The Basics

Teams: Houston Cougars (2-0, 0-0) vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders (2-0, 0-0)
Date & Time: Friday, September 18, 2026 @ 7:00 p.m.
Location: Galaxy Stadium | Lubbock, Texas
TV & Streaming: FOX
Line: Texas Tech -7.5 Open at -13

Willie Fritz is everyone’s darling, he seems to be beloved, and why not considering what he did at Tulane. However, when multiple coaches do the same thing, like Fritz and John Sumrall, you begin to wonder if the fact that Tulane might be a pretty good place to coach with all of that leftover LSU talent. And make no mistake, that’s not a criticism, might as well go to places where there is loads of talent.

Offensive coordinator Slade Nagle showed well pretty much all of last year, just from watching a bit last week of Oregon State and Houston, the Cougars are a physical team and Weigman sort of leads the charge on that front. He’s a tough quarterback that fits Fritz and Nagle’s system quite well. Austin Armstrong is the defensive coordinator and he’s sort of running what everyone else is running, which is 4 down linemen, two linebackers and versatile players in the defensive backfield.

This has nothing to do with anything, but if you enjoy music try listening to an album all the way through. Exactly as the artist intended, though all of the good songs and all of the bad songs. I’ve been doing that rather than setting up on a playlist and there are times you want to skip ahead, but I just sort of stick through it.

The News:

Texas Tech Football: Game preview & Game Notes

Texas Tech Football: Karoll named Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week

Houston Chronicle’s Joseph Duarte: UH faces another deep, reloaded Texas Tech defense in a crucial Big 12 opener

A year later, UH coach Willie Fritz expects another formidable challenge from a Red Raiders defense that returns several key pieces from their Big 12 championship team and added several impact transfers.

“They’ve got a really, really talented defensive line,” said Fritz, whose No. 23 Cougars open Big 12 play against the No. 13 Red Raiders on Friday in Lubbock.

CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah: Texas Tech’s Will Hammond waited his turn, and now it’s time to deliver in showdown vs. Houston

“I think he’s got to trust,” McGuire said postgame. “You got to turn the ball loose. It’s not always going to be perfect pictures. We had some shots downfield that we didn’t get thrown that were tight coverage, but they weren’t necessarily covered. We want to give our guys, our playmakers, some chances to make plays.”

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams: Here’s how Texas Tech football tackles short-week challenge | Williams

Tech players normally have their NCAA-mandated day off on Monday before the heaviest game-prep days on Tuesday and Wednesday.

This week, they lose one of those heavy prep days with one less day in full pads. On Monday, instead of practicing in full pads as they normally would four days before a game, the Red Raiders were going in helmets and spider pads, the lighter, thinner, foam version of shoulder pads.

The Non-Transcript: From head coach Joey McGuire.

Scout Team Players of the Week:

Offense: JJ May
Defense: Cord Nolan
Special Teams: Aaron Bradshaw

• Weird playing on Friday night, wish all of the Texas high school coaches luck. Will wear THCS hat before the game. This is a sellout, going to be a great game. Go to class in the morning, no class in the afternoon and get ready for the game Friday night. Houston is a great football team, Miami, LSU, Texas, Indiana, but Houston jumps off the page with the effort they give. Have good friends on that staff, Shawn Bell. Doesn’t surprise me their quarterback plays at a great level, will have our hands full.
• Getting BJ Jordan back. Trey White and Terrance Carter had good runs this morning and are trending in the right direction. TC will get some scout periods this afternoon. Three big time playmakers that we’re hoping to have back.
• Got back at 4:30 a.m. and probably got in bad at 5:00, started our day at 2:00 p.m. Today we will shorten the practice and a a lot of scout team stuff. Playing on Friday is already tough and playing a road game. Houston had a big benefit, but you have to play the game, Houston starters were basically done at halftime. Have challenged our guys to be ready to go.
• The running game is not as far off, if you rush for 150 yards or more, you’re rushing the ball well in college football. Not as well as we thought it would be. We need to play better. Part of the reason we gave up so much in the secondary, we didn’t affect the throw and hit him, that’s one thing we have to do and create more pressure on the quarterback. Especially Weigman, he’s dual threat and have to contain him, but also get him off his mark.
• Brendan Jordan has played a lot of football and been the voice. He’s staying ready and was helping the young guys on the sideline. Training periods he went up against the 1st string offense and giving our offense a look. He’s ready to go and excited.
• Tommy Castellanos, want to improve on the red zone, we were 3 for 3, his role will increase, it’s nothing that Will is not doing, when you get in the red zone and make them play 11-on-11, will continue to see if we can grow that package.
• Biggest things on the offense, the throw to Coy Eakin, we gave one of our playmakers the chance to make a play, same play with Cam Dickey on a wheel route, and you have to make that throw and allow your playmakers to make plays. You have to stress the defense, doesn’t matter if it is complete or not, you have to stress the secondary. We also have to sustain our blocks, our 3rd play of the game, our running back wasn’t on the safety. Huge emphasis this week and have to do that mentally and physically. On the defensive side of the ball, have to pressure the quarterback, we had some bad eyes, but if you don’t have body contact with the receiver you can’t look back for the ball.
• Houston doesn’t get enough credit in recruiting, they had the #1 quarterback in the nation, we had the 5th rated and they had the 6th. These guys are really good. They retained the right guys and they are playing their best football. Getting their running back back, they got the right guys in and have an NFL tight end. Willie has won everywhere he’s gone. I like their coordinators and
• Will Hammond, the good is he’s 70% completion rate and is very accurate. He’s run at different times and starting to feel more comfortable, we have to help him with play calling and the pass to Coy was to take a vertical shot. We have not caused turnovers at the rate we need to, but the two from Will are inexcusable. I think for his 5th start, he’s doing really well. He’s working his tail off, here this morning going over the morning game plan and he’ll be prepared.
• I was texting Jacob Rodriguez and Caleb Rogers, Jacob wants to win, lots would have been proud of that performance, but he wasn’t okay with the loss. David Bailey had a sack and 6 pressures, Lee Hunter had 6 tackles. Caleb Douglas was great. Rogers texted and said it was great to see all of the guys. Tyler Owens made a great special teams play. Of the 18 active guys, 14 played for this coaching staff and I’m proud of him.
• 1941 was the last Friday night game. You play high school football on Friday night and we need our student section there to be there early and loud. No disrespect to anyone we’ve played last year, Houston may be the best team we’ve played in 2 years, we are going to have to match their passion.
• Our plan to win, we had a lot of ties and we had some we won, we won 3rd down and 4th down and touchdowns in the red zone, you win 79% of your games if you win the last 8 minutes. Don’t beat yourself, including crimes against hte family, one was iffy and not sure who saw that, Micah is trying to help the guy up. It is what it is and the one on Quinten Joyner is totally unacceptable. That was the big thing with those two plays, both of them were critical and could have cost us the game.
• Oregon State kid is leading the nation in receiving, the quarterback is close to 800 yards. GAme plan wise they did a great job, and put people in bad situations. Amari Thomas is a bad dude and the most targeted in the country. We need to know where he is, it will be important to see where he is.
• LaDamion Guyton, thought he did a good job, I thought he did a good job for his first game. He ran to the football well. He wants to get to the quarterback, Guyton has been just here for camp and will continue to help us. He was in on some tackles. He wants to chase the football and plays with a high motor.
• Moose Ludwig, was fired up for him. The stage is not too big for Ludwig and Guyton, he did get a couple of “welcome to college football” plays and Jett got plays. We played a lot of 10 personnel, thought Coy did a good job of some things that TC does in the run game.
• I think the staff graded the film on the way back. We have have broken down the first 4 opponents, we had a good idea on things they were going to do.
• Spiders today, pads tomorrow, walkthrough Thursday and have our fast Friday on Thursday. It’s the amount of time between when you hit someone and getting sleep back in a regular pattern.

AI summary of the two coordinators:

• Defensive Coordinator Shiel Wood
  Evaluation of Oregon State Game: Wood acknowledged that defense was not at its best, noting that the team gave up five explosive passing plays totaling around 200 yards [28:37]. He pointed to a mix of missed assignments, pass rush breakdowns in man coverage, and failure to finish plays downfield [33:53], [38:45].
• Pass Rush & Blitz Packages: He attributed part of the pass rush struggles against Oregon State to max-protection sets (12 personnel featuring two tight ends and chipping running backs) [31:48]. While early-season bumps have occurred, Wood emphasized that they evaluate weekly whether to rush four or bring blitzes to consistently affect the quarterback [33:08].
• Opponent Insights (Houston): Wood praised Houston’s offense, noting coordinator Slate Nagel’s unselfish style [29:24], as well as dynamic playmakers like receiver Amari Thomas (#0) [30:04], running back Makhi Hughes [30:10], and dual-threat quarterback Conner Weigman [30:25].
• Personnel Updates:
• Brendon Jordan: Excited to have the safety back; his leadership and 14-game starting experience will immediately stabilize secondary communication [35:08].
• Trey White: Mentioned that having White sidelined due to injury has hurt the pass rush, but looks forward to his mature skill set returning soon [35:32].
• Jaden Coffield: Running ahead of schedule in his recovery and earning increased reps as his physical progression continues [36:38].
• LaDamion Guyton: Commended the freshman’s debut against Oregon State, calling it a solid foundation to build upon given his limited practice time [31:25].

• Offensive Coordinator Mack Leftwich
  Quarterback Performance & Play-Calling: Leftwich expressed satisfaction with Will Hammond’s overall efficiency, completion rates, and decision-making [40:09]. He emphasized pushing Hammond to cut the ball loose more aggressively on vertical 1-on-1 shots downfield [49:08] to force safeties back and open up the box [50:08].
• Red Zone Execution & Thomas Castellanos: Highlighted significant improvements in red zone efficiency against Oregon State, crediting better execution and game planning [40:48]. He praised Thomas Castellanos for picking up the offense quickly and providing a dynamic “change of pace” in short-yardage and red zone packages [48:21].
• Running Game & Line Play: Leftwich addressed the inconsistent run game, attributing negative plays and small gains to minor technique flaws and unmaintained blocks rather than bad schematics [41:28], [46:22]. He expressed confidence that the unit will clean up details and respond well against Houston [42:14].
• Tight End Depth: With injuries impacting the tight end unit, Leftwich noted full confidence in backups like “Moose” (Luke) and Jet, emphasizing that the offense can still operate its base 12 personnel packages without missing a beat [42:46].
• Facing Houston’s Defense: Leftwich praised Houston’s front and transfer additions, noting that they excel at flying around, stopping the run (giving up very little rushing yardage so far), and getting off the field on third down [43:36].

The Ride:

This Week in the Big 12 & National Games of the Week

Big 12 Game of the Week: Arizona State will have played 2 road games, TAMU at College Station and then heading to Kansas. Not easy. WVU vs. UV should also be fun, always had a soft spot for Virginia for some reason, and Colorado at Northwestern could be fun as well.

Tulane @ Kansas State 9/19 @ 11:00 am on ESPN2
Bowling Green @ Iowa State 9/19 @ 11:00 am on ESPNU
Arizona State @ Kansas 9/19 @ 11:00 am on FS1
Utah State @ Utah 9/19 @ 2:30 am on FOX
Miami (OH) @ Cincinnati 9/19 @ 2:30 pm on ESPN+
Louisiana Tech @ Baylor 9/19 @ 3:00 pm on ESPNU
Georgia State @ UCF 9/19 @ 6:00 pm on ESPN+
Murray State @ Oklahoma State 9/19 @ 6:00 pm on ESPN+
BYU @ Colorado State 9/19 @ 6:30 pm on CBS
West Virginia @ Virginia 9/19 @ 6:30 pm on ACC Network
Colorado @ Northwestern 9/19 @ 6:30 pm on FOX
Arkansas State @ TCU 9/19 @ 7:00 p.m. on ESPNU
Northern Illinois @ Arizona 9/19 @ 9:30 p.m. on TNT

National Games of the Week: The big game will be Lane Kiffin returning to Oxford to take on Ole Miss. If you thought Chris Beard returning to Lubbock was fun, well, this should be at 11 and fear what could happen on those sidelines.

SMU @ Louisville 9/19 @ 2:30 pm on ESPN2
Michigan State @ Notre Dame 9/19 @ 6:30 pm on NBC
LSU @ Ole Miss 9/19 @ 6:30 pm on ABC

The girl on the back right of Ralphie is running for her life and hats off to her for staying upright.

She was OUT that gate 💨 pic.twitter.com/hgdNCiBf82

— Mat Smith (@RealMatSmith) September 12, 2026

Education

How personnel packages create mismatches. This struck a nerve with me given how successful Legree was on Saturday.