How The Houston Cougars Could Ruin Oklahoma State's' Season Once Again

The Houston Cougars could really do damage to Oklahoma State’s season under the right circumstances.

Oklahoma State head football coach Eric Morris. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

By the middle of October, the Oklahoma State Cowboys should know who they are. So should the Houston Cougars. In fact, they may already have a head start.

Houston is coming off a 10-win season under Willie Fritz, who will be entering his third year as the program’s head coach after a long, successful stint at Tulane. He’s built continuity in just two years in Houston, with 11 returning starters. That includes some of the players that dominated the Cowboys last season, including quarterback Conner Weigman and wide receiver Amare Thomas.

The Cougars should be considered among the favorites to reach the Big 12 Championship game in December. At least one preseason publication picked them third behind last year’s title game participants, Texas Tech and BYU.

For the Cowboys, this could be a measuring stick game. That could be a good thing or a bad thing, and it could help ruin Oklahoma State’s season.

How Houston Could Ruin OSU’s Season

Houston Cougars quarterback Conner Weigman. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

By this point in the season the Cowboys will have played five teams. Of the five, Oregon is the one game that feels like a game where Oklahoma State would be a serious underdog. In the other four games, the Cowboys should either be a favorite or a slight underdog. This will also be Oklahoma State’s third Big 12 game. The first two are against West Virginia and UCF. Those should be 50/50 games for the Cowboys.

This game won’t be. Oklahoma State will fly to Houston, and the Cowboys will be underdogs, perhaps double-digit underdogs. The Cougars will have played Texas Tech by this point and if they beat the Red Raiders, they’ll likely be undefeated and ranked the AP Top 25 after five games. Even if Houston can’t beat Tech, it should be 4-1.

This shapes up as a massive opportunity for the Cowboys. If their talent lines up with expectations they could be 4-1 as well, with the only loss to Oregon. For OSU, that would be as many wins as it has had in the past two years combined. The confidence level for the Cowboys would be high.

That’s exactly how Houston could end up ruining Oklahoma State’s season. For a Cowboys team brimming with confidence, a trip to Houston where they end up losing to the Cougars could put them in a bit of a spiral with the back half of the schedule ahead and no bye week to get a break.

That’s how a win could ruin Oklahoma State’s season, especially if it is as lopsided as last year’s 39-17 loss last October.