So what can we expect from a Holgorsen coached football team? Taking a quick look at the low hanging fruit from this past season Dana went 8-4 against much stronger competition. Drilling down on that 8-4 record here is what we find in a season where he was supposed to do well in.
5-1 at home. He won't let us down at our house most of the time. Last 3 seasons he is 15-4 at home.
3-3 on the road/neutral site. With one loss to Iowa St and a 4 point loss to Ok St. and lost his bowl game finishing the season with 3 straight losses. Last 3 seasons 10-9.
Taking a closer look at that 8-4 record we see that Dana came within 4 points of beating OU and 5 points of winning at Ok St. That is two close losses that could have gone the other way and we would be looking at keeping CMA or getting a Neal Brown because WVU would have extended Dana's contract at 10-2. That would have given Dana two 10 win seasons out of the last three.
His wins included Tennessee (neutral), Texas Tech and Texas on the road, and TCU. All of those would be considered outstanding wins for UH.
His offense this past season scored 40.3 points a game while his defense gave up 27.2 points a game. That is 10 points less a game than our defense gave up. If Gibbs can coach his defense to give up less than 30 we are going to contend for the AAC crown. Book it.
Looking Ahead
I see our floor at 8 games and our ceiling at 9 against a much stronger schedule this next season. We get Cincy, Memphis, Navy, and SMU at home. Taking the North Texas away game as a win. Giving up OU, Wazzu, and the UCF game on the road as losses. Throw in a game that could go either way and there is my guess for 2019. Of course if we get some outstanding recruits before next fall this guesstimate is subject to change.
This is a great hire for UH. Dana can take us all the way to our P5 home wherever that might be.
5-1 at home. He won't let us down at our house most of the time. Last 3 seasons he is 15-4 at home.
3-3 on the road/neutral site. With one loss to Iowa St and a 4 point loss to Ok St. and lost his bowl game finishing the season with 3 straight losses. Last 3 seasons 10-9.
Taking a closer look at that 8-4 record we see that Dana came within 4 points of beating OU and 5 points of winning at Ok St. That is two close losses that could have gone the other way and we would be looking at keeping CMA or getting a Neal Brown because WVU would have extended Dana's contract at 10-2. That would have given Dana two 10 win seasons out of the last three.
His wins included Tennessee (neutral), Texas Tech and Texas on the road, and TCU. All of those would be considered outstanding wins for UH.
His offense this past season scored 40.3 points a game while his defense gave up 27.2 points a game. That is 10 points less a game than our defense gave up. If Gibbs can coach his defense to give up less than 30 we are going to contend for the AAC crown. Book it.
Looking Ahead
I see our floor at 8 games and our ceiling at 9 against a much stronger schedule this next season. We get Cincy, Memphis, Navy, and SMU at home. Taking the North Texas away game as a win. Giving up OU, Wazzu, and the UCF game on the road as losses. Throw in a game that could go either way and there is my guess for 2019. Of course if we get some outstanding recruits before next fall this guesstimate is subject to change.
This is a great hire for UH. Dana can take us all the way to our P5 home wherever that might be.
