECU Stadium.

He threw for nearly 12,000 yards and 104 touchdowns in a five-year career. Battling to step into Tune’s spot are Texas Tech transfer Donovan Smith and sophomore Lucas Coley. Smith is said to be the odds-on favorite, after a strong spring.

A couple of transfer receivers, Wyoming’s Joshua Cobbs and Oklahoma State’s Stephon Johnson, will give whoever wins the QB derby some capable targets. Matthew Golden is also back as a big-play receiver.

Running back Alton McCaskill stood out for the Cougars in 2021, rushing for 961 yards and 16 touchdowns. But he tore his ACL and sat out the entire 2022 season, and now he’s off to Colorado to join Deion Sanders in Boulder.

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Houston needs to avoid looking past its first two opponents and focusing on TCU in its Big 12 opener, because UTSA and Rice are the types of instate opponents who will put everything they have into knocking off UH.

Texas-San Antonio won Conference USA last year, and is picked by many to repeat. The Roadrunners are good, as BYU found in 2020 when they almost spoiled the Royal Cougars’ season.

Houston Cougars 2023 preview

2022 record: 8-5 (5-3 American Athletic Conference).

Local ties: None.

2023 schedule

Sept. 2 — UTSA.
Sept. 9 — at Rice.
Sept. 16 — TCU.
Sept. 23 — Sam Houston.
Sept. 30 — at Texas Tech.
Oct. 12 — West Virginia.
Oct. 21 — Texas.
Oct. 28 — at Kansas State.
Nov. 4 — at Baylor.
Nov. 11 — Cincinnati.
Nov. 18 — Oklahoma State.
Nov. 25 — at UCF.

Houston coach Dana Holgorsen looks at the scoreboard during game against South Florida, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022, in Houston. | Michael Wyke, Associated Press
Houston coach Dana Holgorsen looks at the scoreboard during game against South Florida, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022, in Houston. | Michael Wyke, Associated Press