The Houston Cougars are 3-0 for the first time since 2016.
Houston earned a statement win in its Friday night Big 12 opener, handling Colorado in 36-20 fashion. The Cougars are off to a strong start in year two of the Willie Fritz era, and now the team receives an early bye week before preparing for Oregon State in Week 5.
Here are five takeaways from Houston’s Week 3 home win over Colorado in front of 37,899 spectators at TDECU Stadium — the 10th largest crowd in stadium history and the largest of the Fritz
era.
Weigman’s mobility changes this offense
Houston unlocked an unforeseen gear of the offense Friday night, adding a new wrinkle to the strategy present in the first two wins. Offensive coordinator Slade Nagle called a slew of designed runs for new quarterback Conner Weigman, and the strategy paid dividends.
The Texas A&M transfer established a new career-high with 83 rushing yards (95 sack-adjusted), shattering his previous career-high in the second quarter. Weigman also ran in a pair of rushing touchdowns — one on a QB sneak and another on a highlight juke where he froze a defender’s ankles. Speaking of QB sneaks, Weigman wasn’t afraid to lower his shoulder either, converting all four attempts for either a first down or touchdown. Nagle utilized Weigman often on designed runs and Colorado never established an effective counter. He maxed out at a personal-best 49-yard carry, clocking in at over 20 miles per hour on the downfield scamper.
The decision to run Weigman early and often was inspired by Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King — a former teammate of Weigman’s at Texas A&M — who rushed for 156 yards and three touchdowns on the Buffaloes in Week 1. Houston capitalized on what it saw on the Georgia Tech-Colorado film and also discovered Weigman’s effectiveness as a mobile quarterback.
“We didn’t do a whole lot of it in the first two weeks,” Fritz said. “The first game of the year, Georgia Tech, the quarterback ran the ball a bunch and we did some of that. By and large, you’d like to do that five or six times again, so they either need to pack the box and you can open it up and throw it, or they don’t pack the box and now you’ve got a really big run play at quarterback. So we’re always going to run the quarterback some.”
Offensive line depth is concerning
The position group Houston needed to see the most growth from 2024 to 2025 was undoubtedly the offensive line. Fritz and his staff addressed this heavily through the portal, bringing in five transfers with FBS starting experience — Alvin Ebosele (14 starts at Baylor), left guard Jason Brooks Jr. (1 start at Vanderbilt, 11 starts at Oklahoma State), center Matthew Wykoff (9 starts at Texas A&M, 15 starts at Cal), right guard McKenzie Agnello (12 starts at New Mexico), and right tackle Dalton Merryman (6 starts at Texas Tech). In addition, the Cougars returned starting center Demetrius “Pancake” Hunter and starting left tackle David Ndukwe, giving Fritz seven players to shuffle between.
Fritz tested five-man fronts to start each of the first three contests. Brooks missed Week 2 due to injury but returned to start in Week 3. However, Merryman, who participated in warm-ups and was a game-time decision, sat out vs. Colorado. Thus, Houston already entered shorthanded on the offensive line and the injuries piled up Friday night.
Ndukwe suffered a gruesome season-ending dislocated left knee injury during his first start of the season. Later in the contest, Agnello went down with an apparent leg injury and never returned. Fritz provided a postgame update on the line’s future outlook.
“(Offensive tackle) Cedric Melton came in and played a bunch,” Fritz said. “We’re lucking Alvin (Ebosele) can play a lot of positions for us. McKenzie (Agnello) got banged up. I think he’s going to be alright. I think this week off for him is going to be big. Demetrius Hunter played the whole game at center. Matthew Wykoff played the whole game at left guard. We just gotta get people healthy and see where we’re at.”
Sanchez is important luxury to have
One refinement Houston has yearned for includes a reliable kicking game. The Cougars haven’t connected on at least 75 percent of field goal attempts since Dalton Witherspoon drained 20-of-24 kicks in 2019. Prior to this season, their last 50+ yard field goal was courtesy of Witherspoon in 2021.
On Friday night, that all changed. Old Dominion transfer Ethan Sanchez accounted for exactly half of Houston’s 36 points, hitting 5-of-6 field goals and three extra points. And these weren’t ordinary college kicker field goals attempts. Sanchez struck from 52, 43, 47, 35, and 49 yards in the win with one miss from 50. The senior’s 52-yard make to open the scoring effort was the first-ever 50+ yarder in Willie Fritz’s 12-year FBS coaching career.
Sanchez didn’t just have a stellar night. It was a continuation of a strong Week 1 debut where he nailed kicks from 40 and 43 yards out. His accuracy and long-distance marksmanship give Houston luxuries it hadn’t enjoyed in years past, and now Fritz can implement a magic number when it comes to registering points on a possession.
“We call it the magic 29-yard line,” Fritz said. “If you get to the 29-yard line and don’t lose any yards, then we’re always banking on three points. He does a nice job.”
Defense is consistently strong
Houston entered its Big 12 opener having surrendered just nine points in its first two contests. All nine of those points belonged to Rice in Week 2, which notched a first half field goal and a fourth quarter touchdown with its triple option scheme. Friday presented the toughest challenge to date for the Houston defense led by first-year coordinator Austin Armstrong, and it certainly passed the test.
Colorado punted on each of its first four drives, including three three-and-outs. That tone-setting helped Houston manufacture an early 13-0 lead. Right before half, some defensive lapses showed as Houston allowed 88 and 93-yard touchdown drives — one ignited by a pass interference and the other by an impressive third down shovel pass. Houston’s main issue on these drives involved a lack of personnel roaming the middle of the field. The Cougars couldn’t sack Colorado quarterback Ryan Staub on their blitzes in the late quarter and the lack of linebackers staying home allowed Staub to run straight ahead or find an open receiver in the middle of the field.
The Cougars corrected these issues after halftime and the Buffaloes’ five second half possessions featured two three-and-outs, two interceptions, a turnover on downs, and a touchdown with 4:34 remaining in an already-decided game. Houston’s defense was its calling card in 2024, and even with a new batch of starters and a new coordinator, the unit remains sturdy at every level.
“The coaches established the standard in the spring, and guys have just trying to reach at the standard every single day — just trying to touch the standard,” defensive tackle Carlos Allen said. “When he got scored on, I told the guys on the sideline, ‘We’ve just got to get back to the standard. We weren’t at our standard that drive so let’s get back to our standard next drive and handle business.’ That’s what we’ve been doing. Standard, standard, standard. Doesn’t matter who we’re playing against.”
Houston is finally ready for the Big 12
It’s year three for the Houston Cougars in the Big 12 Conference, and Friday night simply felt different.
The first two years were full of trials and tribulations. Houston won two conference matchups in its first year of the transition and both were on do-or-die plays where failure to execute would have resulted in a loss. The Cougars hired Willie Fritz as head coach before year two in the Big 12, and Fritz added an extra conference victory, defeating Utah on a walk-off field goal, Kansas State on a broken up Hail Mary, and TCU by 11.
But Friday night was uncharted territory for Houston in the Big 12. The Cougars didn’t just collect a victory. They handled an opponent, proving superiority on both sides of the ball for the majority of the contest. Houston led by as many as 19 — its largest lead ever against Big 12 competition — and set a new record by winning a Big 12 conference matchup by a margin of 16. The Cougars were sometimes competitive in their first two years of the conference and could sneak out an upset, but Friday showed the acclimation period is over. Houston is finally ready to win ballgames.
“It feels good especially starting the season off 3-0,” Allen said. “Being 3-0 going into the bye week so we can get guys back and healthy and all that is big for us. We’re going to take advantage, but it feels good being 3-0. I haven’t been 3-0 in a long time, so it’s a great feeling right now.”
