No. 14 Houston is staring down a real heavyweight in No.
10 Utah, and the matchup comes with plenty hanging in the balance. A Cougars win could keep the door open to the Big 12 Championship Game.
A loss, on the other hand, would make that road much steeper.
Utah arrives with a first-year head coach in Morgan Scalley, the former defensive coordinator under Kyle Whittingham, and the change at the top hasn’t slowed the Utes down one bit. They’ve been piling up points all season, clearing 25 in every game while beating opponents by comfortable margins.
The offense runs through Devon Dampier, who sits fourth in the Big 12 with 15 passing touchdowns and is averaging 235.3 passing yards per game. He’s dangerous as a runner, too, with 198 rushing yards and three scores on the ground. Behind him, Wayshawn Parker gives Utah another problem for defenses, having rushed for 597 yards and seven touchdowns.
That one-two punch is exactly why Houston has its hands full. Dampier can hurt teams with his arm or his legs, and Parker gives the Utes a second hammer in the backfield.
Defensively, Utah has leaned on Scalley’s background and turned that into one of the conference’s toughest units. The Utes are allowing 14.8 points per game and 303.2 yards per game, both numbers that rank among the Big 12’s top five.
Houston’s path back into the game likely starts with its own identity: controlling the clock through the run. The Cougars average 220.3 rushing yards per game, fourth in the conference, and that could force Conner Weigman to throw more if the offense needs a spark.
There is, however, a crack in Utah’s armor. Dampier had a rough second quarter against Kansas, a stretch where he fumbled, threw an interception and took three sacks. If Houston can bring pressure and make him uneasy, that’s the kind of swing that could tilt the night.
That’s where the Cougars’ run defense enters the picture. Houston has one of the best run defenses in the country, and that could help keep both Dampier and Parker from taking over.
Possession will matter, too. Houston needs to keep the ball and avoid giving Utah extra chances, and the Cougars showed they can do that when they held it for 35 minutes against Oklahoma State and forced the Cowboys to chase.
One more thing working in Houston’s favor: the Cougars have never lost to Utah. They lead the series 5-0 and won the last meeting in 2024.
Still, ESPN gives Utah a 67% chance to win this one. For Houston, the Big 12 race may well come down to whether it can flip that script.
In Other News...
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For teams chasing the same upper tier, the margin for error is getting smaller by the week. BYUs rise has brought real playoff-level attention, but the road ahead can turn quickly in this league, and the same goes for teams like Arizona as they try to navigate the next stretch against ranked opponents and the pressure that comes with a suddenly elevated Big 12 race. [Read more 🡒]
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Houstons rise under Willie Fritz is drawing the kind of attention that usually follows a team with real staying power, not just a hot start. The honors have started to pile up in-season, with senior tight end Patrick Overmyer, kicker Jonathan Dimas and Fritz all earning recognition from around the sport while the Cougars continue to make their case on a bigger stage.
Patrick Overmyers inclusion on the AP Midseason All-American Second Team reflects how much national notice Houstons offense is getting, and the line play has been just as important to that momentum. Shadre Hurst and Anthony Boswell landing on the AP Midseason All-American First Team gives the Cougars another sign that the respect is no longer limited to the local level, even if the full measure of where this season is headed is still unfolding. [Read more 🡒]