No. 23 Houston opens its season Saturday afternoon with more than just a home game against Oregon State on the schedule. The Cougars are carrying the look of a team that expects to matter, and senior quarterback Conner Weigman is right at the center of it.
When asked how he wants to be remembered at Houston, Weigman kept it simple: "I'm going to give it all I've got, and I'm going to leave it out on the field each and every day," he said. "That's how I want to be remembered at UH."
That attitude fits a Houston team coming off a 10-3 season and a Texas Bowl win over LSU, but the roster around Weigman has also been upgraded in a hurry. Third-year coach Willie Fritz has added more firepower to the passing game for a quarterback who threw for 2,705 yards and 25 touchdowns last year.
The biggest offensive addition might be Trent Walker, who arrived from Oregon State after leading the Beavers with 68 catches for 823 yards a year ago. He joins Amare Thomas, who posted 67 receptions, 966 yards and 12 touchdowns, giving Weigman a strong top duo. Houston also has Koby Young, Jaquise Martin and fifth-year senior Stephon Johnson in the mix.
Up front, Fritz brought in three players who could start right away. Left guard Shadre Hurst comes over after helping Tulane earn a CFP bid last year, while Anthony Boswell arrived from Toledo as an All-MAC center and Drew Terrill joined from Miami (Ohio) after earning second-team All-MAC honors.
Houston’s defense is built around experience in the secondary. Cornerback Will James, a preseason All-Big 12 pick, is back, and Jalen Mayo from Stephen F.
Austin has taken over the other corner spot. At safety, Tulane transfer Javion White is another name to keep an eye on.
Oregon State comes into the opener in a very different place. The Beavers went 2-10 in 2025, a season that ended with coach Trent Bray being fired, and now JaMarcus Shephard takes over as the new head coach in the rebuilt Pac-12 Conference.
Shephard spent the last two seasons as Alabama’s co-offensive coordinator, and he said he wants his team to show it can adjust during games while still bringing the right approach.
"Our team needs to be able to show that they are capable of handling different things throughout the game, while also making sure that we maintain our ability to be great in the intangible things," he said.
The Beavers’ new quarterback is sophomore Braden Atkinson, who threw for 3,596 yards and 34 touchdowns last year at Mercer and won the Jerry Rice Award as the top freshman in FCS.
Houston leads the all-time series 3-1 and beat Oregon State 27-24 in Corvallis last season.
After this game, Houston will host Southern on Sept. 12, while Oregon State returns home to face No. 12 Texas Tech.
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