Houston leans on ground game, big plays to beat Oregon State 33-20

For all that Houston football did well in its 33-20 win over Oregon State Saturday afternoon, it knows what was left on the table.

“There’s a lot of correctable mistakes that we made. We’re going to get better,” coach Willie Fritz said after the game. “Everybody has a goal of getting better from week one to week two.”

Ten penalties were issued against Houston, seven offensively and three defensively.

Fritz partially blamed himself for some of the miscues, saying Houston didn’t tackle much during fall camp out of caution, and that it showed up “quite a bit” on Saturday. 

Oregon State managed a total of 402 yards of offense, including 376 passing yards from sophomore quarterback Braden Atkinson.

Houston, which entered the season looking for more takeaways, lost the turnover battle 2-0.

The Cougars had several chances to record their first interception of the season but couldn’t secure one.

“I thought our tackling wasn’t real crisp. There were simple kinds of pass concepts, route concepts, that we didn’t do a very good job of covering and denying. Lost leverage a few times,” Fritz said.

The Cougars did record four sacks, including two by junior safety Javion White, who had one near the beginning and end of the game.

Houston had fewer issues offensively, accumulating 533 yards of total offense. It was the most it’s had in a season-opener since totaling 577 in a 45-27 win over Rice on Sept. 1, 2018. 

The running back duo of senior Makhi Hughes and junior Re’Shaun Sanford II accounted for 173 of those yards.

Hughes watched most of his 2025 season with Oregon from the sidelines, receiving little opportunity and ultimately redshirting after back-to-back 1,300+ yard seasons at Tulane.

Sanford, primed for a bigger role last year, tore his ACL during fall camp, forcing him to sit out with injury for the second time in three years.

With over six minutes remaining in the second quarter, he broke free on a handoff for a 56-yard touchdown. It was a score nearly two years in the making.

He could hardly contain the excitement, skipping through the end zone and celebrating with teammates as he gave Houston a 16-7 lead.

“I saw a whole lot of green grass, and I just started running,” Sanford said. “I looked up at the Jumbotron to see if anyone was trailing me, and I just kept running. It was a full burst of excitement at that point.”

He finished with 14 carries for 75 rushing yards, the second-most he’s had in a game in his career.

Hughes tallied 98 rushing yards of his own, comfortably surpassing his entire season total from 2025, and added a rushing touchdown midway through the third quarter.

“It’s been a real blessing to be able to work with Makhi,” Sanford said. “I’ve learned a lot of stuff from him. He’s taught me a lot of things. We bounce ideas off each other a whole bunch.”

Though Houston isn’t looking for senior quarterback Conner Weigman to be its second-leading rusher in 2026, he’s able to extend plays when necessary, as he rushed for 30 yards and a late-game touchdown.

Weigman threw for 305 yards, with his lone touchdown going to his top target, senior wide receiver Amare Thomas, who recorded 133 receiving yards on eight catches.

Their 37-yard connection on a contested jump ball with just over six minutes remaining helped put Houston on the doorstep of winning.

“He’s bigger than you think,” Fritz said of Thomas. “He’s almost 210 pounds. Got great strength. He does a good job of using his off arm as a weapon, not allowing people to get to him and stiff-arm him.”

Junior tight end Patrick Overmyer hauled in a career-high 84 yards on six receptions in his Houston debut.

Next, Houston will welcome Southern University to TDECU on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 6 p.m.