Houston Cougars Wide Receiver Sparks Offensive Blowout vs Oklahoma State
In this story:
After only 164 total passing yards last weekend against Texas Tech, head coach Willie Fritz along with offensive coordinator Slade Nagle were left looking for answers offensively. The Houston Cougars might have figured some things out with the performance that Amare Thomas had against Oklahoma State.
Amare Thomas tells @champbailey “Effort, Energy… and Execution” will be key for @UHCougarFB moving forward 🙌
— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) October 11, 2025
He had a career high 157 Receiving Yds in today’s win, but of course he had to hit the @TeamVic salsa dance to end the interview 🕺 pic.twitter.com/S9ySaiHqBG
One of Thomas's strengths throughout the course of the season has been making plays in open space. Whether it's a screen out towards the sideline or a pass over the middle of the field, the wide receiver has been able to turn small plays into big ones with some extreme speed and acceleration.
Thomas showed out vs Oklahoma State with seven receptions for 157 yards. With quarterback Conner Weigman completing 21 of 30 passes for 306 yards, the two sparked Houston's 22-point win over Oklahoma State.
The Rise of an X-Factor for the Cougars
After transferring to Houston from UAB, Thomas has consistently become one of the bigger parts of the Houston offense. In Week 1, the wide receiver hauled in two receptions for only 16 total yards.
Thomas first burst onto the Houston scene against Oregon State where he caught six passes for over 100 receiving yards. While the receiver didn't record a touchdown against both the Beavers and Cowboys, he was still a vital part of the Cougars' offensive production.
Through the first six games in 2025, Thomas has logged 16 receptions for 284 yards along with a pair of touchdowns. While the red zone targets have been hard to come by, the junior from Birmingham, Alabama, has excelled at catching mid and long-range passes.
Connor Weigman off his BACK foot… Amare Thomas goes full extension for 22 🔥 #Big12FB | 📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/TB148cuc8M
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) September 12, 2025
With his improvement through the first half of the season, Thomas has quickly turned into one of Weigman's favorite targets when the Cougars are in a pinch.
While the Oklahoma State defense wasn't provided with many opportunities to force Houston to turn the ball over or punt it away, Thomas still came up big in both third and fourth down scenarios.
On four separate occasions, Weigman connected with the junior wide receiver to extend offensive drives. Two of those drive-extending plays resulted in Houston touchdowns.
A Career Day for the Cougars Quarterback
Part of Thomas's success against the Cowboys' secondary is due to a career day from Weigman at quarterback. The Texas A&M transfer had season-highs in completions (21), passing yards (306), and yards per completion (10.2) in Houston's 39-17 win.
While Houston has been considered a run-first offense so far in 2025, Weigman showed what the Cougars offense can do when they don't make early mistakes that snowball throughout the game.
It's worth noting that after Oklahoma State came up with a blocked punt in the second quarter, the transfer quarterback told the Houston offensive line, "Everything we touch, we score," before scoring on a variety of offensive drives in the second and third quarters.
That kind of leadership for the Cougars could lead the program to increase their expectations for the rest of the season.
