“T.I.P.S.” for CU at Houston

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Colorado at Houston: “T.I.P.S.” for Buffs first Big 12 Conference Game

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The last time – and only time – Colorado has played Houston on the football field was back in 1971.

Richard Nixon was President. Don McLean’s American Pie was battling it out the last week of the year with An Old Fashioned Love Song by Three Dog Night for the title of No. 1 hit in the country.

And, on New Year’s Eve, in what was tantamount to a road game, No. 7 Colorado took down No. 15 Houston, 29-17, in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl. The win would propel CU to No. 3 in the final poll, just behind Big 8 rivals Nebraska and Oklahoma (the only time in AP poll history when three teams from the same conference have finished 1, 2, and 3).

This Friday, the Buffs return to Houston, this time to face the Cougars in their home stadium (TDECU Stadium, capacity 40,000). The Buffs opened as 3.5-point underdogs, with the line in some places jumping to 6.5-points after it was reported that Ryan Staub had been named as the starter at quarterback.

Coach Prime refused to confirm the story, but did say he wanted to play just one quarterback going forward.

So … Who will be CU’s starter at quarterback? Can the Buff defense do a better job of tackling?

Which team will emerge from Friday night’s game as a Big 12 contender … and which will be proven to be a pretender?

Let’s find out …

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“T.I.P.S” for Colorado at Houston – Friday, 5:30 p.m., MT, ESPN

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T – Talent

You heard it here first … Houston’s quarterback was rated as ESPN’s No. 1 pocket passer from the Recruiting Class of 2022.

So the Cougars have that going for them, which is nice.

Signing with Texas A&M, Conner Weigman had a roller coaster ride with the Aggies the past three seasons before transferring to Houston this past December.  Weigman went 9-4 in 13 career starts at Texas A&M, but was snakebit by injuries, limiting his opportunities. A shoulder injury forced him to miss a month last season. In 2023, a foot injury ended his season in September after a promising start that saw him complete 68.9% of his passes with eight touchdowns through four games. In 2022, he started four games as a true freshman, setting an Aggies true freshman record with 338 yards against Ole Miss, a performance that included four touchdown passes.

Overall, Weigman played 15 games at College Station, throwing for 2,694 yards and 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Despite some success at Texas A&M, Weigman decided to transfer. Weigman stated back in December, upon entering the Transfer Portal, that he hoped to find a landing spot where he could lead a team to the College Football Playoff and “fight for the national championship”. In search of that national title, Weigman left College Station and the 8-5 Aggies, and traveled all of 96 miles down to Houston, which was coming off of a 4-8 season.

Weigman is one of 30 players who transferred in this past off-season (CU brought in 33), so there are plenty of new faces on a Houston team with only four returning starters on offense, four more on defense.

One player Buff coaches need to focus on Cougar tight end Tanner Koziol. At 6’7″, Koziol should be hard to miss. Last season, at Ball State, Koziol was third in the nation with 94 catches. In two games at Houston, Koziol already has 13 catches for 115 yards and a touchdown. The speed burner on the outside to watch is Stephon Johnson, who led the team in receiving last year, and had a 74-yard touchdown last weekend against Rice.

The rushing attack is led by Dean Conners. Conners had over 1,500 yards rushing for Rice the past two seasons, then had 13 carries for 132 yards and two touchdowns against his former team last weekend.

While Houston’s offense, which was dead last in the nation in scoring last year (14.0 points per game) is a rebuild, the Cougar defense is hoping to be as good as the 2024 version.

Last fall, Houston’s defense kept the Cougars in games (25th in total defense; 40th in scoring defense), but five of the six top tacklers from the 2024 campaign are gone. The numbers through two games are promising, but the jury is still out.

Houston did shut out Stephen F. Austin, and then surrendered only nine points to Rice, with a fourth quarter touchdown by the Owls the first touchdown surrendered this season.

The numbers are positive, but the question as to whether Houston will remain one of the top defenses in the nation now that Big 12 conference play is getting underway … remains unanswered.

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I – Intangibles

Chips on their shoulders … When can a program coming off of a 31-7 win have to explain themselves to their fans?

When that team is the University of Colorado.

The Buffs defeated Delaware by a convincing final score, but anyone who watched the game was not convinced the Buffs played as a dominant program. There were mistakes on offense, a three-headed quarterback quagmire, and a defense prone to missed tackles (one report had Delaware gaining 200 yards of its 396 yards of total offense after contact).

Rather than bask in the glow of a three-touchdown win, the Buffs were again scorched in social media for a less-than-comfortable win over a team playing only its second FBS game.

Will this help the team come together for its first road game of the season? Will it give the Buffs an extra edge in preparing for the Cougars, knowing that they can’t take anything for granted?

We’ll see …

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No merry-go-rounds … At his press conference on Tuesday, Coach Prime was asked if was planning on rotating quarterbacks on Friday. His response: “I don’t want to play musical chairs at quarterback. Why would I want to come to the game and do that? It is like spinning the darn wheel. I wasn’t good at roulette.”

No follow-up on why the Buffs played musical chairs last weekend against Delaware.

“Oftentimes, what the team thinks may not be correct, oftentimes what the fans think or the media [is not correct],” Coach Prime commented about his pending QB decision. “It’s got to be what we as coaches have come to conclude what best fits us for where we’re headed.”

The underlying issue … What happens to Kaidon Salter, and, to a lesser extent, Julian Lewis, if Ryan Staub starts against Houston?

Stay tuned …

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P – Preparation/Schedule

Road Warriors (Well, not so much) … Technically, Houston has played one home game and one road game this season. The opener was at home against Stephen F. Austin, a 27-0 whitewashing of a Lumberjack team which went on to lose to Abilene Christian last weekend.

The “road” game was an inner-city rivalry game against Rice. Travel distance between the two schools: Five miles. The Cougars could have easily dressed in their home stadium locker room for the game (and perhaps they did). The game was close for much of the game, with the Cougars taking a 14-3 lead into the fourth quarter. Houston then scored 21 points (including a pick-six) in a 35-9 victory, winning the “Bayou Bucket” for the ninth time in the last ten games between the schools.

Yes, it was a “road” game for Houston, but not really.

Yes, it was a “rivalry” game for Houston, but not really (Rice hasn’t posted a winning season since 2014).

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Injury reports … This entry will be a fixture here on the website once we get to Big 12 conference play. This season, teams are required to submit injury reports a few days before each game. With categories of “Out”, “Doubtful”, “Questionable”, and “Probable”, fans will be given at least a general feel for how a roster may be affected by injuries.

This rule is only in effect for conference games, so the Houston game is the first opportunity for Buff fans to see how the new system works.

We’ll see what CU’s injury report looks like in a day or two. Coach Prime indicated at his Tuesday press conference that running back Dallan Hayden was close to being back, while wide receiver Omarion Miller is still a week or two away from being 100%.

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An Extra Day? … Both teams played last Saturday, with Houston’s road game being a road game in name only. This should give the Cougars an extra day to prepare for the Buffs, who will have to travel.

Last season, for CU’s first Big 12 road trip, the Buffs left on Wednesday of game week for the contest against Central Florida. Partly to avoid potential delays due to storm, the Buffs got an extra day to bond … and came away with a convincing 48-21 victory.

No word on whether Coach Prime is taking the Buffs to southern Texas a little early …

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S – Statistics 

Hot Turnovers … CU’s defense has generated six turnovers in the first two games, though somehow the official NCAA statistics has the Buffs with only five. Even with just five, CU is tied for sixth in the nation in turnovers gained, and tied for fourth in the country in turnover margin. The Buffs are also one of 22 teams nationally who have yet to suffer a turnover (though it’s apparently not an unusual occurrence nationally, the first two games of the 2025 season do represent the first time in school history that the Buffs have opened the season with no turnovers through two games to open the season).

Houston, in case you were wondering, is also one of the 22 teams nationally which has yet to give up a turnover (the Cougars are a +4 to start the season, with three interceptions and one fumble recovery).

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Kick Return Defense … Colorado is not only tied for first in the nation in turnovers lost, but also in kick return defense. CU is one of 14 schools nationally which has yet to have a kickoff returned. Kicker Buck Buchanan was brought in for that purpose, and is 11-for-11 in touchbacks.

Last season, Colorado had 76 kickoffs … only 15 of those made it to the end zone.

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CU’s rushing defense is offensive … Last season, Kent State was last in the nation in rushing defense, giving up 264.9 yards per game. Against Georgia Tech, the Colorado defense surrendered 320 yards rushing. That was good enough to rank CU 132nd out of 134 teams nationally.

Now, after giving up only 84 yards rushing to Delaware, CU’s rushing defense average is down to 202.0 yards per game … 121st nationally.

Stay tuned to this spot in the “T.I.P.S.”, as we chronicle CU’s season long effort to get its rushing defense ranking back to respectability.

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Prediction … 

Houston has surrendered only one touchdown in two games, but that may be as much a function of playing teams with nicknames of Lumberjacks and Owls as the prowess of the Cougar defense.

Still, points should be a premium on Friday night. The questions are: 1) Whether CU can maintain drives long enough to score; and 2) Whether CU can find a way to keep Houston’s tight end Tanner Koziol from becoming a name spoken far too often by the ESPN announcing crew.

Houston coach Willie Fritz has a history of building programs, and, by his own admission at a team press conference on Monday, he spent considerable time this summer focusing on this game.

It’s a pivotal game for each program. CU is trying to prove that it still belongs in the upper echelon of the Big 12 conference, and is better than the preseason pundits had them labeled. Houston is trying to prove that it is a program on the rise, and that a winning season and returning to a bowl game is a very realistic goal this fall.

One team will have their beliefs vindicated; the other will have their dreams take a huge hit.

I went with heart over head in picking CU to defeat Georgia Tech in the opener …

Gotta give it one more try …

Prediction … Colorado 24, Houston 20

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2025 Predictions (1-1 Straight up; 1-1 Against the spread) …

• Colorado 27, Georgia Tech 23 … Actual: Georgia Tech 27, Colorado 20
• Colorado 38, Delaware 13 … Actual: Colorado 31, Delaware 7

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2024 Predictions … (Straight up: 10-3; Against the Spread: 10-3) …
2023 Predictions … (Straight up: 8-4; Against the Spread: 7-5) …
2022 Predictions … (Straight up: 10-2; Against the Spread: 9-3) …
2021 Predictions … (Straight up: 9-3; Against the Spread: 7-5) …

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This post, about the Houston game, from the 2025 Season, is filed under Article.
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