Houston's Defensive Collapse Against Colorado Exposed a Serious Problem
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The Houston Cougars ended up being the team that went through the worst loss of the week among ranked programs in college football. It's almost unreal that Houston lost 42-32 to the Colorado Buffaloes on the road late Friday night.
What was the No. 14 team in the country shockingly came tumbling down in Boulder, Colorado and it also ended the Big 12 title game and College Football Playoff hopes. There was plenty of issues and blame to go around in by far the worst performance of the season for Houston.
There was honestly nothing bigger than how Houston's defense played. It looked to be an embarrassing effort at many different times. Houston was one of the best run defenses in the Big 12 entering this game at 107 yards per game and gave up 249 rushing yards to Colorado.
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Prior to the game, Colorado had one of the worst rushing attacks in the country and hadn't been really successful at that under coach Deion Sanders. However, Houston somehow had no answers at all.
Houston was up 20-7 with under three minutes to go in the first half and everything changed. The momentum completely flipped thanks to the defense's disastrous attempts to stop the run. Houston gave up a 38-yard touchdown on the ground, followed up by a 67-yard rushing score and capped off right before the half with another 32-yard rushing touchdown.
Colorado didn't even have a play in the red zone until the second half. All those big runs were just gaping holes and not even contested properly. Additionally, Houston also gave up a 53-yard touchdown to junior receiver Joseph Williams.
This game greatly exposed the poor tackling of Houston's defense, which has really been an issue all season. It was not only the big runs but also the scrambles by the quarterback that were not contained at all.
Houston took some terrible angles for tackling and did not earn leverage on its respective defenders. That's nothing new. Additionally, the Cougars' defense has struggled on third down the last two weeks. Cincinnati was nine out of 14 and Colorado was 10 out of 14.
Every time that Houston seemed on the verge of getting the ball back, Colorado would convert. Houston's defenders just couldn't get it done on critical downs again. The 67-yard rushing score from DeKalon Taylor was on third-and-2. The 53-yard receiving touchdown was on third-and-8.
Colorado converted four third downs on a critical second half drive and backup freshman quarterback Kaneal Sweetwyne ran in for a 15-yard touchdown on third-and-5.
The last Colorado drive of the game was by far the worst third down defense of the game. Houston foced a third-and-14 as well as a third-and-11, but gave up both. The first of those conversions was on a screen pass.
While the offense had some issues against the Buffaloes, the defense has a lot to answer for and clean up. Defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong's unit has failed to be consistent at all and has gotten much worse since the bye week.
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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.