Houston Cougars Stock Watch After Week 13: Who's Up & Who's Down?

Which Houston Cougars have their stock rising or dropping after week 13 against the TCU Horned Frogs?

Houston Cougars head coach Willie Fritz celebrates with wide receiver Amare Thomas (0) after Thomas scores a touchdown during the second quarter against the TCU Horned Frogs at TDECU Stadium. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Houston Cougars will have to go back to the drawing board after a disappointing performance, which now drops the Coogs to 8-3 on the season. On Saturday, Houston played its final home game of the season and honored its seniors; however, the Coogs were unable to end on a strong note with a woeful 17-14 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs.

The Coogs will have to dust themselves off and reshape their focus to try and end the regular season with a bit of momentum as they hit the road to take on an in-state opponent for the final game, battling the 5-6 Baylor Bears from McLane Stadium in Waco.

Some players are improving, while others have taken a back seat. Here's a look at a couple of Cougars whose stocks are trending upwards or downwards after their loss to TCU.

Trending up

Will James, DB

Houston Cougars defensive back Will James (15) celebrates after an interception during the second quarter against the TCU Horned Frogs at TDECU Stadium. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

While many parts of the Cougars team struggled against the Horned Frogs, there was one bright spot coming found in the Coogs' secondary as sophomore defensive back Will James had his best game in a Cougar uniform.

James ended the game with five tackles (four solo), forcing an impressive three turnovers from the TCU offense, intercepting opposing quarterback Josh Hoover twice, and forcing a fumble against the Horned Frogs. The second-year player erased three potential scoring drives from TCU, single-handedly keeping the Coogs in the game despite their struggles.

Trending Down

Ethan Sanchez, Kicker

Houston Cougars kicker Ethan Sanchez (92) reacts after a missed field goal attempt during the fourth quarter against the TCU Horned Frogs at TDECU Stadium. ] | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Kicker Ethan Sanchez did not have his greatest performance as a Cougar on Saturday, missing both of his field goal attempts, one being a long 49-yard attempt; however, the second miss was a back breaker, missing a makeable 38-yard attempt as the Coogs looked to tie the game with just seconds left to go in the game.

Sanchez won a number of games for Houston this season, hitting the game-winning field goal against the Arizona Wildcats as time expired, which made the Coogs bowl eligible, and made the game-winning field goal in overtime against Oregon State to complete a comeback; however, the Coogs' usually sure-handed kicker cost them big time.

Tanner Koziol, TE

Houston Cougars tight end Tanner Koziol (9) catches a pass against West Virginia Mountaineers defensive lineman Braden Siders. | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

The connection between quarterback Conner Weigman and tight end Tanner Koziol has been a staple of the Cougars' offense throughout the season; however, against TCU, that connection went cold. As Koziol ended the game with just two receptions for 22 yards, tying a season low in receptions, the only other time Koziol had just two receptions was against Texas Tech, which the Cougars lost against.

Indicative of the rough day was the ending of the Cougars' second-to-last drive in the first half, as Weigman targeted Koziol in the back of the end zone while in double coverage was intercepted with Koziol looking more like the defensive back rather than the receiver.