The Good, Bad and Ugly of Houston Cougars Upset Win Over No. 24 Arizona State
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It took staving off a late scare, but Houston football found its way into first ranked road win since 2017 with a 24-16 upset victory over No. 24 Arizona State at Mountain America Stadium Saturday, helping the Cougars clinch a winning season in its third season as a member of the Big 12 and second under coach Willie Fritz.
Entering what was billed as a Big 12 contention elimination game, the Cougars were listed as touchdown underdogs to the Sun Devils, who were defending a 10-game home winning streak.
However, with junior quarterback Conner Weigman's first career 100-yard rushing game and a 100-receiving yard outing from senior tight end Tanner Koziol, the Cougars compiled enough to hold their efforts and lead firm.
In deciphering how Houston will now stay in the Big 12 race in 2025, we take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of the Cougars' ranked upset victory.
The Good: 46 shutout minutes on the road from defense
For the first 46 game minutes, Austin Armstrong's units, with slight assistance from the mishaps of redshirt senior kicker Jesus Gomez, pitched a shutout en route to finishing with 10 pass breakups, a game-leading seven tackles from senior cornerback Latrell McCutchin Sr., and three sacks from senior defensive lineman Eddie Walls III.
Despite letting up 426 total yards on the night on 6.4 yards per play, the bulk of which came in the late fourth quarter scare, the performance was more than satisfactory and not entirely reflective of what was on paper.
Though prevent defense is tough to play out and missed tackles will reappear occasionally for the team with some mistakes to periodically clean up, this performance has shown crucial in to stay in contention for the conference and possibly shouldn't affect the Cougars' stance in total defense rankings.
The Bad: Multiple missed opportunities in the first half
The Cougars' first two drives to open the game were incredibly satisfying in terms of capitalization considering the raucous environment of Mountain America Stadium, which has propelled the recent home success for Arizona State.
However, following the 148 total yards on their first two drives of the game which gave them an early 10-0 lead, there were multiple missed scoring opportunities for the Cougars that contributed as to why they were shut out in the second quarter, as three punts and an Arizona State fumble only churned out 35 yards.
These missed opportunities could've turned out to be difference making in terms of margin of victory for the Cougars, which could've helped avoid the late scare.
The Ugly: A scary final 10 minutes
What sparked the scare in question was Houston's decision to go for it on 4th and 13 at Arizona State's 36 with 7:19 remaining.
While field position was an argument in gaining some yardage on the play, in didn't make much of a difference when it subsequently allowed second string redshirt senior quarterback Jeff Sims to march the Sun Devils down the field for a seven-play, 70-yard touchdown drive to cut their deficit to one score.
With hearts pounding, it took a crucial fourth down pass breakup by junior free safety Kentrell Webb to help the Cougars eventually put the game on ice, as it was signaled with a roughing the kicker penalty in the second-to-last snap of the game.
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.