The Houston Cougars and Texas Tech Red Raiders face off Friday night in a matchup between two undefeated, nationally ranked programs to open the college football season.
Houston enters the game at 2-0 and ranked 22nd in the country. The Cougars opened their season against Oregon State before beating the Southern Jaguars last week. Quarterback Conner Weigman has thrown for 425 yards and four touchdowns through two games, with one interception. Running backs Makhi Hughes and Reshaun Sanford have combined for 242 yards and four touchdowns on 40 carries.
Texas Tech is 2-0 as well and ranked 13th nationally. The Red Raiders opened with a 33-10 win over Abilene Christian, then beat Oregon State 35-24 in a closer contest. Through two games, Texas Tech has attempted 62 passes and 86 rushes, gaining 495 passing yards and 328 rushing yards, a more balanced offensive attack than Houston has shown so far.
Both teams share Oregon State as a common opponent this season, offering a limited but useful point of comparison. Houston beat Oregon State 33-20, while Texas Tech beat the same team 35-24. Combining scoring totals from those two games puts the numbers at 53 and 59 points.
Based on those results, both teams’ offenses appear to be ahead of their defenses early in the season, with both quarterbacks and both rushing attacks expected to factor into Friday’s outcome.
