No. 22 Houston left Friday night with a two-point loss to No. 13 Texas Tech, and that final margin told the story pretty well: the Cougars were right there, but not quite able to finish the job.
The 28-26 defeat dropped Houston to 2-1 and likely pushes the Cougars toward the edge of the AP Top 25. Even so, this was not a game that made Houston look overmatched.
Quite the opposite. For stretches, the Cougars looked dangerous enough to make Texas Tech sweat, and the early burst showed exactly why they still have a shot to stay in the Big 12 race and keep College Football Playoff hopes alive, even if those odds are now a lot slimmer.
Houston opened with real pop. The Cougars marched 63 yards for a field goal, then quickly grabbed the momentum when Thomas Castellanos, Texas Tech’s backup quarterback, threw an interception on the Red Raiders’ first offensive snap while trying to throw the ball away. Cornerback Will James made the pick, and Houston turned that into a 55-yard scoring drive to jump ahead 10-0.
At that point, the Cougars had Texas Tech on its heels. The Red Raiders went three-and-out on the next possession, and Houston had a chance to stretch the lead to three scores. Instead, the Cougars were stopped, passed on a 4th-and-2 from their own 48, and the game started to tilt the other way.
Texas Tech settled in from there. The Red Raiders worked their way back, built a 14-10 lead, and then saw Houston answer when Koby Young came down with a strong touchdown grab to put the Cougars back in front. Julien Mayo followed with an interception to send Houston into halftime with the lead.
But the second half belonged to Texas Tech. Will Hammond and the Red Raiders kept finding enough room to move the ball, and Texas Tech outscored Houston 14-3 down the stretch to build a 28-20 advantage late. Houston still had one last push left.
Conner Weigman led a remarkable touchdown drive to give the Cougars a chance to tie it with 49 seconds remaining. Houston went for two, and Weigman’s scramble came up just centimeters short of the goal line.
That was the difference in a game Houston briefly looked ready to control. The Cougars had the fast start, the interceptions, and the early lead, but they couldn’t turn that into a finish.
Texas Tech’s numbers weren’t overwhelming, but they were enough. Hammond finished 17-of-27 for 257 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Houston’s defense did snag two interceptions, but the Red Raiders still moved the chains too easily, going 6-for-10 on third down. Hammond was sacked just once, and once Houston’s early surge faded, the secondary had trouble getting off the field.
That remains the big concern after three games. Braden Atkinson threw for 376 yards in Week 1, and this performance did nothing to quiet the questions about Houston’s pass defense.
So while the loss stings, it doesn’t close the door on Houston’s season. The Cougars showed enough fight to make people take them seriously, even if the wasted first-quarter advantage and shaky pass defense left plenty to clean up.
Houston heads to Georgia Southern next looking for a reset.
In Other News...
Houston Proved It Can Hang With Big 12 Heavyweights Despite The Pain
No. 22 Houston came out of Saturday looking like a team that belongs in the Big 12s upper tier, even in defeat. The Cougars pushed No. 13 Texas Tech all the way to the final moments before falling 28-26, a result that dropped Houston to 2-1 but did little to dent the sense that it can line up with the leagues heavyweight programs.
Conner Weigman helped make it a tense finish, guiding a late touchdown drive that gave Houston a real chance to steal the game. The Cougars went for the two-point conversion and came up just short, leaving them with a painful loss and a reminder that the margin against the best in the conference is razor thin. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Exposed A Baylor Problem That Could Decide Two Games
Texas Techs win over Houston offered Baylor a useful preview of what the next stretch in the Big XII could look like, and it started with the Red Raiders ability to create problems all over the floor. Texas Tech showed how hard it can be to stay organized when a team keeps attacking from multiple spots, forcing defenses to sort out matchups while still trying to control the games pace. For Baylor, that means the upcoming meeting is less about one matchup and more about whether the Bears can keep their structure intact long enough to avoid getting dragged into a scramble.
Houston, meanwhile, provided a different kind of warning. Baylors defensive plan against the Cougars will need to put pressure on quarterback Conner Weigman and keep him from settling in, because giving him time only makes the assignment harder. The Bears have the pieces to make both games manageable, but the common thread is clear: defensive intensity cannot dip, and Baylor has to carry it from one opponent to the next if it wants these conference games to break its way. [Read more 🡒]
Houston Let A Winnable Road Game Expose Bigger Problems
Texas Tech did enough to turn a tight Big 12 road game into a loss for Houston, with Donovan Smith steering four touchdown drives and piling up 257 passing yards in a 28-26 finish. The Cougars had their own bright spots, but the kind of mistakes and missed opportunities that can decide games away from home were there throughout, and Texas Tech kept finding answers when Houston needed a stop.
Kenny Johnsons career-high 113 yards and a touchdown helped give the home side a needed lift, while Cam Dickey and JKoby Williams added balance on the ground. Houston also got Terrance Carter onto the field despite a lower leg injury, but his status is still uncertain, and the Cougars now have to sort out not just the result but what it says about where they are when winnable games start slipping away. [Read more 🡒]