Week 3 of the college football season started with a bang. Friday night featured a ranked Big 12 matchup between No. 13 Texas Tech and No. 22 Houston in a potential changing of the guard game for the league.
While defending champion Texas Tech was tested and trailed the Cougars 10-0 in the first quarter, the Red Raiders responded with a 28-26 victory — stopping Houston quarterback Conner Weigman inches short of the goal line on the tying two-point conversion.
Here are three takeaways from the Friday
night thriller between the two Big 12 title hopefuls:
Houston’s run game was effective but ditched too early
Houston established a rapid 10-0 lead thanks to its ability to run. The Cougars’ offensive line, led by guard Shadre Hurst, starred in the run blocking department against a retooled Texas Tech defensive line, regularly paving pathways for Makhi Hughes and Re’Shaun Sanford II. Houston relied heavily on the ground game early on, producing 61 rushing yards in the opening frame 104 by halftime. The Cougars finished with 176 yards on 37 attempts (4.8 yards per carry), and that rushing total included three sacks. Most impressively, Houston didn’t even break away an explosive run. Rather, they just chipped away at a Texas Tech defense that never allowed more than 126 rushing yards last season.
The Cougars showed the extent of their ground dominance during a 13-play, 71-yard third quarter drive, where offensive coordinator Slade Nagle carved the Texas Tech defense with 48 rushing yards. However, that drive stalled when a 3rd-and-1 handoff to Hughes on the 4-yard line was stuffed due to a missed fullback block. Then, Houston largely abandoned the run thereafter. After opening its ensuing series with a successful reverse, the Cougars called eight consecutive passing plays on their antepenultimate and penultimate drives. Both drives concluded in punts after four plays.
Winding up emptyhanded on those critical possessions cost Houston an upset bid, but it left game knowing it could control the line of scrimmage against one of the Big 12’s most formidable defensive lines.
Texas Tech finally went vertical, and Houston struggled
Texas Tech was known for its explosive passing game in 2025. The Red Raiders finished fourth in the FBS with 63 passing plays spanning at least 20 yards. Through two games this season, they only had five 20-yard pickups through the air. Perhaps it was intentional to show less offense on film prior to this Big 12 opener, but Texas Tech looked like a different ballclub and regularly made Houston pay on 10-25-yard throws.
Oregon State quarterback Braden Atkinson picked apart Houston’s defense in Week 1 on intermediate passes, finishing his FBS debut with 376 passing yards. Texas Tech followed by injecting more downfield shots into its offense this week, and Will Hammond thrived with that newfound verticality. Hammond averaged 15.1 yards per completion in his 257-yard performance, and he repeatedly found Kenny Johnson whenever he needed a big play. The Pitt transfer receiver stretched the field with four receptions for 113 yards, and he alone produced four 20+ yard catches in the contest.
Texas Tech converted 6-of-10 third downs despite an average distance of 8.1 yards per attempt. The Red Raiders regularly found gaps in the Houston secondary, which allowed them to win their seventh-straight matchup against Big 12 competition.
White changed complexion of Texas Tech defense
Texas Tech returned several starters that missed the Week 2 matchup at Oregon State, including All-Big 12 tight end Terrance Carter Jr. and free safety Brenden Jordan. However, the most essential returning piece hadn’t even played a game in a Red Raider uniform.
Last time Trey White took the field, he was donning red and black for San Diego State. The defensive end rose to stardom on the Pacific Coast as a two-time First Team All-Mountain West selection, registering 19.5 sacks and 29 tackles for loss over a two-year span. Texas Tech’s defensive line, which lost four starters to the NFL Draft this offseason, proved it was in dire need of a new lead pass rusher after the first two weeks. Still nursing a knee injury, White stepped in and made a clear difference. Texas Tech generated three sacks total, including one courtesy of the former Aztec, who regularly made Houston’s offensive line scramble in pass protection.
The rest of the pass rush stepped up as well. Miami (OH) transfer defensive end Adam Trick stripped-sacked Weigman when Houston faced a 1st-and-10 from the Texas Tech 35-yard line with a chance to go up two scores, forcing the most consequential turnover of the night. While replicating last year’s NFL-caliber defensive line won’t be easy in Lubbock, Friday night proved adding White can make this front that much more dangerous.
