Texas Tech and Houston delivered the kind of game that makes television executives smile: a sold-out crowd, two ranked teams, a Big 12 opener, a comeback and a finish that came down to a 2-point try by inches.
No. 13 Texas Tech held off No. 22 Houston, 28-26, on Friday night at Galaxy Stadium when Conner Weigman’s potential game-tying conversion with 49 seconds left came up just short.
It was a great college football showcase. It also made the broader point impossible to miss: college football does not need Friday night nearly as much as high school football does.
The pressure to keep moving college games into that window is easy to understand. Television networks want more inventory.
Conferences want more exposure. Schools want more national spots.
With Saturdays already packed and media rights only getting bigger, the calendar keeps squeezing. The NFL has been heading down the same road.
Still, that doesn’t make Friday night fair game by default.
For Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire, the setting carried an extra layer of discomfort. Before the game, he said, "I'm so used to Friday nights in the state of Texas is kind of holy ground when it comes to Texas high school football," according to The Associated Press.
McGuire knows that world better than most. Before he got into college coaching, he spent 14 seasons leading Cedar Hill High School, where he won three state championships. He’s also in both the Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor and the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame.
He showed where his loyalty still sits by wearing a Texas High School Coaches Association cap before the game.
Houston coach Willie Fritz, who also has Texas high school coaching experience, wore his THSCA hat throughout the game, according to the Dallas Morning News.
That’s part of what made the whole setup feel off. The coaches understood the awkwardness of college football taking over a night that, in Texas, still belongs to another level of the sport.
And there’s no need to make this a criticism of Texas Tech or Houston. They didn’t invent the schedule, and they’re not operating outside the realities of modern college football. Conference TV deals shape the sport now, and that machine isn’t backing up.
But not every available window has to be handed over to college football.
Texas Tech’s Friday home game was its first regular-season home game played on a Friday in Lubbock since 1941. That’s a remarkable stretch, and it shows college football has managed just fine for decades without regularly claiming that night.
The bigger irony is that the college game depends on high school football more than it wants to admit. The players on the field Friday night came overwhelmingly through high school programs.
College staffs spend endless hours building ties with high school coaches. Recruiting departments live on Friday-night film.
High school football isn’t a rival to be shoved aside. It’s the base layer of the whole sport.
That matters even more in Texas, where Friday nights still mean something in towns and cities of every size. It’s not just about what fans choose to watch.
High school coaches want to go to college games. College programs want high school coaches and recruits on campus.
Families are split between kids playing under the lights and older relatives following college teams. Media outlets cover both levels.
Put a major college game on Friday, and everybody has to pick.
And yes, Friday’s game was a success by any conventional measure. The crowd of 60,229 was there.
The TV product worked. The football was excellent.
But that same game on Saturday would still have been must-see.
College football already owns Saturday from noon well into the night, across major networks and streaming platforms. High school football doesn’t have the SEC’s television muscle, the Big Ten’s media power or the Big 12’s national reach. What it has is the rhythm of communities: marching bands, student sections, parents in the stands, local rivalries, and towns that shut down for a few hours so everyone can be at the stadium.
That’s not just nostalgia. It’s part of what the sport is.
Texas Tech and Houston gave us a memorable Friday night game.
Next time, let college football take Saturday and leave Friday night to the kids.
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