Willie Fritz Reveals Houston Cougars' Plan for Bye Week

While the Houston Cougars are still riding high after their statement win over the Colorado Buffaloes in last week's Big 12 opener, they also know it's well time to turn the page to what lies ahead.

The Cougars don't have a game this weekend, but they still want to attack their bye week to set themselves up for success going forward. They've had a very good start to the season, but that won't mean much if they end up getting lackadaisical.

Rest assured, Willie Fritz and co. have a plan in place heading into their first off week of the season.

Houston Cougars Look Forward Entering First Bye Week

Sep 6, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Cougars head coach Willie Fritz walks on the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Rice Owls at Rice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

During an appearance on 365 Sports earlier this week, Fritz shed light on how the Cougars plan to attack their bye week. He also spoke briefly on the Cougars' Week 5 road matchup against the Oregon State Beavers, their final non-conference game of the regular season.

"Well we lifted and watched all the film and put it to bed," Fritz said. "We give them Saturday and Sunday off after the game Friday night. You know, camp was a long camp, so we're kind of looking forward toward this time of the year to kind of get some guys some time off and rest. Then we're going to practice Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, we're going to give them off Friday, Saturday then come back and begin on Sunday because our game is a Friday night game also. I think it starts here, our time, 9:30, so it's the second game on ESPN Friday night.

"It's a good schedule for us with the bye week, we'll get a little bit of time off. Like I talked about in our team meeting this morning, we want to utilize this week to get better. And now during this bye week, you can kind of work on some situations that you weren't maybe able to go over in great detail during camp. ... So, there's a lot of stuff to improve on."

As mentioned, the Cougars have had a very strong start to the season, but there are some things to clean up. Fritz specifically mentioned many special teams scenarios, not because the special teams have been bad to start the season, but because the Cougars didn't have much time to focus on them beforehand. Brushing up on tackling will also be a good way stay sharp.

The Cougars will have a chance to show what they worked on during the bye week when they face the Beavers in another prime-time game on Sept. 26.