No. 14 Houston comes up short against No. 10 Utah as Big 12 title hopes take a hit

A win over No. 10 Utah would have put No. 14 Houston firmly in the College Football Playoff conversation, and at the top of the Big 12 Conference standings by percentage points, on a day when No. 2 BYU and No. 8 Texas Tech both fell on the road.

Instead, Houston’s pursuit of a Big 12 championship suffered another setback, falling to Utah 21-13 at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday night.

A late-game, blindside hit forced fifth-year quarterback Conner Weigman to fumble with Houston trailing 14-13.

Just over a month earlier, Weigman came inches short of turning a 28-26 loss at then-No. 13 Texas Tech into a tie and potentially sending the game into overtime.

Both times, Houston was just a few plays away.

Neither time was close enough.

“It sucks. We left too many plays out there,” Weigman said to reporters in Salt Lake City. “We have to make some more plays to win a game against a team like that.”

Weigman and Houston’s offense attempted to rally, down 21-13 with just over two minutes remaining.

The Cougars reached Utah’s 25-yard line following a 41-yard reception by junior wide receiver Koby Young, but couldn’t draw any closer after four consecutive incomplete passes.

Weigman’s usual passing efficiency was absent as he completed just 54 percent of his 35 attempts.

Despite two high-powered offenses, gridlock lasted nearly the entire first half, and Houston finally broke it with a 24-yard field goal with 3:44 remaining.

Houston opened the second half with a 15-play drive that lasted over eight minutes. Senior running back Makhi Hughes ran in a 2-yard score to make it 10-0.

It was the lone touchdown on the day for a Cougar offense that entered averaging 39.3 points per game.

“A bunch of plays we’d like to have back, but unfortunately that’s not the way it works,” coach Willie Fritz said.

That applied to both sides of the football.

Missed tackles hadn’t cost Houston through the first 30 minutes, but that wouldn’t last much longer.

Senior quarterback Devon Dampier, who finished with 204 passing yards and 150 rushing yards, commanded a five-play, 75-yard drive to swiftly cut Houston’s lead to three.

Earlier in the week, Fritz mentioned Utah’s offensive creativity, including its ability to use Dampier as both a passer and runner.

“We missed way too many tackles,” Fritz said. “There were some times where we had an opportunity to vice tackle; we had an outside guy and an inside guy. We didn’t make the tackle. We had a couple of times to get them down, and we didn’t.”

Utah took its first lead early in the fourth quarter when running back junior Wayshawn Parker scored on a 5-yard touchdown run, putting the Utes ahead 14-13.

Trailing midway through the fourth quarter, Houston appeared poised to reclaim momentum when senior edge rusher Latreveon McCutchin intercepted Dampier.

Houston’s offense, however, was forced into a three-and-out on its next drive, which began with fifth-year quarterback Conner Weigman taking a 10-yard sack.

After Weigman’s fumble at Houston’s 9-yard line, the Utes quickly reached the end zone, keeping the Cougars from using their final timeout and leaving them with over two minutes.

“They blocked it up good, and they scored,” Fritz said. “We still had timeouts. We had time to work with.”

Weigman was sacked three times on the night, tied for the most he’s taken in a game this season.

“It’s tough. We usually do a pretty good job of protection,” Fritz said. “Unfortunately we didn’t… that’s something we’ve been pretty good at, all season long.”

Weigman played the majority of the game without one of his top receiving targets, senior tight end Patrick Overmyer, who exited in the first quarter with an upper-body injury.

Fritz did not have an update on Overmyer following the game.

Overmyer’s absence was felt in the red zone, particularly in the first half, where Houston could only muster three points on two trips deep into Utah territory.

“He’s been a great weapon in the red zone,” Fritz said. “Obviously we weren’t able to have him down there. We still need to score. Get some points out of it. We didn’t. We didn’t take advantage of that great field position.”

Five of Houston’s drives ended in Utah territory.

Only one ended in a touchdown.

Houston now turns to its bye week, entering at 6-2 and 3-2 in conference play before welcoming Cincinnati at TDECU Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 7.

“We’ve just got to rebound; we’ve got to learn from our mistakes and get better,” Fritz said. “We can’t repeat them.”