Houston walked out of Lubbock with a 28-26 loss to No. 11 Texas Tech, but the Cougars did not leave their offense behind.
The No. 25 Cougars piled up 458 total yards against the Red Raiders, another strong showing from a unit that has been moving the ball at a high level all season. Through three weeks, Houston is averaging 527.3 yards per game, a number that puts it among the nation’s most productive offenses and has the Cougars sitting seventh in the top-10 yardage race.
The balance has been eye-catching. Houston is averaging 263.7 rushing yards per game and 263.7 passing yards per game, with 791 yards in each category.
That rushing average trails only South Carolina’s 277.3 and Nebraska’s 263.0 among the teams in the top 10. In the Big 12, Houston’s passing production ranks fifth.
The ground game has been especially important. Houston is averaging 6.4 yards per rush, which ranks 13th nationally and fourth in the conference.
There is some context to that number, since 388 rushing yards against Southern helped push the average up. Even so, the Cougars have shown they can run the ball effectively in their other games too.
That same formula showed up against Texas Tech. Conner Weigman threw for 282 yards, and Houston still managed 176 rushing yards against a defense built to make life difficult. The run game faded some as the game went on, but the Red Raiders never fully shut the Cougars down.
Houston’s next chance comes on the road against Georgia Southern in the “Prettiest Little Stadium in America.” The Eagles’ defense has already shown it can hold up, blanking Charleston Southern in Week 1 and limiting Clemson to 22 points in Week 2. Jacksonville State scored 31 last week, though a punt return touchdown helped that total.
After that, the schedule turns much less forgiving. Houston’s stretch after Saturday includes UCF at home, a trip to Kansas State, a home game against Oklahoma State, and then a road game at No. 15 Utah.
That run will tell a lot about what this offense really is. If Weigman and the Cougars keep the ball moving, Houston can stay in the mix in the conference and keep the door open to a College Football Playoff push.
The problem is on the other side of the ball. Houston has been excellent against the run, owning the best run defense in the conference, but the secondary has been shaky enough to rank second-worst in the league, even with the 77-6 win over Southern in Week 2.
That leaves Will Fritz with a clear priority. If the pass defense does not tighten up, Houston’s offense may not be enough to carry the team through what’s ahead.
For now, though, the numbers are impossible to ignore. Even with just three weeks in the books, Houston has already shown it can stress defenses on the ground and through the air, and it has done it against more than one respectable opponent, including Texas Tech and Oregon State.
In Other News...
Houston Just Became Part Of A Bigger Big 12 TV Debate
Texas Techs 28-26 win over Houston did more than shake up the Big 12 race. It also gave FOX a strong number to point to, with the game drawing 3.028 million viewers and peaking at 4.074 million on FOX College Football Friday. For a conference that has been willing to put league games in that window, Houston just wound up attached to a broadcast result that will matter far beyond one close finish.
FOX said the audience topped its average Friday night college football viewership from last season by 31%, and the networks current season average is already up as well. With several more Big 12 games set for Friday night on FOX, that kind of interest could end up carrying some weight when future scheduling decisions are made. [Read more 🡒]
Willie Fritz Returns To Georgia Southern With Houston Needing A Response
Willie Fritz heads back to familiar turf Saturday when Houston visits Georgia Southern, a reunion that comes with a little more edge because the Cougars need a response. Houston is ranked No. 25 and coming off a recent loss, so this trip is about more than nostalgia for Fritz, who knows the Eagles program well and now has a Top 25 team trying to steady itself in the early season.
Georgia Southern enters trying to bounce back from consecutive road defeats, and the setting adds another layer to a first-time meeting between the schools. It will also be the first time a Power Four program has played at Paulson Stadium, which gives the matchup a bit of history even before kickoff and leaves Houston with a chance to show whether its ranking still matches the standard Fritz expects. [Read more 🡒]
Houston Fans Finally See How Brutal This Schedule Could Be
Houstons 2026-27 basketball slate is now set, and it gives a pretty clear picture of just how demanding the season could be from start to finish. The Cougars will work through exhibition play, a non-conference stretch that includes a tournament in Las Vegas, and then settle into an 18-game Big 12 schedule that leaves little room for a soft landing.
The biggest stress points are easy to spot, starting with Alabama in the Jimmy V Classic and continuing through high-level tests against Texas Tech, Arizona, Kansas and Baylor. With multiple home-and-away series baked into the league schedule, Houston will spend plenty of time proving itself against familiar heavyweights, and the early reveal already suggests there will not be many easy nights for the Cougars. [Read more 🡒]