Jamal Morris (25) embraces Donovan Smith (1) during a NCAA football game against Iowa State on Sept. 28, 2024 in Houston Texas. | Gillian Wisniewski/The Cougar
Houston football, who is 4-5 looks to win three games in a row and bring their record back to .500 with a Friday night matchup against the Arizona Wildcats, who are 3-6 on the road in Tucson, Ariz. after a bye week.
Cougars on a roll
After their second bye week, UH looks to pick up where they left off with victories in back-to-back games.
Quarterback Zeon Chriss had a big game vs No. 17 Kansas State and finished 11/11 passing to become the first Houston quarterback in school history to have a perfect completion percentage with 10 or more attempts.
Chriss was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week for his winning effort. The Cougars had their highest-ranked win in seven seasons since beating No. 17 South Florida in 2017 with the 24-19 win over Kansas State.
Houston’s defense has stood out throughout the year, ranked 24th nationally after being 104th last season.
The team is making strides on special teams, with freshman punter Liam Dougherty earning special teams player of the week for his performance vs Kansas State.
Houston has also improved their running game with two rushing touchdowns in the last two games. UH has run for 1208 yards over the last seven games and ranks 23rd in rushing among Power Four schools, even with a trio of freshman running backs.
“I think they can all play at his level, and they’re doing a great job,” coach Willie Fritz said.
A winnable game
Houston leads the all-time series vs Arizona 3-1. The teams’ last matchup came in 2018 in the form of a 45-18 win at TDECU Stadium.
The Wildcats have not won a game since Sept.28 vs Utah and are on a five-game losing streak.
Arizona is currently 2-4 at home and coming off a 56-12 beating at UCF. This game offers a great opportunity for the Cougars to make a statement win on the road.
Arizona ranks 14th in the Big 12 in total offense and defense and 13th in both rushing offense and defense.
Arizona sophomore quarterback Noah Fifita currently ranks fifth in passing in the conference, but Houston has the potential to limit them and take on a weak Wildcats defense.
“They’ve got a super experienced quarterback and one of the best wide receivers in the country,” Fritz said. “They got multiple defensive packages, so we’ve got to do a good job of looking at our keys and clues to predetermine what we’re going to do.”
Rising expectations
The Cougars beat the top two preseason favorites of the Big 12 in the last two weeks in Utah and Kansas State.
A victory vs Arizona would propel Houston one win away from bowl eligibility with two more games left. This potential three-game win streak would also be their longest since Oct. 7-29, 2022.
With momentum on their side after two huge wins, Houston’s chances to play meaningful football in the last few weeks are legit.
Fritz has this team in a position many did not think possible at the start of the year. Houston was projected to finish 15th in the Big 12 standings out of 16 and what was rated the hardest schedule in the conference.
Currently, the Cougars are 11th and can continue to rise if they have their fourth Big 12 win in the last five games.
Their bowl hopes are still alive, needing six wins to clinch a bid. A win against Arizona is vital since they will round out their season with a matchup against another ranked and currently undefeated opponent BYU.
“Our morale was down, so we got that win against Utah, that boosted our morale. Then we came together and said we can do this,” senior linebacker Jamal Morris said. “I’m proud of the guys for the way we stuck together and understood the assignment and knowing the season is not over.”
The game will kick of at 9:15 p.m. at Arizona Stadium and will be streamed on FS1.
