Houston Is 4-1 and It Might Be Time to Raise Expectations
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The No. 22 Houston Cougars have certainly shown some cracks in their foundation and have struggled here and there thus far in 2026.
But as it stands now, Houston is still 4-1, ranked, and ready to take on a huge patch of its schedule. It's time for the bar of expectations to be raised for this Cougars team.
Houston Must Want More Than Just Bowl Eligibility In 2026
The Cougars looked like their season might've been over against the UCF Knights on Saturday. Late in the third quarter, Houston was down 17-0 with little to believe in.
However, star quarterback Conner Weigman led the offense down the field and scored, making it 17-7. Suddenly, with the help of a near pick-six and a rally by the Cougars altogether, Houston dominated the final 20 minutes of the game, winning 27-17. Next time, Willie Fritz will undeniably want to see his team dominate from the start. But such a comeback shows the true potential and ceiling of this Cougars team.
Houston sits at 4-1 and has now won two straight. Those last two wins haven't been pretty, with a 42-28 win over the Georgia Southern Eagles and, of course, a scrappy win over the Knights. But both games end up counting as a win no matter how much the Cougars were favored by and if they covered the spread or not.
Next, Houston faces a potentially tough opponent in the 3-1 Kansas State Wildcats, coming off a bye week and a close loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats. Judging by the 34-7 whooping Bearcats received on Saturday against the Arizona Wildcats, Kansas State isn't exactly the scariest opponent. Really, the road ahead of KSU is what gets a little worrying.
After taking on the Wildcats in Manhattan, the Cougars host the No. 18 Oklahoma State Cowboys and then visit the No. 12 Utah Utes. In other words, the next few weeks are huge in determining if Houston is good enough to threaten the Big 12 and if they're good enough to perhaps steal a College Football Playoff spot. The expectation for this team isn't quite the CFP yet.
However, bowl eligibility certainly isn't the expectation either. This team can do so much more.
What Does Houston Need to Clean Up?
Simply put, Houston must clean up a few things to get the team rolling. It starts with the secondary. The Cougars once again looked bad against UCF, allowing the Knights to take a 10-0 lead heading into the half.
However, in the second half, after allowing the one touchdown the Cougars did, they seemed to lock in. Suddenly, the pressure on quarterback Keyone Jenkins increased, and the secondary looked as good as it has all season. This allowed the Cougars to begin to crush what was clearly an outmatched UCF squad.
The 2026 season will hinge on the pass defense improving, as well as the pass rush. When Jenkins had more pressure in the second half and was rushed more, he suddenly looked way worse. The Knights were shut down and couldn't get anything going. The pass rush and pass defense work hand in hand. If the QB is hurried and the secondary does well in containing the opponent's receiving corps, then obviously the Cougars will thrive.
The run defense has remained the best in the Big 12 and is still ranked the eighth-best in the nation. If those two parts of the defense can match the run defense, Houston will have an elite defense on its hands. The offense will need to execute better after going 0/3 in the red zone in the first half and rallying as much as it did.
But it's safe to say the offense still moved the ball down the field successfully and can easily be among the better offenses in the country.
Houston still needs to fix many issues to become a CFP contender. Obviously, a quarterback like Drew Mestemaker will destroy the Cougars if they can't get it together in the back end of that defense.
But the Cougars proved they can fight through adversity and win Big 12 games on Saturday. It's hard to set expectations for this team. But that bar needs to be raised beyond bowl eligibility.
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Born in Utah, raised in Nebraska, and now living in the Northeast, Tyler Crum is a lifelong sports fan with a passion for college football, college basketball, Major League Baseball, and hockey. He attends the University of New Hampshire, where he is majoring in history. His work has appeared with Last Word on Sports, Utah on Ice, and Sports Illustrated. When he is not writing or watching sports, Tyler can usually be found reading a book on military history.
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