CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2018 Houston

8–⁠5 (5–⁠3 American Athletic Conference), coached by Major Applewhite.

Schedule and results

Houston in 2018, game by game: won at Rice 45–27; won vs. Arizona 45–18; lost at Texas Tech 49–63; won vs. Texas Southern 70–14; won vs. Tulsa 41–26; won at East Carolina 42–20; won at Navy 49–36; won vs. No. 21 South Florida 57–36; lost at SMU 31–45; lost vs. Temple 49–59; won vs. Tulane 48–17; lost at Memphis 31–52; lost vs. No. 22 Army 14–70+56−56Won 45–27 at Rice+18RiceWon 45–18 vs. Arizona+27ArizonaLost 49–63 at Texas Tech-14Texas TechWon 70–14 vs. Texas Southern+56Texas SouthernWon 41–26 vs. Tulsa+15TulsaWon 42–20 at East Carolina+22East CarolinaWon 49–36 at Navy+13NavyWon 57–36 vs. No. 21 South Florida+21No. 21 South FloridaLost 31–45 at SMU-14SMULost 49–59 vs. Temple-10TempleWon 48–17 vs. Tulane+31TulaneLost 31–52 at Memphis-21MemphisLost 14–70 vs. No. 22 Army-56No. 22 Army
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1atRiceW 45–⁠2770%
Sep 8vsArizonaW 45–⁠1870%
Sep 15atTexas TechL 49–⁠6358%
Sep 22vsTexas SouthernW 70–⁠1493%
Oct 4vsTulsaW 41–⁠2676%
Oct 13atEast CarolinaW 42–⁠2066%
Oct 20atNavyW 49–⁠3661%
Oct 27vs21South FloridaW 57–⁠3650%
Nov 3atSMUL 31–⁠4572%
Nov 10vsTempleL 49–⁠5962%
Nov 15vsTulaneW 48–⁠1764%
Nov 23atMemphisL 31–⁠5242%
Dec 22Bowls & playoffvs22ArmyArmed Forces BowlL 14–⁠7038%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Army 70–⁠14 in the Armed Forces Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the American Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 42nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 81 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 10: 17

AAC West champions5–⁠3 in the conference, shared with Memphis and Tulane

Consensus All-AmericanEd Oliver, DL

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in American Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 17
Points
571–⁠483
Coach
Major Applewhite
Elo
1540 −13 this season
SP+ rating
2.3 No. 64 of 130; offense No. 20, defense No. 106, special teams No. 45
SRS
0.4 No. 66 of 130 in FBS
Returning
32% of last season’s EPA, No. 112 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 73 roster talent No. 51 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Kendal Briles
Defensive coordinator
Mark D’Onofrio
Offense
Hurry-up, no-huddle spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense12th of 130
  • Defense105th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted20th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted119th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2343%1.4812th of 130
Defense0.1847%1.20105th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.19 off
0.20 def		43% off
50% def		—20th off
119th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.4own 3115% allowed
Defense4.2own 2917% caused

CORE rating 2.5, 49th of 130 (offense 9.7, defense 7.2).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsD’Eriq King QB2,982 yds
Passing touchdownsD’Eriq King QB36 TD
Rushing yardsPatrick Carr RB868 yds
Rushing touchdownsD’Eriq King QB14 TD
Receiving yardsMarquez Stevenson WR1,019 yds
Receiving touchdownsKeith Corbin WR10 TD
TacklesAustin Robinson S128 tkl
SacksAustin Robinson S6 sacks
InterceptionsGleson Sprewell S3 INT

Top recruits in the 2018 class

Julon Williams ATH★★★No. 706
Kelan Walker RB★★★No. 758
Willie Smith SDE★★★No. 780
Clayton Tune PRO★★★No. 827
Ja’Kori Morgan WR★★★No. 1115

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2018 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.860
Running backs13.00.863
Receivers53.00.829
Offensive line32.70.802
Defensive line33.00.840
Linebackers32.70.827
Defensive backs42.50.811
Athletes and specialists13.00.866
Whole class212.80.828

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2019

The 2019 draft
Rd 1Ed Oliver DTBuffalo Bills
Rd 4Isaiah Johnson CBOakland Raiders
Rd 6Emeke Egbule OLBLos Angeles Chargers

Roster 109

The 2018 roster

109 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2018 line; 72 have a stat line. See the roster

2018 American Athletic Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
UCF8–⁠012–⁠111
Temple7–⁠18–⁠5
Cincinnati6–⁠211–⁠224
Houston5–⁠38–⁠5
Memphis5–⁠38–⁠6
Tulane5–⁠37–⁠6
SMU4–⁠45–⁠7
South Florida3–⁠57–⁠6
Tulsa2–⁠63–⁠9
Navy2–⁠63–⁠10
East Carolina1–⁠73–⁠9
UConn0–⁠81–⁠11

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.