This Facet of Conner Weigman’s Game Led to First Big 12 Honor
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Houston Cougars football (6-1) has achieved a massive turnaround in their offense from last season.
After being arguably the worst offense in the country in 2024, Houston completely revamped their look for this year, and it has paid off. The Cougars now have the ability to actually score at an effective rate and play at the Big 12 level.
Weigman Back Home
A huge reason for that has been redshirt junior quarterback Conner Weigman, who transferred from Texas A&M. The former five-star product out of the Houston area has been playing at a high level and is a great leader for this team.
Weigman was known to take care of the ball coming in, and he has done just that with only two interceptions compared to 11 touchdown passes. This has been a career-high season across the board for the 6-foot-3, 210-lb junior with 1,380 passing yards on 62% completion. Additionally, Weigman’s rating of 148.7 is his highest since 2023.
Using His Legs
Weigman won his first career award from the Big 12 as the conference’s offensive player of the week for his standout performance against Arizona that clinched Houston their first bowl game since 2022.
QB1 is Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week 💥 pic.twitter.com/fB6LR9013i
— Houston Football (@UHCougarFB) October 20, 2025
The key to that happening: his legs. Weigman, being very effective as a runner, completely changed the game this past Saturday. That ability to be a great running quarterback has taken the Cougars’ offense to a new level.
Against Arizona, Weigman threw three touchdown passes and had a 10-yard rushing touchdown while adding a career-high 98 rushing yards on 14 carries and no interceptions. He became the first Houston quarterback to throw for three scores and 0 picks, while running in for another with at least 95 total rushing yards since Kevin Kolb back in 2003.
This marked his second consecutive and the sixth career game with both a passing and rushing touchdown. Weigman had only two games with those stats at Texas A&M, back in 2023. He has already surpassed that with both a passing and rushing score in four games for Houston. Weigman has truly established himself as a dual-threat.
He became the first Power Four quarterback this season to record 3+ passing touchdowns, 1+ rushing touchdowns, 95+ rushing yards, and zero interceptions. On top of that, Weigman is the first Power Four QB to post those numbers without losing yardage since Jayden Daniels in 2023, who won the Heisman Trophy that season.
“The secret to it is being able to throw the ball successfully. They feed off each other. We want to be a 50/50 team if possible,” head coach Willie Fritz said in his weekly press conference.
Unlocked Something Special
During his three seasons with the Aggies, Weigman only had 67 rushing attempts for a total of 261 yards and just two touchdowns. Compare that to just seven games with the Cougars so far, where he has 66 attempts for 243 yards and six touchdowns.
Clearly, A&M did not unlock Weigman to his fullest capabilities, but Fritz and offensive coordinator Slade Nagle have made a full season of what he can bring to the table.
“He was a very good runner, I think people forgot about that. Plus, he’s very nimble; he buys time in the pocket,” Fritz said.
The Cougars' head coach also mentioned the fact that he ran extremely well at his previous institutions. During Weigman’s historic time at Bridgeland High School in Cypress, he ran for 754 yards and nine touchdowns on 107 carries. UH is using him in a similar way, and the rushing numbers this season may end up being comparable.
Houston understands the issues a defense faces when it runs a true 11-on-11 offense. That has been repeated by Fritz and even senior running back Dean Connors. Weigman’s ability to keep the ball on designed quarterback runs opens up the lanes for the running backs as well. Connors had 100 yards on 20 carries against Arizona.
Fritz mentioned how both Weigman and Connors kept running and falling forward to effectively gain yardage.
“He ran behind his pads with a good forward lean. He ran vertically, not side to side,” Fritz said.
The Cougars' offensive line ended up winning the Big 12 offensive line of the week honors for their efforts to create space for both Weigman and their running backs.
The Cypress, Texas, native was Houston’s first signal-caller to earn three passing and at least one rushing touchdown since Donovan Smith had four and one, respectively, against West Virginia in 2023.
Maanav Gupta is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He graduated from the University of Houston in the summer of 2025 with his bachelor’s in journalism and a minor in Spanish. Gupta spent three years at the student newspaper, The Daily Cougar, and also covered the 2025 Final Four and National Championship as Houston beat writer for College Basketball Review. He also has his own YouTube channel, Maanav’s Sports Talk, where he has interviewed professional athletes and broadcasters like Jim Nantz, Jose Altuve, J.J. Watt, Rich Eisen, and Alperen Sengun. Gupta was also a contributor to the Houston athletic program as a student. You can find Gupta on X, Instagram and TikTok @MGSportsTalk.