Houston and UCF is not officially a rivalry, but the two programs have engaged in a full-fledged Space Race.
UCF has gone by the moniker “Space U” for a decade, hosting an annual Space Game in Orlando, where the galactic theme is beyond prevalent. Last November, Houston became the first team to defeat UCF in a Space Game and called itself “Space City” in the aftermath of the road victory.
The night prior to the Big 12 teams’ first meeting since, Houston unveiled special space-themed helmets — dubbed
the “Gridiron Galaxy” to celebrate its city’s ties to the United States space program and mission control.
The helmets were distributed by frequency, based on distance from the Sun. Forty-five players wore the Sun on their helmet, 23 wore Mercury, 19 Venus, 15 Earth, 10 Mars, eight Jupiter, five Saturn, four Uranus, and three Neptune. One player received the honor of wearing the lone helmet depicting famous dwarf planet Pluto, and that was quarterback Conner Weigman.
For one afternoon in Houston, the Solar System revolved around Pluto.
Houston trailed 17-0 with under four minutes remaining in the third quarter against UCF, but the quarterback representing the forgotten planet led the rally. Weigman threw for 253 yards, rushed for 50, and delivered three consecutive rushing touchdowns to spark a 27-0 Houston run en route to a 27-17 victory.
“Conner’s a great vocal leader, and every day at practice, he’s always the same guy,” Houston tight end Patrick Overmyer said. “No matter up or down, he’s saying, ‘We gotta go score here.’ So nobody started worrying.”
Weigman fought through an illness Saturday, but his conditions weren’t evident during the Cougars’ 17-point comeback.
“He was as sick as a dog, but he fought through it and played really well in the second half,” Fritz said. “Proud of him for fighting through not feeling very good.”
Houston outside linebacker Latreveon McCutchin didn’t even know about Weigman’s illness until the postgame press conference.
“Conner’s a soldier,” McCutchin said. “That just shows what type of leader he is to go out there through the circumstances that he’s dealing with and playing for us. That’s not something that he’s sitting around, pouting about, and letting everybody know. He played through it, and we came out victorious.”
McCutchin was responsible for the ultimate momentum-shifting moment of the afternoon. Immediately after Houston sliced the deficit to 17-7 in the late third quarter, the defense forced the Knights to a 3rd-and-12. McCutchin batted UCF quarterback Keyone Jenkins’ pass at the line of scrimmage straight into the air, snatched the floating ball, and carried it down to the 2-yard line.
“Just before that play, we talked a lot this week about positive self talk,” McCutchin said. “Before I walked on the field, I kept telling myself that, ‘You’re the best. You’re the best. No one can mess with you.’ I just put myself in that mental mindspace to be positive, and that worked out for me.”
It was a déjà vu moment for the linebacker, who similarly snagged an interception at the line of scrimmage against UCF last year, returning it for a 45-yard pick-six to spark a double-digit comeback for the Cougars.
“He does that in practice,” Fritz said. “He catches balls when he is rushing that are five yards away from. I’ve seen him do it 10 times in practice. Obviously, he’s done it a few times in game, but that was a huge play for us.”
McCutchin’s near-pick-six set Houston up for its second touchdown, but at the same time, the play also set back the UCF offense. Jenkins suffered an apparent lower body injury on the play, which was later diagnosed as a cramp. The UCF quarterback room, already down starter Alonza Barnett III, turned to Boise State transfer Kaleb Annett for one fourth quarter possession before Jenkins ultimately finished the contest.
“He was cramping,” UCF head coach Scott Frost said. “I thought he played good again. The interception was just unfortunate. Great play by (McCutchin). I wish we were a lot more explosive offensively. We keep trying to be. We’re missing some guys. It was just a weird game.”
Once Houston sliced the deficit to 17-14, it was all Cougars the rest of the way. Houston out-gained UCF 111-51 in the fourth quarter as the mobile Weigman orbited through the UCF defense, while Overmyer caught several key passes. On the other side of the ball, Houston’s defense ensured UCF never crossed the 50-yard line after establishing the 17-0 lead.
“We did not play very good in the first half, but we played really well in the second half,” Fritz said. “When I started going through the mistakes we made in the first half, I said there was only one bright spot: we had another 30 minutes to play… From down 17-0 to that point forward, I thought we played lights out — offense, defense, kicking game.”
Houston showed resiliency and poise in the three-score comeback, but it wasn’t as far behind as the 17-0 score implied.
In the second quarter, the Cougars pierced inside the 10-yard line on three-straight drives. However, they turned it over on downs twice — throwing incompletions from the 3-yard line. On the third and final series of that sequence, Overmyer fumbled near the goal line. The main difference between the first and second halves was simple. Houston simply turned these almost-touchdowns into tangible points, allowing the team to complete its largest comeback since Oct. 7, 2022 against Memphis.
“We were just executing,” Overmyer said on the difference in the second half. “I don’t think we played horrible in the first half. We just couldn’t finish in the red zone and at the goal line, and in situations like that. The defense did a great job of keeping us in it, and we went out there and just executed.”
Kicker Jonathan Dimas put the finishing touches on Houston’s furious rally, notching 40 and 46-yard fourth quarter field goals to seal the 10-point victory. Dimas proudly wore the Sun helmet, which he believes was fitting for his performance.
“I got the Sun, so I was pretty happy with that one,” Dimas said. “Without the Sun, it’s pretty bad for the galaxy.”
UCF lost its second-straight Space Race to Houston, squandering its largest lead since 2023. October has not been kind to the Knights (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) since joining the Big 12. Although UCF enjoyed another strong September, it has dropped 10 out of 11 contests in October in the past four seasons.
“It’s not the outcome we wanted for sure, but it’s back to the drawing board,” UCF wide receiver Josh Derry said. “Keep preparing and keep the mindset. Not let one loss drag us down, and it wont.”
Meanwhile, No. 20 Houston (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) won the Space Race for the second-straight season. The Cougars are now on the board with their first conference victory of 2026, turning a turbulent launch into a successful mission by staying levelheaded.
“We’re not really a big ra-ra team,” McCutchin said. “We understood what we had to do. We didn’t play the best first half we could, but like I said, the game isn’t over until the clock hits zero. I felt like halftime was a good reset for everybody. Everybody got back in the right mindframe and came out and attacked.”
