Data Points: Texans defense stepping up

Published: September 22nd, 2011 | Tags: Data Points, Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, Peyton Manning, Wade Phillips

It’s only been two games — but so far, so good for the Wade Phillips-led defense in Houston. The Texans have been struggling for years to field a playoff-caliber defense, and the results have been far less than satisfactory. Enter Phillips as the new defensive coordinator.

Hopes were high, and the numbers after two weeks, compared to all of last season, are very positive — albeit against the Dolphins and the Colts sans Peyton Manning. This week should be a true test, as the Texans go on the road to face Drew Brees and the high-powered Saints.

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Stepping up in the bowls: Clemson

Clemson needs to beat South Florida in the Meineke Car Care Bowl to avoid its first losing season since 1998, but as Miami proved in its loss to the Bulls, nobody is invincible.

In order for the Tigers to have a better outcome, who needs to step up?

Parker Clemson quarterback Kyle Parker: The last pass Parker threw was an interception in a loss to rival South Carolina. That didn’t exactly sit well. Instead of quitting early on his team, the first-round draft pick of the Colorado Rockies decided to stick around for one more game and give it his best shot to end his career on a positive note. It’s not going to be easy, as South Florida has the nation’s No. 21 pass defense and No. 19 scoring defense. Parker has completed 62.4 percent of his passes over the past six games, but it’s that INT against the Gamecocks that fans will remember if he doesn’t find a way to beat the Bulls.Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

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Stepping up in the bowls: Florida

It's Urban Meyer's final game as the Florida head coach and the Gators' last chance to generate some positive vibes about an otherwise disappointing season.

A loss to Penn State in the Outback Bowl would give the Gators (7-5) six losses. The last time they suffered that many losses in a season was 1987.

Who's going to step up for the Gators?

Junior quarterback John Brantley: At this point, he's not completely sure that he will be back next season. Brantley still wants to talk it over with new coach Will Muschamp before making up his mind. Maybe this will be an audition of sorts for both player and coach, even though the Gators will still be running Meyer's offense. It's obvious by now that Brantley was never a fit in the spread offense, and this staff didn't do enough to mold the offense around what Brantley does best -- which is drop back and throw the football. We'll see if that changes for this game. Muschamp has already said that he plans on running more of a pro-style offense.

If Brantley does end up returning to Florida for his senior season, there would be no better way to go into an offseason with a new staff than to play his best football in the bowl game. A lot of the Florida fans have been calling for Jordan Reed at quarterback, but the Gators are going to need Brantley to hit some plays in the passing game to soften up that Penn State defense. It's been a forgettable season for Brantley, who was being hailed as one of the best quarterbacks in the league back in August even though he'd never played any meaningful snaps in the SEC. Here's his chance to finally live up to that billing and help his team enter the Muschamp era with some momentum.

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