Houston Cougars: Why Kyle Postma should be the starting quarterback

The Houston Cougars need a guy that’s proven to be a catalyst for their high-flying offense and that man is senior quarterback Kyle Postma, who excelled in mop-up duty today.

The Houston Cougars have obviously changed as we know it. We no longer have that high-profile coach or the intense flooding of media coverage as we’ve had over the past two seasons with Tom Herman at the helm.

Major Applewhite, Herman’s offensive guru and former UT quarterback himself, has taken over the reins for this Houston Cougars program. As opposed to Herman, I feel that Major will be around for quite some time as he will work to mold/maintain program into a perennial winner. It’s absolute for certain that he’ll do his way and we’ve already seen that from the sidelines.

He seems to be quite reserved from the sidelines and didn’t seem to invoke the same type of raging emotion that Herman did but he still can be an effective teacher of the game and that’s why he ultimately picked to lead this program into the future.

As things progressed through the summer to the start of the season, it became clearer that Kyle Allen, a former recruit from Texas A&M who sat out last season, will going to be the starting quarterback. Major had a choice but the obvious was to go with the quarterback with the stronger arm and most potential moving forward.

But unfortunately what happens when one makes a decision based off future performance is that sometimes it wasn’t the correct one to begin with. Don’t get me wrong, Allen is a talented QB with a hell of arm and knows how to stay in the pocket to do his damage. But the problem is that he is facing is making the right decisions and his ability to get out of dangerous situations when there’s pressure coming his way.

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His numbers were solid — he completed 24 of 39 passes for 217 yards with one touchdown and two picks in the team’s 27-24 loss to Texas Tech today. Those two picks could’ve been multiplied by more had he not had just great luck by Texas Tech’s defensive backs not getting a hold of his passes.

Allen was throwing missiles all over the place but he’s got to ensure he’s doing it tactically and moving the chains. He had two critical fumbles during the game so that all goes back to protecting the football if he wants to be a pro’s pro. His QBR was a 22.9 which speaks to the kind of game he was having beyond the stats. Not to mention he contributed mightily to the team’s five turnovers today.

All of that was great but the Houston Cougars continued to lag behind Kliff Kingsbury‘s high-octane offense even with some of the mistakes they were making as well. This game was quite winnable for most of the way but they just didn’t have enough to get over the hump.

But things changed with 7:22 left in the game. Major decided to trot out Kyle Postma, a guy that we haven’t seen much of since last season. But I thought to myself, “will I see the same Postma that took over for an injured Greg Ward Jr. and was able to beat Navy on the road in 2015?” My premonitions were all correct except for “beat” part. The Houston Cougars offense immediately started to speed up and show signs of life once he stepped in.

Postma quickly moved the ball downfield with effective passing and the elusive use of legs, easily passing Duke Catalon for the leading rusher for today’s game with four carries and 52 yards. Catalon had 13 carries for 41 yards. Before we knew it Postma was flirting with the end zone and he punched it in himself off a nine-yard scramble.

That drive was quick — it only took 11 plays and 2:59 off the clock to complete. Just think if he would’ve had the whole game to operate? It might’ve had an effect on the scoreboard. Because of this, I unequivocally support Postma as the starting quarterback moving forward. We know what he can do and has proven many times that he can step it up in the clutch.

Next: What will Major Applewhite man for UH football?

Since Allen has another year left of eligibility, I’d have him sit on the bench to have him work on things before he’s unleashed once again. Despite how that’s going to over with him — and possibly his parents — we need to have guys in the at-ready position to help this team win ballgames. It’s just plain and simple. We’ll have to see if this actually happens as there will be feathers that are ruffled but so be it. Postma EARNED it today.

Postma went 8-for-13 for 100 yards and a touchdown for a 99.2 QBR in the waning minutes of the game today. Wow!

Go Coogs!

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