Houston and Texas Tech are about to play a ranked-on-ranked game college football hasn’t seen between these two programs since 1989.
The Cougars come in at No. 22, with Texas Tech sitting at No. 13, and that alone gives this matchup a different kind of weight. The last time both teams met while ranked, Houston had Heisman quarterback Andre Ware and knocked off No.
20 Texas Tech 40-24. That 1989 Houston team finished 9-2 overall and 6-2 in the Southwest Conference.
The series itself has been tight over the years, with Houston holding an 18-17-1 edge all-time. But recent history belongs to the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech has taken seven straight in the series and 12 of the last 14, including the last two by 21 and 24 points. The most recent meeting ended with a 35-11 Texas Tech win at TDECU Stadium, and the Red Raiders followed that by beating No.
11 BYU 34-7 in the Big 12 Championship game.
Houston’s last win in the matchup came in 2009. Even so, there’s one wrinkle that leans the Cougars’ way: Houston has won the last five meetings against Texas Tech when it has been ranked.
The Cougars also have a road streak on the line, and Houston Athletics says it is the nation’s longest. They’ll need more of the physical run game that has powered them the last two weeks. Houston ran for 388 yards against Southern and 228 in its season opener against Oregon State, while quarterback Conner Weigman threw for 305 yards and a touchdown against the Beavers.
There are also targets downfield. Amare Thomas posted 133 yards and a touchdown in Week 1, and Koby Young has hauled in catches of more than 40 yards in both games.
Texas Tech’s passing game has been productive, even if it hasn’t exactly been fireworks every week. Will Hammond passed for 298 yards against Abilene Christian and 189 against Oregon State.
Houston’s defense will have to be sharper than it was in the opener. Oregon State quarterback Braden Atkinson threw for 376 yards against the Cougars, and Texas Tech will be ready to punish any slip-ups.
ESPN gives Texas Tech a 75.7% chance to win, with Houston at 24.3%.
If the Cougars pull it off, they’ll move to 3-0 and grab an early foothold in the Big 12 title race. It would also be Houston’s first win over a ranked Texas Tech team since 1989.
In Other News...
Houston Faces An Early Big 12 Test That Could Change Everything
The No. 22 Houston Cougars are heading into their Big 12 opener with a real chance to make an early statement, and the setting could hardly be tougher. They travel to Lubbock to face No. 13 Texas Tech, with both teams unbeaten at 2-0 and the Red Raiders installed as the favorite by ESPN odds.
For Houston, this is the kind of September road game that can quickly reshape the conversation around a season and tell you plenty about where a team stands in a new league. Analysts have already spent plenty of time parsing the matchup and the individual battles that could decide it, which only adds to the intrigue around a game that feels like more than just an opener. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Already Faces An Early Big 12 Reality Check
Before full league play settles into its usual grind, the Big 12 is already offering a useful early snapshot of where a few teams stand, including Houston. The leagues footprint keeps stretching in interesting ways, too, with Arizona State and Kansas set to meet at Londons Wembley Stadium in the conferences first game in England, a reminder that this season is about more than just the standings that will eventually shape it.
For Houston, Texas Tech, Arizona State and West Virginia, the next stretch matters because it starts to separate hopeful talk from actual readiness. Each of those programs is heading into games that should say plenty about how prepared they are for the demands of full Big 12 action, and for the Cougars in particular, that means paying close attention to the kind of week-to-week reality check this conference can deliver early. [Read more 🡒]
Baylors Quarterback Uncertainty Just Got Bigger Entering Week 3
Week 2 brought a little more clarity around the Big 12 quarterback race, but it also left a few programs sorting through fresh uncertainty. Baylor spent the week dealing with DJ Lagways injury, while UCF had its own concern with Alonza Barnett, and both situations shaped the conversation as the league heads into a loaded Week 3 slate. Add in conference showdowns and nonconference games against Power Four defenses, and the pressure on quarterbacks around the league is only getting sharper.
For Houston, the bigger picture is less about one isolated result than where the Cougars fit in a conference that is already separating its signal-callers from the pack. The updated top eight entering Week 3 reflects which quarterbacks have steadied their teams and which ones are still fighting through injury or inconsistency, and the next round of games will give plenty of those names another chance to change the order. Even with Baylors situation hanging over the week, the broader quarterback hierarchy is still very much in flux. [Read more 🡒]