Houston's Big 12 title chase kicks off with a home slate designed to build momentum, and Southern's rebuild under Marshall Faulk arrives for its toughest early test yet.
+Weigman returns off a 25-TD, 700-rush-yard season
+coming off a 10-win, Texas Bowl-winning year
+added No. 1 overall recruit Keisean Henderson
−Early-season trap-game risk with Big 12 eyes ahead
−new weapons and staff continuity still being tested
−only second game of the season, timing untested
Houston is coming off a 10-win, Texas Bowl-winning season and enters 2026 with the kind of buzz the program hasn't had in years — expected to open ranked and picked by plenty to contend in the Big 12. Southern, on the other hand, is starting over completely. Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk takes his first head-coaching job after a 2-10 season that was tied for the worst mark in the SWAC, and he still hasn't named a starting quarterback heading into the fall.
The history here isn't close. Houston beat Southern 55-3 in 2008 and 62-13 in 2013, the only two meetings between the programs, and this will be their first matchup in over 15 years. Faulk brought in defensive coordinator Todd Lyght, a former NFL cornerback, and the Jaguars' defense was reportedly the bright spot of spring practice — which matters, because it's the unit that has to slow down a Houston offense that returns almost everything.
Senior quarterback Conner Weigman is back after throwing for over 2,700 yards and 25 touchdowns against just 9 interceptions last season, while also running for 700 yards and 11 scores. Houston's staff has raved about his healthiest offseason yet — full go from January through spring ball — and the Cougars added the No. 1 overall recruit in the country, quarterback Keisean Henderson, to a room that already had Weigman entrenched as QB1.
For Southern, this is about survival and identity more than the scoreboard. Faulk opens his tenure against Alabama State in Birmingham before this trip to Houston, and by Week 2 the Jaguars will already be facing a Power 4 team with real conference aspirations. A quarterback battle still unresolved this deep into fall camp isn't the ideal setup for a defense that will need every bit of its spring momentum just to keep this one respectable.
None of this changes what Houston is building toward. Games like this exist to let a roster find its rhythm before Big 12 play gets serious, and a healthy, more explosive Weigman gives the Cougars every reason to lean into that script early on Saturday, September 12.
