Houston Cougars vs. Colorado Buffaloes: Week 3 Preview
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The Houston Cougars will face off against the Colorado Buffaloes in arguably coach Willie Fritz’s biggest game since joining UH last year.
The Cougars are 2-0 this season for the first time since the 2018 season, where former defensive tackle Ed Oliver led the charge for Houston.
“I am not one of those people who believe in momentum,” Fritz said. “I think each game is its own season and you can’t dwell on past successes or past failures.”
Houston opens as 5.5 point favorites over Colorado, and have a 57.9 percent chance to win according to the ESPN Matchup Predictor.
Coach Prime and Colorado
After a rough 4-8 season in coach Sanders' first year with Colorado, the Buffaloes rebounded in their first year in the Big 12 Conference with a 9-4 season, the program's best record since 2016.
Colorado and Houston matchup up for the only time ever on the football field in the 1971 season. The Buffaloes defeated the Cougars 29-17 in their first and only matchup in Houston, Texas.
Almost 54 years later, Colorado returns to Houston to take on the Cougars at TDECU Stadium.
Colorado is 1-1 on the year and coming off a dominant 31-7 victory over the University of Delaware. The Buffaloes' lone loss of the season comes from the 27-20 defeat against Georgia Tech in the season opener.
Scouting Colorado
Fritz revealed in his weekly press conference on Monday that the preparation for the Buffaloes started in the summer.
Colorado is a hard team to scout this season because of their quarterback situation.
Quarterback Kaidon Salter and Julian Lewis were among the favorites to win the starting spot. but third-string quarterback Ryan Shaun threw a wrench in those plans with his performance against Delaware. He threw for 157 yards and two touchdowns and has a real shot to be the starter against the Cougars.
With all three quarterbacks getting playing time against Colorado, Fritz’s game plan is simple.
“You have to look at he plays that were called,” Fritz said.
He emphasized that Colorado has a game plan on offense and all three quarterbacks run it in a similar way.
“They’ve got an offense,” Fritz said. “Now maybe one guy will do something a little different than another, but it’s an offense that they run… they do a great job of mixing the run and pass.”
Simeon Price and Micah Welch do most of the work in the running game for Colorado. The duo has combined for 163 rushing yards and a touchdown through the first two games of the season.
Senior wide receiver Sincere Brown lead Colorado in receiving yards with 120 and hauled in one touchdown reception this season.
Colorado also has a weapon on special teams in senior kicker Alejandro Mata. He is yet to miss this season and is one of the most accurate kickers in college football.
Game Details
Houston’s athletic director Eddie Nuñez has advice for all who plan on attending Friday’s game. “We ask our fans to come early,” Nuñez said.
With already 25,000-30,000 tickets sold and an expected sellout student section, it is encouraged to come early and check out the Hispanic Heritage activities and other events around the stadium before the game.
Houston takes on the Colorado Buffaloes on Friday, Sep. 12, at 6:30 p.m. at TDECU Stadium in Houston, Texas.
Ashton Grissom is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He is currently a senior at the University of Houston and majoring in Sports Media Production with a minor in Marketing and Spanish. He also works for two student organizations: The Cougar and CoogTV. You can find Grissom on his Instagram (@ashtonagrissom8) or Twitter (@ashtongrissom8).