It's game day in Houston! And it's an early one. Kickoff is coming up in about 45 minutes here at TDECU Stadium. It's warm, so I'm interested to see how it works coming off the cramping issues from last weekend. It definitely feels much worse than anything you'll feel in Tucson.
Pregame
* Some pregame notes for you all. To start, Scottie Young Jr. and Jace Whittaker are both back this week and have been going through warmups with the team. Arizona brought all five of its scholarship quarterbacks on the trip, but didn't bring Nathan Tilford. The four running backs Arizona brought are JJ Taylor, Gary Brightwell, Anthony Mariscal and Branden Leon.
* PJ Johnson just walked out in a boot and he will not play today. Finton Connolly is expected to get the start with Kurtis Brown looking like he will get some action today as well because of the injury to Johnson.
Coin toss: Arizona wins the toss and will defer
1st QTR
* Houston comes out firing and has picked up big chunks of yards already with completions of 10, 16 and 19 yards for D'Eriq King to move Houston into Arizona territory; King hits Courtney Lark for another first down; A couple missed tackles and Marquez Steven gets in the end zone off a pass from King to give Houston the quick score [SCORE UPDATE: Houston 7 Arizona 0 - 12:13 1st]
* After a couple rushes Tate hits Shawn Poindexter for 30 yards; Tate runs for 5 yards and is tackled by Ed Oliver; Tate is picked off as he was looking for Shun Brown and it goes off Brown's hands into a defender ... terrible start for Arizona as Houston will take over on UA's side of the field
* Patrick Carr runs it 39 yards on the first play and gets it down to the 1-yard line; Carr with a couple runs that don't get him in the end zone; King rushes it in for the score to give Houston the two-TD lead [SCORE UPDATE: Houston 14 Arizona 0 - 8:29 1st]
* Tate hits Brown for a few yards to start the drive but a penalty pushed UA back; Tate finds Brown for one yard; Brown with another reception for 14 yards this time but still not enough for a first down; Taylor can't get to the marker and UA will have to punt it away
* King incomplete on the first play; Bryson Smith with a couple different positive plays to move Houston down the field; Romello Brooker is left wide open going down the right sideline and King hits him for 48 yards and another Houston score [SCORE UPDATE: Houston 21 Arizona 0 - 4:43 - 1st]
* Gary Brightwell with a little something on the first play of the drive for 5 yards; Tate throws it out of bounds on second down; Tate can't find Tony Ellison and it's almost picked again and it's another 3-and-out
* King tries to go deep on the first play after a good punt from Dylan Klumph and Lorenzo Burns is there; King goes back deep again and Singleton just can't hold onto what was a sure touchdown; Another incomplete pass and Houston punts it away as Arizona is able to get at least some kind of stop on defense
* Brightwell gains a few on the first play for the Wildcats; Brightwell gets the first down with a another solid rush; Tate can't find Poindexter deep down the sideline; Brightwell gets a few bringing up third down; Tate finds Poindexter on the sideline for the first down as Arizona has been able to do more this drive; Nothing much for Brightwell on the next play as he gains just a couple; Tate keeps it and looks like a quarterback who wants nothing to do with running the ball; Tate can't find Poindexter over the middle and UA will attempt the field goal; Lucas Havrisik is no good, wide right, on the 53-yard attempt and UA still trails it by 21 points
* Brooker can't bring in a pass to start the drive as UH starts at its own 35; Teren Williams rushes for 2 yards; King takes off and gains 16 yards on the ground for Houston moving the chains and that ends the first quarter [SCORE UPDATE: Houston 21 Arizona 0]
2nd QTR
* The drive continues and King gets a first down with a nice run out of the break; UH tries a trick play with a reverse pass but it doesn't work out; King hits Jeremy Singleton for 6 yards; Keith Corbin runs it for 3 yards bringing up a 4th and 1 and UH challenges the spot; It remains 4th down after the review but the ball was moved up making it a 4-yard gain for Corbin; Mulbah Car gets the first down with a short rush; Another big rush for Car moves the ball again; A short rush and an incompletion in the end zone makes it third down; King can't find Corbin down the sideline and Houston settles for a 35-yard field goal [SCORE UPDATE: Houston 24 Arizona 0 - 12:38 2nd]
* Tate hits Brown for 9 yards to start the next Arizona drive; Taylor can't get anything on the second down try; Taylor picks up the first down with a 4-yard rush on third down; Tate hits Poindexter for 23 yards over the middle; Brown with a 13-yard reception keeps Arizona moving down the field; Tate hurried by Ed Oliver and he just throws it away; Taylor with a 6-yard rush to the left; Brightwell gains a few up the middle bringing up a 4th and 1; Brightwell can't handle the pitch and it's a 9-yard loss and turnover on downs
* UH will start on its own 35 after that last UA drive; Carr gets a first down on first down with a nice run; King can't get anything else on the rest of the drive and Houston will punt it away; it's a good one deep in Arizona territory
* Tate hits Poindexter for 12 yards and a first down for some breathing room; Taylor gets no gain on first down; After an offside penalty on Houston, Tate hits Bryce Wolma for a couple bringing up third down; Tate hits Brown for the first down; Cedric Peterson can't hang on to a pass from Tate and that brings up second down; Brown can't hang onto a pass from Tate and it makes it third down; Ed Oliver gets a neutral zone penalty but it doesn't mean much as Arizona still can't get the first down and will have to punt it away;
* After a couple incompletions, King hits Lark for 22 yards and a big first down; Nothing up the middle for Carr; Lark can't handle the pass and it's third down and 7; Brooker catches a 24-yard pass and another first down; Boles gets an offside penalty and it keeps the drive moving forward; Mark Terry with a catch for 7 yards; Bryson Smith gets by Christian Young and he scores on the 13-yard catch [SCORE UPDATE: Houston 31 Arizona 0]
* A couple rushes for JJ Taylor brings up a 3rd and 4 situation for Arizona already on this drive; Tate finds Poindexter for 18 yards and a first down as the Wildcats look for something hear before halftime; Taylor with a 13-yard run to the left for another first down; Taylor for 3 yards on first down; Tate goes deep to Brown in the end zone but the UA receiver can't bring it in and it will be third down; UA gets a positive play to Stanley Berryhill and the first down but Tony Ellison gets called for a hold and it will be coming back; Tate goes back to Berryhill but nothing happens and UA will have to punt as the rough first half continues; It's a good punt for Dylan Klumph and he pins Houston inside the 5.
* Houston with a 25-yard run on the first play of the drive with a run from Teren Williams right up the middle; Quinte Dormady has come in at QB for Houston this drive and he is incomplete on his first pass of the game; Dereck Boles went down on they are bringing out the cart for him; Jalen Harris and Jalen Cochran out there for Arizona now as the Wildcats continue to work more players on the defensive side of the ball; Corbin with another chance deep down the sideline and again he has another drip; Williams can't get the first down on third down and it will be 4th and 4 for the Cougars at midfield and they will punt it away
* UA takes over at its own 12; Tate can't hit Poindexter and he is really struggling to move laterally right now; Tate hits Brown for a few yards and that ends the half
HALF: Houston 31 Arizona 0
Pregame
* Some pregame notes for you all. To start, Scottie Young Jr. and Jace Whittaker are both back this week and have been going through warmups with the team. Arizona brought all five of its scholarship quarterbacks on the trip, but didn't bring Nathan Tilford. The four running backs Arizona brought are JJ Taylor, Gary Brightwell, Anthony Mariscal and Branden Leon.
* PJ Johnson just walked out in a boot and he will not play today. Finton Connolly is expected to get the start with Kurtis Brown looking like he will get some action today as well because of the injury to Johnson.
Coin toss: Arizona wins the toss and will defer
1st QTR
* Houston comes out firing and has picked up big chunks of yards already with completions of 10, 16 and 19 yards for D'Eriq King to move Houston into Arizona territory; King hits Courtney Lark for another first down; A couple missed tackles and Marquez Steven gets in the end zone off a pass from King to give Houston the quick score [SCORE UPDATE: Houston 7 Arizona 0 - 12:13 1st]
* After a couple rushes Tate hits Shawn Poindexter for 30 yards; Tate runs for 5 yards and is tackled by Ed Oliver; Tate is picked off as he was looking for Shun Brown and it goes off Brown's hands into a defender ... terrible start for Arizona as Houston will take over on UA's side of the field
* Patrick Carr runs it 39 yards on the first play and gets it down to the 1-yard line; Carr with a couple runs that don't get him in the end zone; King rushes it in for the score to give Houston the two-TD lead [SCORE UPDATE: Houston 14 Arizona 0 - 8:29 1st]
* Tate hits Brown for a few yards to start the drive but a penalty pushed UA back; Tate finds Brown for one yard; Brown with another reception for 14 yards this time but still not enough for a first down; Taylor can't get to the marker and UA will have to punt it away
* King incomplete on the first play; Bryson Smith with a couple different positive plays to move Houston down the field; Romello Brooker is left wide open going down the right sideline and King hits him for 48 yards and another Houston score [SCORE UPDATE: Houston 21 Arizona 0 - 4:43 - 1st]
* Gary Brightwell with a little something on the first play of the drive for 5 yards; Tate throws it out of bounds on second down; Tate can't find Tony Ellison and it's almost picked again and it's another 3-and-out
* King tries to go deep on the first play after a good punt from Dylan Klumph and Lorenzo Burns is there; King goes back deep again and Singleton just can't hold onto what was a sure touchdown; Another incomplete pass and Houston punts it away as Arizona is able to get at least some kind of stop on defense
* Brightwell gains a few on the first play for the Wildcats; Brightwell gets the first down with a another solid rush; Tate can't find Poindexter deep down the sideline; Brightwell gets a few bringing up third down; Tate finds Poindexter on the sideline for the first down as Arizona has been able to do more this drive; Nothing much for Brightwell on the next play as he gains just a couple; Tate keeps it and looks like a quarterback who wants nothing to do with running the ball; Tate can't find Poindexter over the middle and UA will attempt the field goal; Lucas Havrisik is no good, wide right, on the 53-yard attempt and UA still trails it by 21 points
* Brooker can't bring in a pass to start the drive as UH starts at its own 35; Teren Williams rushes for 2 yards; King takes off and gains 16 yards on the ground for Houston moving the chains and that ends the first quarter [SCORE UPDATE: Houston 21 Arizona 0]
2nd QTR
* The drive continues and King gets a first down with a nice run out of the break; UH tries a trick play with a reverse pass but it doesn't work out; King hits Jeremy Singleton for 6 yards; Keith Corbin runs it for 3 yards bringing up a 4th and 1 and UH challenges the spot; It remains 4th down after the review but the ball was moved up making it a 4-yard gain for Corbin; Mulbah Car gets the first down with a short rush; Another big rush for Car moves the ball again; A short rush and an incompletion in the end zone makes it third down; King can't find Corbin down the sideline and Houston settles for a 35-yard field goal [SCORE UPDATE: Houston 24 Arizona 0 - 12:38 2nd]
* Tate hits Brown for 9 yards to start the next Arizona drive; Taylor can't get anything on the second down try; Taylor picks up the first down with a 4-yard rush on third down; Tate hits Poindexter for 23 yards over the middle; Brown with a 13-yard reception keeps Arizona moving down the field; Tate hurried by Ed Oliver and he just throws it away; Taylor with a 6-yard rush to the left; Brightwell gains a few up the middle bringing up a 4th and 1; Brightwell can't handle the pitch and it's a 9-yard loss and turnover on downs
* UH will start on its own 35 after that last UA drive; Carr gets a first down on first down with a nice run; King can't get anything else on the rest of the drive and Houston will punt it away; it's a good one deep in Arizona territory
* Tate hits Poindexter for 12 yards and a first down for some breathing room; Taylor gets no gain on first down; After an offside penalty on Houston, Tate hits Bryce Wolma for a couple bringing up third down; Tate hits Brown for the first down; Cedric Peterson can't hang on to a pass from Tate and that brings up second down; Brown can't hang onto a pass from Tate and it makes it third down; Ed Oliver gets a neutral zone penalty but it doesn't mean much as Arizona still can't get the first down and will have to punt it away;
* After a couple incompletions, King hits Lark for 22 yards and a big first down; Nothing up the middle for Carr; Lark can't handle the pass and it's third down and 7; Brooker catches a 24-yard pass and another first down; Boles gets an offside penalty and it keeps the drive moving forward; Mark Terry with a catch for 7 yards; Bryson Smith gets by Christian Young and he scores on the 13-yard catch [SCORE UPDATE: Houston 31 Arizona 0]
* A couple rushes for JJ Taylor brings up a 3rd and 4 situation for Arizona already on this drive; Tate finds Poindexter for 18 yards and a first down as the Wildcats look for something hear before halftime; Taylor with a 13-yard run to the left for another first down; Taylor for 3 yards on first down; Tate goes deep to Brown in the end zone but the UA receiver can't bring it in and it will be third down; UA gets a positive play to Stanley Berryhill and the first down but Tony Ellison gets called for a hold and it will be coming back; Tate goes back to Berryhill but nothing happens and UA will have to punt as the rough first half continues; It's a good punt for Dylan Klumph and he pins Houston inside the 5.
* Houston with a 25-yard run on the first play of the drive with a run from Teren Williams right up the middle; Quinte Dormady has come in at QB for Houston this drive and he is incomplete on his first pass of the game; Dereck Boles went down on they are bringing out the cart for him; Jalen Harris and Jalen Cochran out there for Arizona now as the Wildcats continue to work more players on the defensive side of the ball; Corbin with another chance deep down the sideline and again he has another drip; Williams can't get the first down on third down and it will be 4th and 4 for the Cougars at midfield and they will punt it away
* UA takes over at its own 12; Tate can't hit Poindexter and he is really struggling to move laterally right now; Tate hits Brown for a few yards and that ends the half
HALF: Houston 31 Arizona 0
