Houston Cougars vs. No. 24 Arizona State Sun Devils: Week 9 Preview
In this story:
The Houston Cougars will look to hit the ground running as a they head into the back half of their season with continued momentum after a hard fought 31-28 walk-off victory over the Arizona Wildcats. Not only did the Cougars improve to 6-1 record, 3-1 in conference play but the win made the Coogs bowl eligible for the first time under head coach Willie Fritz.
Now, Houston heads back out on the road this weekend, taking on the other team in the Big 12 from the Grand Canyon State with a trip out west to Tempe to face the 5-2 Arizona State Sun Devils on Saturday night.
The matchup marks the first time the Cougars and the Sun Devils will meet as conference opponents, with the pair not facing off a year ago in Arizona State's inaugural season in the Big 12. The two have also not faced off in over 30 years with the last time Houston and Arizona State met happening in 1990, with the Coogs coming out on top in that one.
Taking a Look at the Sun Devils in 2025
As the Cougars battled to a big win a week ago, so did Arizona State, who scored a massive victory upsetting the then No. 7 ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders who is the only team the Coogs have lost to on the season, facing off in early October with Texas Tech scoring the blowout win.
The Sun Devils fought there way to a 26-22 victory over what looked like the top team in the conference as Texas Tech had looked dominant through the midway point of the season. The winning touchdown came from running back Raleek Brown with just 34 seconds remaining on the clock, the score capped off a 10-play 75 yard scoring drive in under two minutes by the Arizona State offense.
Head coach Kenny Dillingham, has his squad right back on track after a stumbling start to the season after an upset loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs in week two, while the Sun Devils were ranked as the No. 12 team in the country. The loss came just like Arizona States victory in suspiring fashion, after a the Bulldogs connected for a 58-yard touchdown with just 30 seconds left in the ball game.
Since then Arizona State has gotten back to its winning ways with a 4-1 record in the five games after the loss to the Bulldogs. In that five game stretch the Sun Devils defeated three conference opponents in Baylor, TCU and as already mentioned Texas Tech, with the only loss coming to Utah Utes, as Arizona State was forced to play there backup quarterback.
