One Silver Lining Seems to Have Emerged Out of Houston's Loss to Texas Tech
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There's no doubt that Houston's 35-11 loss to Texas Tech will leave a bad taste in the mouths of many fans, players, and coaches. While it may not seem like it, the Cougar early-game defense remained one of the only bright spots in Coach Willie Fritz's first loss of 2025.
It's no secret that Conner Weigman and the Houston offense have been slow to start in many of their games this season. While it isn't exactly ideal for the Cougars, they've found ways to win, leading them to be undefeated heading into their conference matchup against the Red Raiders.
The team's slow starts finally caught up with the Cougars as things turned sour early in the game. On Houston's first play from scrimmage, Weigman threw a designed pass towards Dean Connors that fell incomplete. Since it was considered a backwards pass by the officiating crew, the Texas Tech defense fell on the football, resulting in a quick turnover.
Cougar Defense Shines Early in Texas Tech Blowout
Behren Morton and the Texas Tech offense opened the game by driving deep into Houston territory. After crossing the Cougars' 10-yard line, an incompletion and an offensive pass interference penalty forced the Red Raiders to send out the field goal unit. All things considered, Coach Fritz and the rest of the coaching staff likely considered it a successful stand by the Cougar defense.
3 points on the opening drive
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) October 4, 2025
Stone connects from 26 yards. pic.twitter.com/xmlM2KAUmB
Little did the Cougar defense know, they would be called on to make another big stop mere minutes after forcing a field goal. After the early fumble recovery by the Red Raiders, Houston would have to send their defense on to the field for the second time on Saturday night. Once again, defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong's defense forced a field goal to make it 6-0.
While Texas Tech threatened to put the game out of reach on multiple drives, the Cougar defense forced another field goal before the Red Raiders finally found the endzone with just under a minute to go in the first quarter.
While the game would eventually get out of hand in the second half, Houston's red-zone defense was commendable given the circumstances. With multiple turnovers and a massive difference in time of possession, the Cougars were on their back foot virtually the entire game.
Behren Morton and the Tech offense held possession of the football for nearly two-thirds of the game, while the Cougars had offensive drives of five plays or less on 11 separate occasions.
After Houston's first loss of the season, Coach Fritz gave high praise to the Houston defense for keeping them in the game for as long as possible.
"I thought our defense answered the bell quite a few times," Fritz said. "You know and then you got to respond offensively, and we didn't do that."
Houston's redzone defense could be called upon again in the near future, with the Cougar offense currently in question with Weigman's injury. While Zeon Chriss may provide more explosive plays offensively, the Cougar coaching staff likely believes that Weigman is the better option at quarterback as long as he's healthy.
