Houston defensive back Kentrell Webb (8) celebrates wth the team after blocking a pass from SFA during the second half of an NCAA football game, Thursday, Aug 28, 2025, in Houston, Texas. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar
All summer long, coach Willie Fritz’s message has been “Houston 2025.”
It signals the program’s focus on the present and how every season is one of change in the transfer portal era of college football.
And nothing captured that better than junior quarterback Conner Weigman finding tight end Tanner Koziol on the Cougars’ first touchdown of the season — two transfers showing just how different Houston looks this fall.
The different look did deliver a different result, in the form of a 27-0 shutout over Stephen F. Austin, the team’s first home-opening shutout since 1989.
20 of those 27 points were all due to newcomers on the team.
Weigman’s 11-yard pass to a wide-open Koziol in the end zone 10 minutes into the game, and a 20-yard touchdown to former Alabama-Birmingham wide receiver junior Amare Thomas about six minutes into the second half, extended Houston’s lead to 24-0.
When he officially transferred back home to Houston in December, Weigman came in with the lofty expectation of elevating Houston’s offense to new heights.
In his Houston debut, he did just that. Weigman delivered 159 passing yards and three touchdowns, a feat not done by a Cougar quarterback all of last season.
And when he wasn’t throwing, he was keeping plays alive with his legs, with juke maneuvers and 27-yard scrambles, like the one that set up sophomore running back J’Marion Burnette’s 39-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
He and his offense were also a spotless 3-for-3 in the end zone, converting all their opportunities into touchdowns, a stark contrast to 2024 when the team failed to capitalize in those exact moments.
“We want to get touchdowns instead of field goals. We do a lot of competition against each other and really dive into what the team does in the red zone,” Fritz said. “We try different tactics like making them play left-handed.”
While Houston’s newcomers flipped last season’s script on offense, the reconfigured defense followed the same one the 2024 team left behind.
The Cougars limited SFA to 144 total yards of offense, eight forced punts and seven total first downs. They came away with two interceptions, both by transfer defensive backs in senior Marc Stampley II and junior C.J. Douglas.
“On the third level, we got our hands on a lot of balls. We could’ve maybe had six or seven, but a bunch in and out of our hands,” Fritz said. “They did a nice job and our corners did a nice job staying over the top.”
The entire secondary’s performance earned praise from Fritz, including returning veterans like senior cornerback Latrell McCutchin Sr. and the rest of the transfers that make up the new-look group.
“You talked about Zelmar Vedder and Will James; they are outstanding. Keany Parks got in there a little bit, so we’ve got four guys who we feel like can play Big 12 winning football,” Fritz said.”
Despite the different cast, it was a continuation of the Big 12’s fourth-ranked defense last season and the same mindset they carry for all 60 minutes of the game, regardless of score.
“We wanted to treat it like it was 0-0 the whole time. Especially on defense,” Stampley said. “That’s just our mindset. We just wanted to keep our foot down and hold them to zero.
Even in the special teams unit, transfers played a heavy hand.
Senior kicker Ethan Sanchez’s 43-yard field goal with 14 minutes remaining in the fourth was the final score, and one of two 40-yarders en route to UH’s first shutout since they thrashed Grambling 45-0 in 2021.
Houston will next make the cross-town drive to take on Rice on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 6:00 p.m. in what will be the final Bayou Bucket showdown in the foreseeable future.
sports@thedailycougar.com
