Trap Game or Tune-Up? Sizing Up Oregon State on Houston’s 2026 Schedule
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Houston football will host the Oregon State Beavers on Sept. 5 to begin the 2026 season.
Both squads are in entirely different situations, with head coach Willie Fritz entering year three with his Cougars on the rise, while Oregon State has an entirely new coaching staff and roster from last year.
With a strong veteran core back for the Cougars, the match against Oregon State should be a tune-up game for Houston, and here’s why.
Why Oregon State Should Be a Tune-up Game For Houston
Oregon State football is in a very similar spot as Houston was when Fritz took over for the 2024 season.
While the Cougars did see signs of success in their first season, Houston still finished with a 4-8 record, which was the same as the previous year.
Now with another offseason and a chance to bring in his style of players, the Cougars exploded onto the scene in 2025, finishing with a 10-3 overall record.
Houston capped off its season very nicely with a 38-35 victory over LSU in the Kinder’s Texas Bowl inside NRG Stadium.
The Cougars are really starting to take shape into a top team in the Big 12 Conference, and they are a really tough matchup for an Oregon State squad that is almost entirely new.
The Beavers made a change at head coach after a 2-10 season, hiring JaMarcus Shephard to take over the program.
Before joining Oregon State, Shephard had been an assistant coach at Alabama and Washington, so he knows what it takes to win at the highest level of college football.
Another reason Oregon State is like Houston when Fritz took over is that the Beavers hired a new offensive and defensive coordinator to completely rebuild for the future.
The Beavers did not retain anyone from the previous coaching staff, which will take time for them to gel together as a unit.
Now, looking at the player side, senior quarterback Maalik Murphy is the main threat on this team, and he would have to show out in the season opener against the Cougars.
Unfortunately for the Beavers, they lost their top two weapons in the offseason, with Anthony Hankerson signing an UDFA contract with the Miami Dolphins and standout receiver Trent Walker transferring to the University of Houston.
Oregon State has lost a total of 35 players from last season and brought in a total of 37 players through the portal and high school class.
With the Beavers having a new coaching staff and roster facing a veteran head coach in Fritz with a battle-tested team with several players who will make it at the next level, this contest should be a tune-up game for Houston as they prepare for conference play.
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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).