No. 20 Houston will look to finish its season on a winning note when it plays Auburn on Tuesday afternoon in the Birmingham Bowl.
The Cougars (11-2) dropped their opener, then won 11 games in a row before losing 35-20 against No. 4 Cincinnati in the American Athletic Conference championship game on Dec. 4. Eight of their 11 wins came by double digits.
Houston coach Dana Holgorsen knows that an end-of-season victory would give the Cougars a positive feeling heading into the offseason. It also would show improvement from last season’s disappointing performance in the New Mexico Bowl, where the Cougars lost 28-14 against Hawaii.
During an era in which spread offenses and high-octane passing attacks have become more common, Holgorsen said he still wants Houston’s identity to begin with running the ball and playing sound defense.
Holgorsen is completing his third season in Houston after joining the program from West Virginia, where he coached from 2011-18.
“We run the ball a good bit and control the clock, or a least we try to,” Holgorsen said. “We are a top 10 team in time of possession. There are different things we can do to help the defense. We started noticing that probably the last three years at the previous place I was at when we won 10 games a couple of times and had the first- or second-ranked defense in the country. We took that same model to Houston.
“What we try to do offensively makes it easier to be able to play defense. That’s what championship teams do. I know (coach Bryan Harsin) is doing the same thing at Auburn. If you want to get into that championship conversation, you better play good defense, but your offense is going to have something to do with that.”
Auburn (6-6) is desperate for a win after dropping its final four regular-season games. The Tigers lost by 17 points to then-No. 14 Texas A&M, fell by…
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