Junior quarterback Ben Hicks had one of his best games of the year against the Cougars’ defense. | Courtesy of Vladimir Cherry/SMU Athletics

With its second loss in three years to SMU Saturday, Houston fell out of the AP Poll rankings once again. Houston’s defense had a poor performance, while the offense finally stumbled.

In the game, Houston ran the ball 47 times and threw it just 22 times. That is the highest run-to-pass ratio this season with 2.14.

The previous high was 1.54 against ECU when UH ran 43 times and threw 28 times in the 42-20 win. Before the SMU game, Houston’s balance was nearly equal with about 39 runs and 38 passes per game.

The lowest ratio was .64 against Navy, which was similar to the SMU game as the opposing team got out a big lead early and UH had to come back.

SMU had 318 passing yards and 196 rushing yards against UH. SMU averaged 250 passing yards and 99 rushing yards in its previous games.

Its season-highs against FBS opponents were 328 yards passing against Cincinnati and 158 yards rushing against Navy.

Houston had just 175 passing yards on 11 receptions. This is the second time the Cougars have been kept under 200 passing yards this season with the Tulsa game being the first. Houston’s average this season was 337 passing yards.

UH had 190 rushing yards, which was the fourth-lowest total of the season and below the team’s 232-yard average.

Junior quarterback D’Eriq King had three touchdowns in the game and still sits at the top of the NCAA in points responsible for.

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“By the numbers: Houston loses to SMU” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar