Colorado’s path to Friday’s game against Houston is simple: keep Conner Weigman from dictating the pace, or the Buffaloes’ bowl hopes are finished.
That’s the pressure point in this matchup. Colorado needs a win to stay alive for postseason consideration, while Houston arrives at No. 14 in the CFP after beating Cincinnati 31-24.
The Cougars have a defense that can hold up, but the real problem for Colorado is the quarterback steering the offense. Weigman may not be the kind of electric runner or deep-ball hunter that some of the Buffaloes have already seen, including Drew Mestemaker a few weeks ago, but he has a knack for controlling games in a much quieter way.
The Cincinnati win showed exactly how he does it. Weigman didn’t carve the Bearcats up with a bunch of explosive throws.
He worked through the reads, kept the offense on schedule, stacked completions and finished drives. He even added a two-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
He’s not a rushing quarterback, but he can hurt you when the play breaks down or the moment calls for it.
That’s a dangerous formula for a Colorado defense that has already had trouble against the pass. The Buffaloes are giving up 243.7 passing yards per game, and they’ve allowed a completion percentage above 60 percent in four of their last five games. If Weigman gets comfortable and starts living in that range on Friday, Colorado’s season is over.
Houston’s record tells you plenty about how steady Weigman has been. The Cougars have only two losses, and both of his interceptions came in wins.
He helped them beat UCF even while completing just 54.3 percent of his passes, and against Cincinnati he threw for 227 yards, his lowest total against a Power Four team this season. Still, Houston won.
That’s the part Colorado has to solve. Weigman has thrown at least three total touchdowns in every game this season except against Utah. In that loss to the Utes, he completed only 54.3 percent of his 35 passes, which was second only to his 38 pass attempts in the Cougars’ loss to Texas Tech.
Colorado’s defense has kept them in games, even when the results haven’t gone their way. Three of their losses have come by 10 points or fewer, and the Texas Tech game was tight for three quarters.
But the bigger issue has been scoring. The Buffaloes managed only 10 points against Arizona State last week, and that’s a problem against a Houston team with enough defensive strength to make every empty possession hurt.
If Colorado can’t score, it won’t matter how long the defense hangs on. Weigman and Houston will have too many chances.
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Colorado Faces Another Tough Home Test Against A Surging Houston Offense
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Houstons offense has been one of the more efficient units in the league, and quarterback Connor Weigman has been central to that rise with sharper passing numbers and fewer interceptions than he threw a year ago. For Colorado, now 3-6 overall and 1-5 in the Big 12, the task is as much about slowing down a surging attack as it is about finding some stability of its own on a difficult November night. [Read more 🡒]