Friday night in Corvallis, OR is where dreams often go to die.
Oregon State may have run out of the tunnel with an 0-4 record pitted against 3-0 Houston, but the last two times the Beavers hosted Friday
night games, they upset a pair of AP Top 15 opponents. With the students finally back on campus, everything looked primed for an upset as the Beavers led by 14 with under seven minutes remaining. But Houston roared back with a successful passing attack, strong special teams execution, and a walk-off field goal, keeping the Cougars unblemished after a challenging road trip to the Pacific Northwest.
Houston emerged 27-24 thanks to Ethan Sanchez’s overtime chip shot field goal, which served as the program’s first walk-off kick since Matt Hogan’s 51-yarder against Tulsa in 2009. In order to get there, Houston needed to survive an entire tightrope walk of a fourth quarter. The Cougars trailed 24-10 in the period while the Beavers possessed the ball in Houston territory — staring down a likely defeat by all accounts of win probability. All it took was one defensive stop, and then quarterback Conner Weigman rose to the occasion.
With a crucial drive initiating with 8:17 remaining, Weigman guided the Cougars 76 yards down the field in up-tempo fashion, taking just a hair over two minutes. The series required a 4th and 4 conversion where Weigman fired a 16-yard strike to UAB transfer Amare Thomas. One play later, the quarterback sailed a 27-yard heave to his former 7-on-7 teammate Stephon Johnson, who sliced the deficit to 24-17 with 5:59 remaining.
Houston’s defense forced a quick Oregon State punt, sending Weigman and the troops back onto the field for a stab at the tying touchdown. Thomas brought the Cougars to midfield, and upon arriving there, Weigman found Tanner Koziol on a post route. The 6’7”, 250 pound tight end shed his lone defender in a considerable size mismatch, receiving a free lane to the end zone for a 50-yard touchdown.
Both teams squandered their ensuing offensive possession, but Oregon State received one last crack at a victory. Quarterback Maalik Murphy, who spearheaded a game-winning drive over Houston two years ago, traversed into Cougar territory thanks to a 20-yard threading of the needle to Trent Walker. Walker’s reception set up a 46-yard field goal for a buzzer-beating win, and Oregon State head coach Trent Bray sent out kicker Cameron Smith for his first career attempt.
Special teams had been a debacle for the Beavers all season, subject to frequent bad snaps on punts and kicks — the main reason they lost to Fresno State in Week 2. Right before halftime, Houston blocked a 49-yard Oregon State attempt. And to force overtime, it was déjà vu. Houston rejected another kick to stay alive. Cornerback Marc Stampley II earned credit for the block after flying through a gap, but the oncoming rush was aggressive to the point where three different Cougars could have realistically sent the Beavers’ kick in the opposite direction.
In overtime, Oregon State shelved its kicking game when facing a 4th and 1 from the Houston 16. The Beavers tried running back Cornell Hatcher Jr. up the gut instead, but his efforts were quickly impeded by Carlos Allen, Brandon Mack, Zelmar Vedder, and an entire gaggle of white jerseys. The momentum-changing stop provided a settled-down Houston the opportunity for Sanchez’s game-winner, and Willie Fritz’s team executed. Running back Dean Connors was the sole ball carrier leading the trek from the 25-yard line to the 4-yard line, and Sanchez finished the job with his foot.
Although the final seven minutes of regulation and overtime belonged to the Cougars, the trip to Corvallis wasn’t without adversity. In the early first quarter, Houston committed its first turnover of the season as Weigman tossed an interception to Oregon State true freshman Trey Glasper. Glasper’s pick provided Oregon State field position seven yards out from the end zone, and the Beavers capitalized on a Jake Reichle dive. The Beavers then padded their lead to 14-0 on the third play of the second quarter on a connection from Murphy to Marquis Crosby.
Houston’s offense struggled to generate anything on the ground all night but used the aerial game to produce 10 points in the final six minutes of the first half — a field goal to conclude a 21-play drive and a Weigman QB sneak touchdown. Oregon State retook control in the third quarter with an effective run game led by Hatcher and Anthony Hankerson, who produced 93 and 74 rushing yards, respectively. Although the Beavers’ advantage grew to 24-10 after an 18-yard Hatcher touchdown with 12:34 remaining, Houston rebounded just in time for a clutch victory.
It marked the first overtime win of the Willie Fritz era and the Cougars’ first since 2023. In another Fritz era first, Houston stormed back from a double-digit deficit to win a ballgame. The program’s last comeback of 14+ point magnitude transpired on Oct. 7, 2022 when it erased a 19-point deficit on a Friday night at Memphis.
The Cougars dropped Oregon State to 0-5, making the Beavers one of five winless FBS teams at the start of Saturday, Sept. 27. Meanwhile, Houston sports a perfect 4-0 record for the first time since 2016 and will carry it into a highly-anticipated matchup against 4-0 ranked Texas Tech.
