Jovantae: One thing Coach Venables said he wanted in a run game was to be violent

The Oklahoma Sooners beat the Houston Cougars 16-12 on Saturday. Jovantae Barnes had 40 yards rushing and three receptions. Jovantae spoke to the media this week about the state of the run game and where he thinks he can improve.

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How would you characterize the state of the run game right now? Jovantae: We’re just taking it day by day. I’m just trying to get better. Obviously, it hasn’t been great but we’re battling our butts off and doing what we’re supposed to do. I mean, nobody in the room is excited or happy but we’re not frowning. We’re just taking it day by day. How would you self-evaluate your own play? What do you think you’ve done well and where do you think there’s still room for improvement?

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Jovantae: One thing Coach Venables said he wanted in a run game was to be violent. I think that’s one thing I did well is just be violent. I think another thing is being explosive. If I see a hole, I’m going to explode through it.

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Houston will try to put a dent in the win column when it hosts Rice in a nonconference game on Saturday night.

Houston (0-2) opened the season with a 27-7 home loss to UNLV and fell at No. 15 Oklahoma 16-12 last week.

The Cougars outgained the Sooners 318-249 in total yards, including 260-174 in passing yards, but came up empty on their final five drives of the game.

Still, Houston coach Willie Fritz saw plenty of improvement from the opening week.

I think we cut in half the missed tackles from Week 1 to Week 2,” Fritz said. “I think we had seven (against Oklahoma). When you start to have less than 10 missed tackles in a ballgame, you’re really playing excellent defense. You’re doing a good job in tackling.”

 

Houston quarterback Donovan Smith bounced back from a poor performance against UNLV and completed 24 of 28 passes for 260 yards and a touchdown with an interception.

Defensively, the Cougars will continue to count on linebacker Michael Batton, who had nine tackles and two sacks against Oklahoma.

“He’s a really fun guy to coach,” Fritz said. “He’s got great speed, quickness, movement, loves the game. He can close on people. He knows when to go. He doesn’t have to reassess things. Once he makes a decision, he’s quick with the decision.”

Rice (1-1) is coming off a 69-7 home win against Texas Southern after dropping its season opener 34-14 to visiting Sam Houston. The point total against Texas Southern was the third most in school history and the margin of victory was the second largest.

Dean Connors needed just nine carries to accumulate 113 yards and three touchdowns against Texas Southern.

“There’s still plays that we need to improve on all throughout the game,” Rice safety Tyson Flowers said. “There’s stuff that we’re going to find when we watch the film that we need to correct if we want to continue to have the season that we want to have.”