A Power 4 riser and a Sun Belt bowl champ collide in Statesboro when Houston makes the trip to Georgia Southern on Friday, September 25.
Bush’s Picks
HOUGASO
HOUGASO
OverUnder
Best BetHouston
Houston enters this one with clearly superior talent and momentum off a 10-win season that ended with a bowl win over LSU. Georgia Southern's ceiling with Max Johnson is real, but asking a Sun Belt roster to beat a Big 12 team with this much quarterback depth is a tall order. Back the Cougars to win outright.
Houston
+10-3 in 2025, capped by bowl win over LSU
+Elite QB depth with Weigman and 5-star Henderson
−Just two seasons removed from a 4-8 year
−Early-season road trip into unfamiliar territory
Georgia Southern
+7-6 season, beat App State twice, won bowl
+Max Johnson is program's all-time leading passer
−Talent gap stepping up from Sun Belt to Big 12 foe
−Helton's program hasn't proven it vs. this level
Houston isn't the same program that stumbled to 4-8 two years ago. Willie Fritz has the Cougars pointed the right direction after a 10-3 season that ended with a 38-35 bowl win over LSU, and the roster he's bringing to Statesboro is loaded at the one spot that matters most.
Conner Weigman is back after piling up 3,405 total yards, but he's not the only name in that quarterback room anymore. Houston landed Keisean Henderson, the No. 1 recruit in the 2026 class, and Fritz has made clear he'll find ways to get him on the field even with Weigman entrenched as the starter. That's the kind of depth a Sun Belt program simply can't match on paper.
Show fees
11:00 PM CT
Spread
ML
Total
HOU Houston
GASO Georgia Southern
Georgia Southern isn't walking into this one overmatched in confidence, even if the roster gap is real. Clay Helton's group went 7-6 last season, beat rival App State twice — including in the Birmingham Bowl — and got there behind Max Johnson, the transfer arm who became the program's all-time leading passer. The Eagles also had their first 1,000-yard rusher and first 1,000-yard receiver in the same season, so there's a real supporting cast around Johnson.
Houston Cougars
Sep 18?@ Texas Tech—
Sep 12?vs Southern—
Sep 5?vs Oregon State—
Georgia Southern Eagles
Sep 19?@ Jacksonville State—
Sep 12?@ Clemson—
Sep 5?vs Charleston Southern—
Recent form.
This is the exact kind of matchup that decides whether a Group of 5 program can hang for four quarters against a Power 4 roster with more speed on both sides of the ball. Georgia Southern's identity under Helton has been physical, run-heavy football, and Johnson gives them a ceiling most Sun Belt offenses don't have — but Houston's Big 12 competition all fall is a different level than what got the Eagles to 7 wins a season ago.
Houston Cougars
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Georgia Southern Eagles
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
However this one shakes out on the scoreboard, it's a measuring-stick game for Statesboro. A competitive showing against a Big 12 team that just beat LSU would be a real credibility boost for Helton's program; anything less reinforces the gap between the two levels.
