The Good, Bad and Ugly from Houston Cougars’ Big Win at Baylor

The Houston Cougars football won their ninth game of the season against the Baylor Bears 31-24 in Waco on Saturday afternoon in what became an intense affair towards the end.

Houston goes undefeated on the road with an impressive 6-0 mark during the 2025 season. This was just the third 6-0 road record in program history.

The turnaround regular season for Houston ended on a positive note, and they finished fourth in the Big 12. Junior quarterback Conner Weigman threw for 201 yards and one touchdown, while running for a career high 121 on 22 attempts on two touchdowns.

Houston took advantage of a weak Baylor run defense and ran for 216 total yards, more than yards through the air. Junior wide receiver Amare Thomas had another big game of 97 yards on nine catches plus a touchdown.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly of this entertaining Texas matchup.

Good: Excellent Start and Finish

Nov 29, 2025; Waco, Texas, USA; The Houston Cougars celebrate after a play against the Baylor Bears during the second half at McLane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

It couldn’t have been a better start for the Cougars in their final road game, with a quick defensive stop on Baylor before going right down the field in one of their more impressive opening drives of the season. Houston went 82 yards in 12 plays that took over five minutes.

UH faced a fourth and four on the Baylor 34-yard line, but converted on a seven-yard pass from Weigman to senior tight end Tanner Koziol. On the next play, Thomas was free over the middle and took the short pass 27 yards to the house for the touchdown.

Following that, it looked like the Bears were about to answer with a touchdown, but senior quarterback Sawyer Robertson’s pass was tipped into the air by the helmet of multiple linemen and intercepted in the end zone by senior defensive back Marc Stampley II.

While Houston was not able to take advantage, the defense made another play. Junior linebacker Brandon Mack forced a fumble on a sack of Robertson, and it was recovered by junior linebacker Sione Fotu at the Cougars' 31-yard line. UH took full advantage of the turnover this time.

Weigman scored the most impressive rushing touchdown of his career so far on a 28-yard scamper to the left, where he escaped more than three tacklers on a couple of juke moves and somehow got to the end zone. The Cougars took a 14-0 lead right at the start of the second, thanks to a touchdown drive that went 69 yards and took up just over two minutes.

It seemed like all the momentum for Houston disappeared after the Bears quickly tied it at 24 with over half of the fourth quarter remaining. The UH offense had just failed to convert a fourth and two at their own 48-yard line on their previous drive, and the Baylor crowd was back in the picture.

The Cougars needed a strong answer, and that is exactly what they did. The game could’ve completed flipped, but Houston responded. Led by their rushing attack, UH went 74 yards down the field methodically on a 15 play drive. Houston took up almost seven minutes and put themselves right back in control.

The key play of the drive was converting a fourth and seven at the Baylor 41-yard-line. The game was likely in the balance, and the Cougars converted another key fourth down that kept what ultimately was the game winning drive alive.

Weigman found his favorite target in Thomas who made an incredible nine-yard catch. Senior running back Dean Connors eventually punched it in on a one-yard rushing touchdown, where Houston did well mixing the run and pass. The Cougars took a 31-24 lead and the defense closed out the game.

Bad: Chunk Plays Allowed

Houston’s defense had a pretty good day overall, but there were stretches of big plays given up, especially in the final quarter. Baylor piled up 421 total yards and over 300 through the air. That was expected as UH went against one of the best passing offenses in the country.

The Cougars gave up more than 13 yards per completion to Robertson, and that was on display right before halftime as Baylor added a field goal.

Baylor had one of the worst rushing offenses in the Big 12 prior to this game, but Houston struggled in run defense for a second straight week. The Bears ran for 112 yards, and that was without their starting sophomore running back Bryson Washington, who got injured at the start of the game.

Freshman back Joseph Dodds averaged over five yards per carry for 61 yards on 21 carries. Houston was up 17-6 in the second quarter and 24-9 in the third, but could not put the Bears away.

Ugly: Start of Fourth Quarter

The Cougars looked to be in complete control, up 15 points towards the end of the third period, but that came crashing down quickly. Baylor scored 15 points in under seven minutes to start the quarter. Houston was holding a 24-9 lead that went away just like that.

Dodds ran in for a touchdown, and Robertson ran in for the two-point conversion as it was now a 24-17 game. The Cougars' offense had a chance to respond and Fritz was aggressive in going for it from their own 44-yard line on fourth and two, but Weigman was unable to connect with Thomas on that. Going for it in that situation may have been looked at as too aggressive, but ultimately, a win was still achieved. Houston was 4/5 total on fourth down.

Baylor took advantage of the great field position and tied it up under two minutes later.

Facing a fourth and nine at the UH 31-yard line, the Bears matched Houston’s aggressiveness. Robertson completed a deep pass down the sideline to wide receiver Josh Cameron for a 31-yard touchdown. This was a true back-breaker for the defense to start the final frame.

Weigman had a great day, and his interception in the second quarter should not have counted when there was a holding/pass interference on the play.

Houston will wait to see which bowl game they will play in as they look to get 10 wins in their incredible turnaround season.