Grading The Houston Cougars In Week 6 Blowout Loss To No. 11 Texas Tech
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The product displayed by Houston football in its 35-11 blowout loss to No. 11 Texas Tech on Saturday left no doubt of ugliness on both sides of the ball, leading the Cougars to drop their seventh straight matchup against the Red Raiders.
The aftermath left Houston in need of an upcoming get-right opportunity for Week 7 at Oklahoma State, although the offensive efficiency could be determined on the injury status of junior quarterback Conner Weigman, who left the game just before the end of the first half.
To provide what must be corrected ahead of that opportunity and for the second half of the season, we graded the Cougars on both sides of the ball, suffering their first loss of 2025.
Defensive line and secondary: C-
Heading into the matchup, Houston was ranked 16th in FBS in total defense under coordinator Austin Armstrong. By the end of the night, the Cougars left the field having allowed 552 total yards of offense on 6.1 yards per play, all on what included a myriad of missed tackles, dropping them to 43rd nationally in total defense.
Although the bulk of the yardage was made by senior quarterback Behren Morton's 345-yard night on 28 of 40 in completions, which included a 69-yard touchdown pass to sophomore running back Cameron Dickey for the Red Raiders, the uglier picture for Houston, especially in its front seven including junior middle linebacker Sione Fotu fresh off of Big 12 co-defensive player of the week honors and senior nose guard Carlos Allen Jr., saw itself painted on the ground.
The Cougars nearly allowed Dickey to be the Red Raiders' second 100-yard rusher on the night, as he and sophomore J'Koby Williams combined for 205 yards, averaging 4.7 and 5.6 yards per carry, respectively.
Despite the efforts of holding the Red Raiders to field goals in each of their first three drives for the first 10 minutes of the game, the uncharacteristic defensive outing unraveled for Houston from that point forward.
Quarterback play and offensive output: C
Although Houston became the second team this season to post points prior to the fourth quarter against Texas Tech, from both a 24-yard field goal from senior kicker Ethan Sanchez and a 64-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Zeon Chriss to senior wide receiver Amare Thomas in the final drive of the first half, the Cougars did not provide any further answer offensively as they ended up with 267 total yards on the night and converted only one third down of its 12 attempts.
What felt like a loss of its own within the game came in the form of Weigman's departure to the locker room following the second-to-last drive of the first half due to an upper-body injury, after he finished 5 of 12 on 71 yards with his second interception of the season.
After Houston's key signal caller ended up in concussion protocol as a result of the injury, coach Willie Fritz provided a relieving update in his weekly Monday press conference that could point to Weigman's return Saturday, as he was listed on the Week 7 depth chart. His proven deep ball and scrambling abilities will be key in the Cougars' get-right opportunity in taking care of Oklahoma State's 43.5 points per game allowed mark ahead of the matchup.
Michael Carrara is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He attends the University of Houston, where he is a journalism major and a marketing minor. He is also a sports writer and reporter for the Daily Cougar, having covered baseball as an NCBWA member. You can find Michael on all major social media channels, including X on @michaelcoalec.