# Houston Cougars

Big 12 · TDECU Stadium, Houston, TX
Head coach: Willie Fritz · year 3 · 14-11 at HOU · 86-65 career over 13 seasons
Offense: Spread · Defense: 4-2-5

## 2026 outlook

- 2025 record: 10-3 (6-3 in conference), final AP rank #22
- National title odds: +30000 (#31 on the futures board)
- Season win total: 8.5 (over priced +112)
- Returning starter games: 52%
- Schedule difficulty: 89th-hardest of 138 FBS teams

## Returning production by unit

| Unit | Returning games | Games back | Depth back |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Skill offense | 51% | 37/73 | 7/14 |
| Offensive line | 41% | 26/63 | 7/15 |
| Defensive front | 56% | 50/89 | 11/20 |
| Secondary | 60% | 39/65 | 8/13 |

## Roster movement

- Key returning: Conner Weigman (QB), Will James (DB), Brandon Mack II (LB), Amare Thomas (WR), Alvin Ebosele (OL)
- Key departures (with destination): Eddie Walls III (DL), Marc Stampley II (DB), Wrook Brown (DB), Dean Connors (RB), Corey Platt Jr. (LB) – TTU
- Key arrivals (with previous school): Trent Walker (WR) – ORST, Patrick Overmyer (TE) – UTSA, Makhi Hughes (RB) – ORE, Luke Carney (QB) – SYR, Shadre Hurst (OL) – TULN

## Depth chart

### Offense

- WR-X: Koby Young, Harvey Broussard III, Tyson Turner
- WR-Z: Trent Walker, Muizz Tounkara
- WR-SL: Amare Thomas, Jaquise Martin
- LT: Alvin Ebosele, Ronnell McLain
- LG: Shadre Hurst, Larry Crawford
- C: Anthony Boswell
- RG: McKenzie Agnello, Hingano Hautau
- RT: Drew Terrill, Hayden Wright
- TE: Patrick Overmyer, Traville Frederick Jr., Kaleb Thomas
- QB: Conner Weigman, Keisean Henderson, Luke Carney
- RB: Makhi Hughes, Re'Shaun Sanford II, DJ Butler

### Defense

- DE: Ashton Porter, Travis Buhake, Darius Washington
- NT: Ejiro Egodogbare, De'Marion Thomas, Myles Parker
- DT: Khalil Laufau, Quindario Lee
- JACK: Brandon Mack II, Latreveon McCutchin, Chance Bryant
- WLB: Jaden Yates, Miller Malone, Christian Brathwaite
- MLB: Sione Fotu, Carmycah Glass, Richmond Ugochukwu
- LCB: Will James, JD Rhym
- SS: Kentrell Webb, C.J. Douglas
- FS: Jordan Allen, Johnsley Barbas
- RCB: Jalen Mayo, Keany Parks
- NB: Javion White, Paris Melvin Jr., Alvin Williamson Jr.

### Special Teams

- PT: Liam Dougherty, Jack Raney
- PK: Evan Noel, Jonathan Dimas
- KO: Zac Yoakam, Jonathan Dimas
- LS: Jack Carson-Wentz, Weston Edwards, Anthony Saragusa
- H: Jake Sock
- PR: Trent Walker, Paris Melvin Jr., DJ Butler
- KR: Jaquise Martin, Paris Melvin Jr., Keany Parks
- INJ: Luke McGary

## 2026 schedule

| Week | Opponent | Site | TV | Spread |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Oregon State | Home | ESPN | HOU -20.5 |
| 2 | Southern University Jaguars (FCS) | Home | ESPN+ | – |
| 3 | Texas Tech | Away | FOX | HOU +12.5 |
| 4 | Georgia Southern | Away | – | – |
| 5 | UCF | Home | – | – |
| 6 | Kansas State | Away | – | – |
| 7 | Oklahoma State | Home | – | – |
| 8 | Utah | Away | – | – |
| 10 | Cincinnati | Home | – | – |
| 11 | Colorado | Away | ESPN | – |
| 12 | West Virginia | Away | – | – |
| 13 | Baylor | Home | – | – |

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Source: SharpData OS – https://www.sharpdataos.com/cfb/teams/houston
Depth chart updated 2026-08-11. Odds shown are point-in-time snapshots.