The No. 20 Houston Cougars have built one of the country’s toughest run defenses, and the numbers show it plainly. Houston is giving up just 74 rushing yards per game, good for fourth in college football, a sharp jump from the 129 yards per game it allowed a season ago.
That improvement starts up front, where the front seven has taken control of the trenches. Defensive lineman Khalil Laufau has been the centerpiece of that group with 19 tackles and two sacks. He follows a 2025 season in which he posted 35 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble.
Houston also leaned on former Oregon transfer Ashton Porter to fill the role left behind by Eddie Walls III, who had 66 tackles and seven sacks. Porter has answered with two sacks, 13 tackles and two pass deflections.
In the middle, defensive tackles Myles Parker and De'Marion Thomas have kept opposing teams from finding room inside. On the edges, linebackers Brandon Mack II and Latreveon McCutchin have done their part as run stoppers, with Mack recording 15 tackles and McCutchin adding 10 tackles and an interception. Jaden Yates has also helped at linebacker with 29 tackles and a sack.
After the game against UCF, McCutchin pointed to the tone on the sideline as a big part of what has kept this unit steady.
"That goes back to that positive mindset," McCutchin said. "So, just on the sideline, everybody was positive and pumping each other's tires up."
The early signs were obvious in the opener against Oregon State, when Houston held the Beavers to 26 yards on 25 carries. A week later, Southern finished with minus six rushing yards. Texas Tech was the only team to really move the ball on the ground, rushing for 168 yards and three touchdowns.
Since then, the Cougars have kept things under control against Georgia Southern, which managed 66 yards on 26 carries, and UCF, which finished with 73 rushing yards. Kansas State brought Houston its biggest challenge. The Wildcats came in ranked 13th nationally in rushing at 240.8 yards per game, but Houston held them to 117 rushing yards and kept quarterback Avery Johnson, the team’s leading rusher entering the game, to 39 yards.
Defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong has clearly changed the picture for Houston, especially against the run. Last year, the Cougars ranked 38th nationally against the run and finished in the top 50 in other major defensive categories.
Now they get No. 18 Oklahoma State, which ranks eighth in the Big 12 in rushing yards with 199 per game. With Houston’s run defense playing at this level, the Cougars have a real chance to keep that momentum rolling and hold the Cowboys under 100 rushing yards.
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Houston Gets An Early Test That Could Say A Lot
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For the Cougars, the appeal is less about the spectacle and more about the chance to see how a revamped group handles a tournament environment against a quality opponent. Rutgers brings enough to make this more than a tune-up, which is exactly why this kind of early test matters in November, when teams are still sorting out roles, chemistry and how far their ceiling might reach. [Read more 🡒]