Despite Surreally Disappointing Defeat, Nesbitt's Resignation, All Is Not Lost For The Cougars

Tony Levine has a lot on his mind. Like how his team lost to Texas State, and why the Coogs will have their second offensive coordinator in as many games. But don't push the panic button just yet.

Houston Cougars Offensive Coordinator Mike Nesbitt Resigns

Just two days after his unit sputtered in a disheartening 30-13 upset loss to Texas State, Houston Cougars offensive coordinator Mike Nesbitt resigned from his position on Monday according to the Houston Chronicle.

Head coach Tony Levine was completely underwhelmed by his team's lack of killer instinct with the ball on Saturday, in a game where the Cougars were held to just 1-for-13 on third downs and completed just 38.6% of their passes. Levin wasted little time calling out Nesbitt's offense directly to reporters after the game however, and even went as far as to say that his team's downfield passing was "probably the worst I've seen since I've been here five years."

Upon delivering the surprising news, Levin also revealed that assistant coach Travis Bush would handle the offensive play-calling role in the near future. "We wish Mike the best in his future endeavors and thank him for his contributions to the Houston program," Levine said. "We are confident in Travis and his play-calling ability moving forward."

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Gut Check Time For Houston After Shocking Season-Opening Loss

Saturday evening was supposed to be the grand opening of Houston's victory parade through a watered down schedule in their last season in Conference USA. The Cougar second-stringers were supposed to be in by the third quarter. Instead, it was the visiting Texas State Bobcats who controlled the game from beginning to end, en route to a 30-13 upset victory.

Coming off a 13-win season, and losing to a team playing its first game as a member of the FBS, there's obviously plenty of blame to go around. Notably,

-Quarterback David Piland. The redshirt season behind Case Keenum was supposed to better prepare Piland for the starting job. Instead, Piland looked rusty. He looked scared in the pocket. He forced throws that weren't there, telegraphed his passes, and missed open receivers when he had them. The impressive-for-his-age pocket presence he showed as a true freshman was utterly gone.

-The young receiving corps. They didn't consistently get open against a less talented secondary, they dropped balls, and Daniel Spencer committed a key fumble. All-everything recruit Deontay Greenberry did not catch a pass.

-The offensive line. They weren't awful, but as the most veteran unit on the offense, they weren't great, especially given that this is one of the least talented defensive lines they'll face all year.

-The entire defense. The pass rush had its moments (four sacks) but didn't get enough consistent pressure. The Cougar defense's long-time Achilles' Heel, the mobile quarterback-led, run-heavy, read-option offense, came back to bite them yet again. Quarterback Shawn Rutherford kept the Cougar defense fooled all day long, and running back Marcus Curry seemed to have a gear that nobody else on the Cougar defense could reach.

-The coaching staff. They had the entire off-season to prepare for Texas State's offense, the same offense they were running last year. And yet they couldn't dial up a scheme to stop the read option. They had Houston's backs consistently playing several yards deep off of Texas State's receivers, even after the Bobcats consistently hurt the Coogs with short out passes. Athletics Director Mack Rhoades went out on a limb to hire Tony Levine with his non-traditional resume, and Levine caused a couple raised eyebrows by tabbing an offensive coordinator with zero FBS experience. After Saturday's fiasco, those look like bad hires until proven otherwise.

Not helping with the general sense of worry that is palpable among the Cougar faithful is the fact that two of the most talented teams on Houston's schedule are coming up in the next two weeks, in Louisiana Tech and UCLA. The Bulldogs hurt the Cougars with the read option a year ago, and the Bruins ran all over Rice in their season opener using a similar attack.

But as many mistakes as were made on Saturday night, a greater mistake would be to give up on the Cougar season. Despite their best efforts to prove the contrary, we know that this is not an untalented team. It's another four weeks before Conference USA play starts. And look no farther than Tulsa's 15-point loss to Iowa State and SMU's blowout defeat at the hands of Baylor for evidence that C-USA's west division is squarely up for grabs.

Look to 2010 Virginia Tech for inspiration. The Hokies lost their first two games to Boise State and FCS member James Madison before reeling off 11 straight victories, including an ACC championship. Do the Coogs have a similar run in them? It's up to every Cougar player and coach to look deep inside themselves and find out.

Texas State Vs. Houston Final Score: Cougars Upset 30-13 In Disappointing Season Opener

The University of Houston Cougars opened a promising 2012 season in disappointment, falling to the Texas State Bobcats 30-13 at Robertson Stadium on Saturday night.

The new era of Cougar football under coach Tony Levine and quarterback David Piland certainly could have gotten off to a better start, as Piland struggled for the better part of the game and the Houston defense fell short when it was needed most against a surprising ground attack by the Texas State Bobcats.

The Bobcats would jump to an early 14-3 lead thanks to Marcus Curry, who caught a 21-yard pass for a touchdown and rushed for a 73-yard touchdown on the team's very next offensive play. The Cougars would close the gap to 14-10 thanks to a 64-yard catch and run from Piland to Larry McDuffey, yet Texas State would control the game from that point forward.

Texas State would score 13 unanswered points to take a 27-10 lead into the half, with the Cougars offense shutting down completely in the second half.

Houston is moving to the Big East in 2013 and has high hopes for the future of the football program, yet a rocky start has put a damper on what had been a very promising season.

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Texas State Vs. Houston 2012: Game Time, TV Schedule, Spread And More

The Houston Cougars have not had much difficulty passing the football in a long while. With Case Keenum at the helm since 2007, the Cougars led the nation in passing in 2011 and had a prolific offense that was consistently putting points on the scoreboard.

Prior to Keenum, the Houston offense was led by Kevin Kolb for four years after Kolb took over the position as a true freshman. So for the first time since the 2002 season, there will be a quarterback other than Kolb or Keenum heading into the season as the top quarterback for the Cougars.

That will be redshirt sophomore David Piland leading the team against Texas State-San Marcos on Saturday. But while the future is up in the air with a new quarterback, the oddsmakers certainly believe everything will be ok for the Cougars, as they enter the game as huge favorites.

Game time/date: 7 p.m. CT, Saturday

Location: Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX

TV Schedule/Streaming: Comcast Sports Southwest (CSS)

Odds: Houston -36.5
Over/Under: 62

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Cougars Heavily Favored In Big Cat Showdown: Houston-Texas State By The Matchups

The Houston Cougars will get their second shot at the Texas State Bobcats in a three-year span as the two teams open the 2012 season at Robertson Stadium in Houston. Saturday's game will be the Bobcats' first as a member of the Bowl Subdivision. When the two teams met in 2010, the Cougars ran away with a 68-28 victory.

The Bobcats return a lot of their core group of players from last year, but last year saw them go 0-2 against FBS opponents, losing by a combined score of 95-20 to Texas Tech and Wyoming. More experience, and a watered-down WAC schedule could spell a decent debut FBS season for Texas State, but have they come far enough to hang with a team like Houston? I could just say "probably not", or we could take it by the matchups. Let's do the latter.

Houston offense vs. Texas State defense

The Bobcats succeeded in holding eight of ten FCS opponents under 30 points a year ago, but as mentioned, got torched by their two FBS foes. Texas State surrendered 45 points to Wyoming, their high total for the year, and 50 points to Texas Tech, their second-highest total for the year.

Houston's advantage starts in the trenches, where the Cougars have a talented, experienced offensive line, and Texas State loses its top defensive playmaker in graduated defensive end Michael Ebbitt. With stud running back Charles Sims running behind a line that should be opening up huge holes all day long, the Cougars should be able to move the ball effectively on the ground all day long.

If Texas State is going to slow down the Houston offensive attack at all, they'll have to shut down a young receiving corps with their experienced secondary. Granted, Houston's passing attack and Texas State's pass defense were playing on very different levels a year ago, but the Cougars are graduating most of their playmakers, and Texas State is bringing most of theirs back.

Texas State offense vs Houston defense

The Bobcat offense was very run-heavy a year ago, as Texas State averaged 195 yards per game on the ground, and 150 yards per game through the air. Against top level competition, the Texas State ground attack had mixed results. Wyoming shut down the Bobcats, allowing just 77 yards on 34 attempts, but Texas State actually did rack up 256 rushing yards against Texas Tech. Both halves of the Bobcats' two-headed quarterback attack in Shaun Rutherford and Tyler Arndt return, and the early reviews suggest that both have improved their passing. Both are expected to play on Saturday.

Of course, an offense that still figures to be run-oriented means that the Bobcats will have to do a decent job in the trenches, and that might be an issue. Texas State graduated three of five starters on the offensive line last year, and had to bring in junior college transfers and move over a couple of defensive linemen to provide depth. Still, a running offense with two mobile quarterbacks will give Houston a good warm-up for future opponents like UCLA and Rice that use read-option principles.

The Bottom Line

Texas State will certainly be amped up for its first game after moving up divisions, but the Cougars have much more talent, and many things would have to go wrong for Houston to not run away with Saturday's contest. If the Coogs struggle with turnovers, or struggle to slow down Texas State's run offense right out of the gate, the Bobcats might be able to shorten up the game and provide a scare to the Houston faithful. But by the second half, will Texas State still be hanging with UH? Probably not.

Houston LB, LSU Transfer Trevon Randle To Sit Out 2012 Season

Trevon Randle's request to play immediately for Houston after transferring from LSU was denied by the NCAA.