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Friday Fast Facts – Houston Week
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Leading off …
— Your “T.I.P.S” for Colorado at Houston, my weekly written preview, along with my predictions for CU’s first road game of the season, can be found here.
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The Big Picture …
— Calling Houston home … CU is playing Houston for the first time ever in the regular season, but there are plenty of former Buffs who have made the trek from Houston to Boulder in the past. NFL Hall of Famer Cliff Branch is from Houston, while the H-Boys from Houston – defensive linemen Kanavis McGhee, Art Walker and Alfred Williams – wreaked havoc on opponent defenses in the Bill McCartney Era, with Alfred Williams winning the Butkus Award in 1990. Other prominent Houston Buffs include 1994 Thorpe Award winner Chris Hudson, NFL All-Pro defensive back Michael Lewis, NFL All-Pro and current offensive line coach Andre Gurode, fan favorite running back Lawrence Vickers, and many more.
— Watch the scoreboard … With the 31 points scored against Delaware, CU is now 9-0 in the Coach Prime era when scoring 30 or more points;
— How many more sell outs? … Home games against Georgia Tech (52,868) and Delaware (50,341) are in the books as sellouts (Folsom’s official capacity: 50,183). Next weekend’s home game against Wyoming has already been declared a sellout.
What about the Houston game? Houston’s home field, TDECU Stadium, has a listed capacity of 40,000. Houston’s home opener against Stephen F. Austin drew a crowd of 28,150, which is about the size of crowd Houston attracted last season for home games (27,423 average). Last season, Houston had only one game with over 30,000 in attendance, that being the finale against Baylor (34,166), a rival 183 miles up Highway 6.
But this is CU and Coach Prime … so a sellout of 40,000 is expected;
— The ESPN Power Index … Last weekend, with the CU a 23.5-point favorite over Delaware, the Buffs were given a 93.5% chance of winning by the ESPN Power Index, with the Blue Hens given only a 6.5% chance at victory. This Friday, CU is somewhere between a 3.5-point and 6.5-point underdog. The ESPN Power Index has Houston with a 57.9% chance at winning; with CU given a 42.1% chance;
— Homer broadcaster alert … The game will be telecast nationally by ESPN, with Anish Shroff on play-by-play, former Houston quarterback Andre Ware on color, and Paul Carcaterra on the sidelines … 850 KOA radio will have Mark Johnson with the play-by-play, and former CU head coach Gary Barnett as the analyst.
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Player Notes …
— Nice pickup … CU signed 33 transfers this past off-season. Arguably the transfer who is having the best season so far for the Buffs is punter Damon Greaves, who came to Boulder from the Kansas Jayhawks. After two games, Greaves is leading the Big 12, and is 12th nationally, with a 47.6 yard punting average. Greaves also has five punts inside the 20, and three inside the ten.
— More kicking … Buck Buchanan, picked up to handle kickoff duties, has earned his keep. Last season, CU had only 15 of 76 kickoffs go for touchbacks. Through two games in 2025, Buchanan is 11-for-11 in sending kickoffs through the end zone.
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— Colorado and Houston – head-to-head …
— The one and only time CU and Houston have met previously on the gridiron was in the 1971 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl Classic, played in the Astrodome.
Colorado sophomore tailback Charlie Davis returned to his hometown and ripped host Houston for a whopping 202 yards on 37 carries as the Buffs defeated the Cougars, 29-17. Davis scored twice and was a one-man show in the first half. CU marched 70 yards in nine plays on the games first possession, and thanks to a 27-yard run by Davis, took a 7-0 lead less than four minutes into the game. After a pair of Robert Newhouse runs spotted Houston a 14-7 after the first quarter, but CU answered with a 16-point second quarter. A touchdown pass of five yards from Ken Johnson to Larry Brunson, a 32-yard field goal by J. B. Dean, and another touchdown run by Davis enabled the Buffs to take the nine-point halftime lead.
Houston, behind the running of Newhouse, roared back to narrow the margin to 23-17 with 2:16 left in the third quarter as Mike Terrell kicked a 29-yard field goal. Newhouse, who lost out to Davis for the game’s MVP Award, had 168 yards on 35 carries and also scored twice.
Safety John Stearns was a Colorado hero in the fourth period, making one of the gutsiest fourth down plays in school history. On a fourth-and-nine from the Buff 10, he surprised everyone, including the Buff coaching staff, by sprinting 12 yards for a crucial first down after Houston had turned the momentum around and narrowed the margin to just a touchdown on the Terrell field goal. Stearns then knocked down a sure touchdown pass on fourth down with the Cougars at the Buff nine-yard line. The Buffs turned that one around and marched for the clinching tally with 3:48 left in the game.
CU finished the season with a 10-2 mark, its only setbacks coming at the hands of national champion Nebraska and to No. 2 Oklahoma. In the Associated Press poll, the Buffs rose to No. 3 in the final balloting with the victory over No. 15 Houston (9-3), marking the first and only time one conference had three schools finish 1-2-3.
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— Colorado and Houston … Notes and Numbers
— Historically, not much of a contest … Houston has only been playing football since 1946, so all of the all-time numbers favor Colorado (e.g., CU has 733 all-time wins; Houston has 478). But, even when comparable numbers are viewed, CU has the edge (all-time winning percentage – CU: .570; Houston: .542).
Sadly, with CU’s winning drought over the past few decades, Houston has caught CU in bowl appearances. With the Alamo Bowl trip for the Buffs in 2024, and a 4-8 season for the Cougars, CU retook the all-time advantage in bowl appearances over Houston: 31-to-30.
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Big 12 Notes …
— Three Big 12 teams ranked … The Big 12 Conference is down to three football programs in the latest Associated Press Top 25, with No. 12 Arizona State falling out of the poll after falling to SEC bottom-feeder Mississippi State.
- Iowa State, now the Big 12 standard-bearer, is up to No. 14 after defeating in-state rival Iowa last weekend;
- Utah and Texas Tech are the only other Big 12 teams ranked, coming in at No. 20 and No. 21. Arizona State (No. 26) and BYU (No. 27) are just outside the poll (BYU actually joined the USA Today poll this week, coming in at No. 25).
— Big 12 This-and-That …
- Arizona and BYU are the only FBS teams in the nation yet to surrender a touchdown. Houston, which has given up only one touchdown, is tied with Arizona for 4th in the nation in scoring defense (4.5 ppg), while BYU, having given up only one field goal in two games (1.5 ppg.) is tied for first nationally;
- The Big 12 has gone a combined 66-0 against FCS teams since 2019, the only FBS conference to go undefeated against the FCS during that span;
- The Big 12 is home to the only two programs to play 11 games against Power Four opponents this season: Baylor and TCU;
— Big 12 lines … From DraftKings.com …
Friday, September 12th
- Colorado at Houston … 5:30 p.m., MT, ESPN … Houston is a 4.5-point home favorite (the line has bounced between 3.5 and 6.5-points over the course of the week) …
- Kansas State at Arizona … 7:00 p.m., MT, Fox … Arizona is a 1.5-point home underdog … (this previously scheduled game is being played as a non-conference game) …
Saturday, September 13th
- Samford at Baylor … 10:00 a.m., MT, ESPN+ … no line
- Oregon State at Texas Tech … 1:30 p.m., MT, Fox … Texas Tech is a 24.5-point home favorite …
- Pittsburgh at West Virginia … 1:30 p.m., MT, ESPN … West Virginia is a 2.0-point home underdog …
- Northwestern State at Cincinnati … 1:30 p.m., MT, ESPN+ … no line
- Iowa State at Arkansas State … 2:00 p.m., MT, ESPN2 … Iowa State is a 21.5-point road favorite …
- Utah at Wyoming … 6:00 p.m., MT, CBSSN … Utah is a 22.5-point road favorite …
- Abilene Christian at TCU … 6:00 p.m., MT, ESPN+ … no line
- Texas State at Arizona State … 8:30 p.m., MT, TNT … Arizona State is a 14.5-point home favorite …
- Idle … BYU … Oklahoma State … UCF … Kansas …
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