How Conner Weigman's SEC Experience Led Houston to Texas Bowl Win
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The Houston Cougars concluded their 2025 campaign on an emphatic note with their 38-35 victory over LSU Saturday in the Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium to put a turnaround 10-win campaign on the mantle, and much like the season's successful outcomes, it was attributed to the work and career bests of their top signal caller.
Rightfully so, junior quarterback Conner Weigman won the Texas Bowl MVP award in throwing for 236 yards on 27 of 36 passing, along with running for 56 yards to perfectly cap his season rushing total at 700 yards, almost or over seven times as much as he posted in each of his three seasons at Texas A&M.
With winning the award and the work he put in to lead Houston to further prove the program-changing abilities of coach Willie Fritz in his second season at the helm, Weigman's caliber has shown that the Cougars are capable of hanging with the nation's top competition in all of the FBS as young power conference members.
It Just Means More
Whether intentionally or not, taking from the Southeastern Conference's tagline, "It Just Means More," Weigman expressed how much Houston's win meant over the Tigers, who despite finishing 7-5 in the regular season after starting 4-0, were favored by multiple books and heavily so by matchup predictors.
The early 14-0 deficit the Cougars faced within the first five minutes of the game due to special teams miscues and missed tackles could've easily bolstered the arguments by the books, but with a team without an opt-out, it wasn't an option for Weigman, knowing the support he had around him.
The regained rhythm, paired with Weigman's experience in the SEC and having faced LSU two times in his career at Texas A&M with adversity in the mix, might've inspired an outcome tailored for Houston and its signature season's end.
"I think it stems from me coming from the SEC," he said. "I played those guys two times before and it didn't go how I would've wanted it to go. It meant a lot to me. My teammates had my back and it was a really cool moment."
That experience paid off in a way where Weigman set a new program record for the Cougars with four passing touchdowns, the most in a bowl game by a Houston quarterback. And aside from his MVP award, he sported a felt cowboy hat while hoisting and then taking a celebratory bite out of a beef rib.
With his return in 2026 and No. 1 national quarterback recruit Keisean Henderson now signed and shadowing him, Weigman's performance is a major benchmark for Houston in the upcoming season when being faced with potentially one of the toughest conference road schedules the Cougars have faced in program history.
But with Weigman having led Houston to a perfect road record in the Big 12 in 2025, the possibility of accomplishing that same feat is not out of the question in part of contending for a conference championship and a College Football Playoff birth, considering the field's bids have largely dominated by the SEC under the current 12-team format.
Michael Carrara is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He attends the University of Houston, where he is a journalism major and a marketing minor. He is also a sports writer and reporter for the Daily Cougar, having covered baseball as an NCBWA member. You can find Michael on all major social media channels, including X on @michaelcoalec.