Houston Cougars' Unique Connections to Georgia Southern Heading Into Week 4
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Houston Cougars football has a unique Week 4 road matchup on its hands. UH will be traveling out to Statesboro, Ga., for the first time ever to take on Georgia Southern.
It's rare for a Power Four program to travel out and face a Sun Belt team on the road, but that's what's in store for the Cougars in their last non-conference game of the season.
Georgia Southern and Houston share some connections from the coaching staff to the starting quarterbacks previously being teammates.
Where Houston and Georgia Southern Connect
Houston coach Willie Fritz was the head coach at Georgia Southern from 2014-15 and he experienced tremendous success with the Eagles. Fritz led Georgia Southern to a 17-7 record, a 2014 Sun Belt Conference title and its first bowl game.
This will be the first time that Fritz has returned to Statesboro, this time as the head coach of the opposition.
Current Georgia Southern head coach Clay Helton is a Houston alumnus and played quarterback for the Cougars in 1993 and 1994. He was a captain in 1994 and played under his father, Kim Helton, both seasons.
Kim was the head coach of Houston from 1993-1999. He had two winning seasons and one bowl game appearance. Clay was then the running backs coach at Houston from 1997-99. The Helton family has quite the connection to the Houston football program.
Houston will be the first Power Four program to ever visit Statesboro, and it will be Helton's alma mater. Additionally, Helton's younger brother, Tyson, also played at Houston under his father from 1996-99.
“I’ve heard nothing but great things about Clay, and I know a bunch of people in Statesboro are really proud of the program he’s built there," Fritz said.
Fritz had organized a reunion with all Houston lettermen the night before the spring game when he first got the job. He invited the Heltons, but they were also busy with spring football. Fritz had never been in this kind of situation before, with all the coaching and playing connections.
Additionally, senior quarterback Conner Weigman used to be teammates at Texas A&M with current seventh-year quarterback Max Johnson of Georgia Southern.
Weigman was initially a third-string quarterback for A&M in his true freshman season of 2022. Johnson was the backup and he eventually got hurt. Weigman had to start four of the final five games of the year.
The next season, Johnson was the backup behind Weigman. However, it was Weigman who got hurt early in the 2023 season and Johnson started most of the year for the Aggies. These two will now lead the offenses in this Week 4 matchup.
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Maanav Gupta is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He graduated from the University of Houston in the summer of 2025 with his bachelor’s in journalism and a minor in Spanish. Gupta spent three years at the student newspaper, The Daily Cougar, and also covered the 2025 Final Four and National Championship as Houston beat writer for College Basketball Review. He also has his own YouTube channel, Maanav’s Sports Talk, where he has interviewed professional athletes and broadcasters like Jim Nantz, Jose Altuve, J.J. Watt, Rich Eisen, and Alperen Sengun. Gupta was also a contributor to the Houston athletic program as a student. You can find Gupta on X, Instagram and TikTok @MGSportsTalk.