The No. 14 Houston Cougars now face the biggest and most important game of the season. Houston takes on the No. 10 Utah Utes on a late Saturday night in its first top-15 road showdown since 1991.
The Cougars are looking to beat a top-10 team on the road for the first time in 17 years in order to stay in contention for a College Football Playoff spot and the Big 12 Championship. Houston's Week 8 matchup is also being featured on ESPN College GameDay.
How to Watch Houston vs Utah
• Who: Houston Cougars 6-1 (3-1 in Big 12) vs. Utah Utes 6-0 (3-0 in Big 12)
• What: Week 8 of the regular season
• When: Saturday, Oct. 24 at 9:15 p.m. CT
• Where: Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah
• TV/Streaming: ESPN
• TV Announcers: Tom Hart (Play-by-Play), Roddy Jones (Analyst), Quint Kessenich (Sideline)
• Radio: KPRC 950 AM, The Varsity Network- “Search Houston”, SiriusXM: 138 or 199, and on the SiriusXM App
• Radio Announcers: Kevin Eschenfelder (play-by-play), Ted Pardee (color), and Jeremy Branham (sideline reporter)
• Last Season: Houston went 10-3 and beat LSU in the Texas Bowl for its first 10-plus-win season since 2021.
• Series History: Houston leads the all-time series 5-0 and will look to remain undefeated against Utah. Four out of those five games have been played in Houston. The Cougars won the last game in 2024 at TDECU Stadium 17-14 on a game-winning field goal. This will just be the second game in Salt Lake City in this matchup. Houston hasn't played there since 1977.
Meet the Coaches
Morgan Scalley, Utah: This is Scalley's first season as Utah's head coach and is the first Utah head coach to win his first seven games and the first to win the first six games of their first full season. Scalley was an alumnus of Utah and is in his 19th year overall as a member of the coaching staff. He spent 18 years as an assistant coach, including 10 seasons as Utah’s defensive coordinator from 2016-25.
Willie Fritz, Houston: This is Fritz's third season with the Cougars, and he is 20-12 heading into this game. Fritz has 34 years of coaching experience and a 267-133-1 record overall. He was hired in Dec. 2023 from Tulane and has turned Houston into a Big 12 contender this year. Fritz led the Cougars to the largest single-season turnaround in the country last year, from four to 10 wins. Fritz has the most head-coaching experience in the Big 12 and the second-most wins in college football by an active head coach.
Matchup Odds Via DraftKings
Spread: Utah -6.5 (-120), Houston +6.5 (+100)
Over/Under: 57.5 (O -110, U -110)
Injury Report
Houston gets its top corner back in fifth-year Jalen Mayo. However, the Cougars are still missing two key players on defense. Senior linebacker Jaden Yates misses his third straight game with a leg injury and senior defensive tackle De'Marion Thomas is out for a second straight week.
Thomas is a big loss against a Utah team that loves running the ball. Seniors Sione Fotu and Carmycah Glass have a lot of experience at linebacker.
Utah is missing its starting tackle in freshman Kelvin Obot, and the Utes will also be without senior cornerback JC Hart.
What to Know About Utah
Junior running back Wayshawn Parker is one of the best running backs in the Big 12 this season with 597 yards and seven touchdowns on 6.7 yards per carry. He's someone Houston must contain.
"This guy is fast, quick. You got to get two arms, two legs or torso," Fritz said.
Additionally, Utah's offense features a lot of different components in the backfield and various run options. Senior quarterback Devon Dampier has also been effective through the air.
"They'll play with two quarterbacks back there. They'll play with three tight ends. They do a lot of stuff. The main thing is you've got to line up right. If you line up right, you've got a chance. If you don't, there's going to be some problems," Fritz said.
Utah has a top four defense in the conference according to the numbers, but the Utes haven't faced a team with a winning record yet.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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