Five keys for Houston football against No. 24 Arizona State

Houston football looks to improve to 7-1, which is the program’s best start since 2015, and the Arizona State Sun Devils stand in their way.

The two programs will match up for the first time since the 1990 season, when Houston won 62-45 in the Tokyo Dome, in Tokyo, Japan, for the Coca-Cola Classic.

“I told our guys that everyone we play is going to be good,” coach Willie Fritz said. “We have to bring our A-game in order to be successful.”

The Cougars have five keys to victory over Arizona State that could dictate the game on Saturday night in Tempe, Ariz.

Force Arizona State to rely on inexperienced receivers

Arizona State’s coach, Kenny Dillingham, announced on Wednesday that the Sun Devils would be without their star junior wide receiver Jordyn Tyson against Houston.

That is a major issue for Arizona State, because outside of Tyson, no wide receiver has proven themselves.

The last regular-season touchdown scored by an Arizona State wide receiver other than Tyson was on Nov. 30, 2024, when sophomore wide receiver Derek Eusebio took a pass from sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt 64 yards to the house.

No other wide receiver has double-digit receptions on the season other than Tyson. Only two other players on the roster have recorded ten or more receptions: junior running back Raleek Brown with 25 and senior tight end Chamon Metayer with 21.

With Houston having a strong secondary this season, the Cougars will have to force Arizona State’s young receivers to beat them.

Contain the quarterback

In Tyson’s absence, Leavitt is the Sun Devils’ most dangerous threat on the field at all times.

This season, Leavitt has passed for 1,358 yards and nine touchdowns, while throwing only three interceptions.

Now that he has had time to recover from a nagging foot injury, the young quarterback is also a threat to run.

Through five games, Leavitt has 67 carries for 278 yards and is second on the team in rushing yards.

The Cougars’ best shot at winning this game is to pressure Leavitt and containing him in the pocket, forcing him to pass downfield.

Win the turnover battle

Fritz has preached since he arrived on campus about the importance of winning the turnover battle.

“The first component of the plan to win is to win the turnover-takeaway margin,” Fritz said. “When I’ve been plus one or better, all these different stops for 31 years as a head coach, we’ve won 91 percent of our games.”

Through seven games this season, Fritz’s statement is spot on with the results.

This season, Houston is 4-0 when leading the turnover battle, 1-0 when tied and 1-1 when losing the turnover battle.

A clear recipe for success is to take care of the ball and force turnovers, and the Cougars must do this in Saturday’s game to beat Arizona State.

Play solid 3rd and 4th down defense

Last weekend against Arizona, Houston allowed several third-and-long conversions, and the Wildcats went 2-for-3 on fourth-down attempts.

That simply won’t win this football game for the Cougars, who are facing a well-rounded Arizona State team.

Houston ranks No. 6 in the Big 12 Conference in total defense, and the Sun Devils follow at No. 7.

With two talented defensive rosters, the Cougars will have to take advantage of third and fourth-down situations to give the offense as many chances to score as possible.

Win the line of scrimmage 

The final key for Houston is to win the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

The Cougars’ run defense has been subpar most of the season, and Houston will have to win up front to stop Arizona State’s ground attack.

On the other side of the ball, Houston’s offensive line has been shaky, but they have shown a lot of improvement throughout the year.

Because of Houston’s strong offensive line performance against Arizona, the Cougars won the Big 12 Offensive Line of the Week.

Protecting junior quarterback Conner Weigman and getting a strong push up front in the run game is a key to Houston’s success against a tough Sun Devils defense.

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