David Piland Must Throw More for Houston Cougars in 2013

When I think of the Houston Cougars, I think of a team that throws the ball around all the time. That didn’t happen nearly as much last season as the team ended up with a 5-7 record. I think we are going to see a different Houston team in 2013 behind quarterback David Piland. The weapons may not be there as much this season so it will be up to Piland to make things work with what he’s got.

He threw for 2,929 yards last season with 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The team moves to the American Athletic Conference this year and that is going to increase the amount of competition that the Cougars need to deal with. It should also allow Piland’s game to grow. He had a game where he threw for 580 yards last season on 77 attempts. That’s the kind of Houston attack that we are all used to seeing. I think we need to see more of that.

It probably won’t happen with the much tougher defenses that the team will face, but this is the chance that Piland needs. He completed 57 percent of his passes in 2012. That percentage isn’t nearly high enough for my liking. It would be much better if he can complete 60-65 percent of those attempts. They can be short throws that are guaranteed catches, but moving the chains must be a huge goal this year.

The defense didn’t do much to help out Piland and company last season. It’s time for the offense to take matters into their own hands again. That means Piland must be a quarterback who throws for over 4,000 yards and has at least 550 pass attempts.

Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports, like his Facebook page or add him to your network on Google.