Sep. 7—NORMAN, Okla. — Whatif a review showed Mekhi Mews never touched that punt in the first quarter.What-if Houston’s offense found one more, maybe a couple, big plays.What-if that safety in the closing minutes doesn’t happen.The Cougars put up a fight Saturday night, falling short in a 16-12 loss to No. 15 Oklahoma before a sellout crowd at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.Even in a loss, it was a redemption moment after the Cougars fell flat in a 27-7 loss to UNLV in the season opener. For 58 minutes Saturday, the Cougars gave the Sooners all they could handle. The game wasn’t decided until Stacy Sneed was tackled in the end zone by Gracen Halton for a safety with 1:42 left.UH dropped to 0-2 for the first time since 2012.Cougars quarterback Donovan Smith was 24-of-28 for 260 yards and a touchdown. But again the UH offense struggled with consistency, wasting a solid performance from the defense.Oklahoma (2-0) managed only 249 yards total offense and was forced to punt eight times in the game.The close call was similar to 2021 when coach Willie Fritz led Tulane to a near-upset in Norman. That year the Green Wave were forced to move the game from New Orleans due to Hurricane Ida and just fell short in a 40-35 loss to No. 2 OU.UH’s defense allowed only one touchdown drive as the Cougars were hurt by a questionable call on a punt in the opening minutes of the game.After the defense held on the opening drive, Mewis muffed the punt and did not chase the loose ball, which was recovered by the Sooners at the UH 10yard line. On the next play, Jackson Arnold threw a 10-yard touchdown to tight end Brenen Thompson.Early in the second quarter, Jake Roberts added an 11-yard touchdown to give the Sooners a 14-3 lead.Joseph Kim, who took over the fieldgoal kicking duties, made field goals from 43 and 44 yards as the Cougars trailed 14-6 at halftime.On the opening drive of the second half, Smith drove the Cougars down the field — aided by a pass interference call on OU cornerback Woodi Washington in coverage against Joseph Manjack IV. On the next play, Smith found a wideopen Manjack along the right side for a 44-yard touchdown, his second of the season. The two-point conversion failed.
