No. 25 Houston Faces TCU On Senior Day In Must-Win Matchup
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Houston football is having a much better-than-expected season, sitting at 8-2, and the Cougars look to continue their great year against TCU on Saturday, Nov. 22, at TDECU Stadium in Houston, Texas.
The Cougars will also be honoring the seniors this weekend, with the team selecting Saturday’s game to celebrate Senior Day.
”I’d love to have a fantastic crowd and honor these great seniors,” head coach Willie Fritz said. “Some of them have been here for not really long, and some have been here a long time. We’d really love to get a great crowd and honor those guys.”
Houston vs. TCU Preview
The Cougars enter this matchup coming off a bye week, and they open up as 2.5-point favorites despite only having a 46.8% chance to win, according to ESPN Analytics.
Despite TCU winning nine of the last 10 matchups with Houston, the Cougars lead the all-time series 14-13.
Houston also won last season’s game between the two teams in a 30-19 upset road victory in Fort Worth, Texas.
Now, both programs have completely reloaded rosters, and they are set for a high-stakes matchup this weekend.
Even with Houston suffering two conference losses to Texas Tech and West Virginia, the Cougars still have a small chance to make the Big 12 Championship game, but they will need other teams to lose.
Houston needs to control what it can by taking care of business at TDECU Stadium against a tough TCU team.
Don’t let the 6-4 record fool you; the Horned Frogs have a very talented football team, and they are led by veteran head coach Sonny Dykes.
Junior quarterback Josh Hoover runs the offense for TCU, and he is one of the most talented passers in the Big 12.
This season, he has passed for 2,873 yards and 23 touchdowns.
Senior wide receiver Eric McAlister is Hoover’s go-to target, and he is just 59 yards shy of a 1,000-yard season. He has totaled 52 receptions and eight touchdowns, while averaging over 18 yards a catch.
TCU was without senior running back Kevorian Barnes, who missed last week’s game against BYU with a leg injury.
He is currently listed as questionable, which could give more reps to senior running back Trent Battle and sophomore running back Jeremy Payne, who have both been solid this season.
TCU’s defense has been average in most games, ranking No. 9 in the Big 12 Conference, but they have a lot of talent on the defensive line and in the secondary.
The Horned Frogs have a stacked roster, and the Cougars will have to bring their A-game this weekend to improve to 9-2 for the first time since 2021.
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).