Houston Cougars Stock Watch After Week 7: Who's Up & Who's Down?
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The Houston Cougars bounced back exactly like they needed to after suffering the taste of defeat for the first time all season against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Cougars head coach Willie Fritz and company responded with a dominating 39-17 victory on the road over the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
The Coogs and Pokes traded opening drive touchdowns in the first quarter; however, after that, it was all Houston, scoring 29 unanswered points.
After the Cougars' impressive weekend performance, here's the weekly look at the players whose stocks are trending up. With the dominant victory, this edition won't have any Cougars trending down, as Houston will look forward to another conference matchup as they return home to take on the Arizona Wildcats at TDECU Stadium.
Trending Up
Conner Weigman, QB
Quarterback Conner Weigman played his best football since transferring into Houston over the offseason. The veteran quarterback completed 21 of his 30 pass attempts for 306 yards and three touchdowns, while adding another score on the ground.
After a rough performance a week ago, where Weigman was only able to record 5 passing completions on 12 attempts for just 71 yards, an interception, and suffered an injury that kept Weigman out of the second half. However, coming off the injury, Weigman was dealing with several deep shots, creating big chunk plays for the Cougars' offense with his longest completion of 43 yards.
Amare Thomas, WR
One of the biggest beneficiaries of Weigman's big performance was wide receiver Amare Thomas, who finished the game as the Coogs' leading receiver with seven catches on nine targets for 157 yards, with the longest reception of the afternoon of 43 yards. Thomas was also big once the ball ended up in his hands, recording 59 yards after the catch.
Thomas continues his breakout season as the Cougars' unquestioned leading receiver and top target in the wide receiver room, with Thomas increasing his season totals, being up to 23 receptions for 441 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Thomas continues being a big play guy for Weigman and the Houston offense, averaging 19.2 yards a catch.
Dean Connors, RB
Running back Dean Connors was in line for a big rebound performance after a rough showing facing one of the best fronts in the Big 12 against Texas Tech, where the running back only managed 31 rushing yards on 13 carries.
Against the Cowboys, Connors returned to form as the Cougars' leading rusher in the matchup, rushing for 83 yards on 15 carries, averaging an impressive 5.5 yards per carry and a rushing touchdown. Connors was also a factor in the passing game with two receptions for seven yards, and one of his receptions was for a touchdown with a leaping one-handed grab at the goal line.
