2 West Virginia Players for Houston Cougars to Watch in Week 10

Entering No. 22 Houston football's Week 10 matchup with West Virginia, there are two offensive players to keep an eye on from the Mountaineers' active roster.

Oct 25, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Scotty Fox Jr. (15) throws a pass during the first quarter against the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs at Milan Puskar Stadium. | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

No. 22 Houston football enters Week 10 of the 2025 season hosting West Virginia, where the Cougars are billed as two-touchdown favorites and given an 81.1 percent chance to improve to 8-1 on the season according to ESPN's matchup predictor.

Since the original meeting between the two programs in 2023 featuring the game-winning touchdown pass to then-sophomore wide receiver Stephon Johnson, the stance and success levels of both programs are near drastically different, along with rosters and changes at head coach.

Although Houston's talent has surged them upwards in the Big 12 race, there are two offensive players from coach Rich Rodriguez's active roster to keep an eye on in place of some of the injury-riddled portion that could make things interesting based on the Mountaineers' previous matchup with TCU.

QB Scotty Fox Jr.

Oct 18, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Scotty Fox Jr. (15) makes a second half pass against the Central Florida Knights at Acrisure Bounce House. | Russell Lansford-Imagn Images

Likely starting opposite of junior Conner Weigman under center for Houston is true freshman Scotty Fox Jr. for his third start with the Mountaineers amidst a quarterback room of three who were all ruled out most recently in their Week 9 contest, including redshirt junior Nicco Marichol whose season ended with a torn foot ligament. West Virginia is also continually anticipating a return of redshirt freshman Khalil Wilkins, though his status is considered doubtful for Week 10.

Fox completed 28 of 41 passes with two touchdowns in West Virginia's 23-17 Week 9 loss to TCU at Milan Puskar Stadium, as his 301 passing yards set a record for the most yards by a true freshman quarterback in program history for the Mountaineers.

In the same game however, he was tagged for a total loss of 14 yards from two sacks, leaving increasing his mark to seven sacks over his past two games, leaving the picture frightening when faced with Houston's 36th-ranked total defense.

WR Cam Vaughn

Oct 25, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers wide receiver Cam Vaughn (4) celebrates a first down after a catch during the third quarter against the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs at Milan Puskar Stadium. | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Leading amongst the Mountaineers' receiver room is a preseason All-Big 12 third team selection in redshirt sophomore Cam Vaughn, who has now logged 420 yards on 27 receptions in 2025. His 15.6 yards per reception average should be a healthy test for Houston's secondary following the Cougars' 10-pass breakup performance on the road at Arizona State in Week 9.

Against TCU, Vaughn registered 85 yards on six receptions from Fox, with his longest reception coming in at 29 yards, tied for his third longest on the season. Although he has only caught three touchdown passes in 2025, his usage comes in chewing up field position for the Mountaineers with a fair amount of chunk plays in which the Cougars will look to contain.