No. 22 Houston gets its first real measuring stick of the season Friday night when it travels to Lubbock to face No. 13 Texas Tech, the Big 12 opener that was circled as a major test before the year even kicked off.
What was supposed to look like a statement start for the Red Raiders has instead come with plenty of static. Texas Tech came into the season with one of the nation’s priciest rosters and talk of contending for it all, but the loss of quarterback Brendan Sorsby to a gambling scandal has clearly taken some air out of the room. After two wins over Abilene Christian and Oregon State, Joey McGuire’s team has not played like the Big 12 heavyweight many expected.
The problems show up everywhere. At quarterback, Will Hammond has thrown two touchdown passes and one interception through the first two games against modest competition.
He has completed 46 of 60 passes, but most of those throws have come underneath, with only three attempts traveling beyond 20 yards. The Red Raiders have won both games, but they have been two-score wins that were supposed to be blowouts based on the spreads.
The ground game hasn’t given Texas Tech the kind of punch it wanted, either. Quinten Joyner has not had a rush longer than 16 yards, and Cameron Dickey’s longest run is just 12 yards. Even if the Red Raiders had a more dynamic quarterback situation, the run game still hasn’t looked explosive enough to make up for it, and the interior line hasn’t consistently created the kind of push Texas Tech wanted against fronts that don’t compare to Houston’s.
Houston, meanwhile, showed last week it can make teams pay when the offense gets rolling. In Week 2, Texas Tech went through a similar kind of stress that the Cougars dealt with in Week 1 when Braden Atkinson threw for 399 yards and two touchdowns. Even so, Texas Tech’s defense did clamp down on Abilene Christian in one area, holding the Wildcats to 119 passing yards, but former 4-star Flower Mound prospect and Penn State commit Cristian Driver still managed eight catches for 93 yards.
That secondary will be under real pressure if Conner Weigman has time to operate. Amare Thomas, Koby Young, and Trent Walker could be a problem together for Texas Tech’s back end, and safety Brenden Jordan’s return arrives at a good moment for a pass defense that has work to do.
Up front, the Red Raiders have to generate more disruption if they want to control this game. Houston had 10 different ball-carriers pile up 388 rushing yards against Southern on Saturday night, and Weigman added more than 300 passing yards against Oregon State. If Texas Tech can’t create pressure, the Cougars have enough balance to challenge the Red Raiders both through the air and on the ground.
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Houston May Have Found Something Dangerous Behind Conner Weigman
Houstons second straight lopsided win did more than pad the record. In the 77-6 rout of Southern, the Cougars were able to lean deep into their roster and still keep the game under control, with second- and third-string players getting meaningful work while the defense stayed dominant from start to finish. The most encouraging part, though, might have been the way the offense looked even when Conner Weigman was not the center of everything.
Backup quarterback Henderson, a highly regarded recruit, flashed the kind of dual-threat skill set that can change the feel of an offense if it keeps showing up. He ran for a touchdown and handled himself well as a passer, while freshman running back John Hebert added to the early buzz with both a receiving score and productive rushing work. Behind that, Houstons run defense has looked sturdy in consecutive weeks, holding opponents to almost nothing on the ground with help from a mix of new transfers and experienced holdovers, which is exactly the sort of depth a ranked team wants to uncover this early. [Read more 🡒]
Houston Heads To Lubbock With A Chance To Settle A Big 12 Debate
Houstons early-season trip to Lubbock now carries a little more weight than a typical September road game. With the Big 12 power picture already starting to take shape after a busy second week, the Cougars find themselves in the middle of a conference conversation shaped by results across the league, from BYUs win over Arizona to Utahs lopsided showing against Arkansas and Oklahoma States upset of Oregon.
For Houston, this is the kind of matchup that can either validate the early rankings chatter or leave the debate open for another week. The Cougars are heading into a league race that already feels crowded and fluid, and a strong showing in West Texas would give them a timely say in where they belong as the Big 12 sorts itself out. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech May Be Leaning On One New Pressure Point Vs Houston
Will Hammonds return has given Texas Tech a different kind of stability at quarterback, even if the Red Raiders are still sorting through some early-season inconsistency on both sides of the ball. The sophomore, back after a torn ACL, has opened the year as the starter and has already shown why the passing game is becoming such a central part of what Texas Tech wants to do.
Against Houston, that puts a little more pressure on the Cougars to handle a passing attack that has been efficient when Hammond has been in rhythm. He has completed 76.7% of his throws for 487 yards, and Texas Tech will likely keep leaning on that arm as it tries to find some offensive footing, especially with the defense still searching for consistency. [Read more 🡒]