What Wins and What Loses the Game for Houston Football vs. Oregon State
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Houston football will take on the Oregon State Beavers in the season opener on Sept. 5, inside TDECU Stadium.
The Cougars will be heavily favored in this game just like last season; however, that didn’t matter last year as Houston narrowly escaped with an overtime 27-24 victory.
Now, these two teams will rematch in the first game of the season and here are a few ways that the Cougars will either win or lose this game.
Houston vs. Oregon State Game Overview
How Houston Will Defeat Oregon State
Houston’s head coach Willie Fritz has instilled in this team the importance of winning the turnover battle, and that is a big reason why Houston had an impressive 10-win season in 2025.
With the Cougars returning senior quarterback Conner Weigman, Houston is in a good place to stay away from turnovers because of his experience, even early in the season.
On the flip side, Oregon State lost 35 players in the transfer portal and brought in 37 new faces through the portal and high school class.
The Beavers also have a completely new coaching staff, led by newly hired head coach JaMarcus Shephard, who previously worked as an assistant for Alabama and Washington.
One clear difference in these two teams from last season was the turnover battle, where the Cougars finished +4 while the Beavers were -10 in 2025.
While Houston already has a more complete roster on both sides of the ball, the pressure the Cougars could put on an almost entirely new roster could lead to a blowout in the season opener.
How Houston Could Lose to Oregon State
The Cougars really only have two ways that they could lose to the Beavers.
The first is committing costly turnovers, which really hurt them in their losses last season.
While Houston has a veteran core returning who should be strong with the ball, anything can happen early in the season.
The other way that Oregon State can find a way to steal a road upset against Houston is through the deep passing game.
Senior quarterback Maalik Murphy has plenty of college football experience across Texas, Duke and now Oregon State, and he can really hurt teams with the long ball.
The Beavers also loaded up in the portal with three talented receivers in Texas transfer Aaron Butler, UTRGV junior transfer Xayvion Noland and Alabama transfer Aeryn Hampton.
With Oregon State having an air raid type offense while Houston is replacing three veterans from last season in the secondary who are now in the NFL Draft, this could be a way that the Beavers come out on top.
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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).