Houston stormed back from 14 points down in the final six minutes before sealing a 27–24 overtime win at Oregon State.
Willie Fritz reacts to Houston’s epic road victory over Oregon State in overtime thriller originally appeared on The Sporting News
The Houston Cougars staged one of the most improbable comebacks of the young season, rallying from a 14-point deficit in the final six minutes to stun Oregon State 27–24 in overtime.
Head coach Willie Fritz said the win revealed the resilience of his team. “All just we’re really proud of the guys,” Fritz explained. “Super job on the coaches, you know, being levelheaded there at the end of the game when a bunch of stuff was going on. We had to find a different path to be successful offensively. Having a little trouble running the ball and we started throwing the ball successfully and that allowed us to run it there at the end of the game also.”
Quarterback Conner Weigman delivered in the clutch, completing 20 of 36 passes for 270 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a 50-yard strike to Tanner Koziol that tied the game late. Koziol finished with 6 receptions for 86 yards, while Amare Thomas led all Houston receivers with 6 catches for 104 yards. Running back Dean Connors chipped in with 17 carries for 53 yards and 4 catches for 33 more, while wideout Stephon “Boogie” Johnson added 44 yards and a score on just two receptions. On the ground, Houston was limited to just 84 total rushing yards, but timely carries from Connors and DJ Butler kept drives alive down the stretch.
Fritz pointed to all three phases. “Had a little bit of all three phases. Defense came up with some huge plays, special teams two field goal blocks, great job on that. And then obviously offense who really put it together. Huge play by Tanner, a couple good runs by Dean Connors there…guys did a fantastic job. It’s a hard win. We didn’t play real good in the first half particularly offensively, but we started putting it together in the fourth quarter when we needed it. Thank goodness.”
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— Houston Football (@UHCougarFB) September 27, 2025
Down 24–10 with just over six minutes left, Houston turned to tempo. “We were doing a good job going fast,” Fritz said. “They were having a hard time rushing the passer and they were playing some zones. There were some spots in there and we had a couple man matchups. Boogie Johnson did a nice job of catching that cobalt to make it 24–17. I thought Amare came up with some big catches. I thought Conner really got better as the game progressed…and pretty darn good protection by the offensive line in that fourth quarter.”
The comeback was sealed in overtime by kicker Ethan Sanchez, who drilled the decisive field goal. “It looks easy, but you got the whole team on your back,” Fritz said. “He did a great job. I had called time out, [and] we kind of gave him a practice kick and then he hit it through the uprights on the next one. That’s why we got him here. He’s a clutch little kicker. He’s got great range and a lot of experience.”
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