Baylor Wraps up Regular Season with Houston on Saturday

Mon Nov 24 09:11:30 CST 2025

BAYLOR ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS – Nov. 24, 2025

Baylor Wraps up Regular Season with Houston on Saturday
Bears Looking for Fourth Bowl Trip Under Coach Dave Aranda

For more information contact: Brent Ingram; 210-845-8651, brent_ingram at baylor.edu<mailto:brent_ingram at baylor.edu> or Max Calderone; 254-265-1639, max_calderone at baylor.edu<mailto:max_calderone at baylor.edu> Josie Hutton; 254-709-7720, josie_hutton at baylor.edu<mailto:josie_hutton at baylor.edu>; or Matt Roberts; 254-227-2280, WM_Roberts at baylor.edu<mailto:WM_Roberts at baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas -- Baylor football wraps up the regular season schedule by hosting Houston on Saturday at 11 a.m. at McLane Stadium on TNT, truTV and HBO Max, and the Baylor Sports Media Network.

Baylor (5-6, 3-5 Big 12 Conference) hosts Houston (8-3, 5-3 Big 12) while seeking bowl eligibility for the fourth time in six seasons under Coach Dave Aranda. Baylor is seeking to snap a two-game losing streak, falling vs. No. 13 Utah and at Arizona over the last two outings.

The game will be broadcast live on TNT, truTV and HBO Max, with JB Long (play-by-play), Mike Golic Jr. (analyst) and Coy Wire (sideline) on the call. For the Baylor Sports Media Network, the game will be voiced by John Morris (play-by-play), Nick Florence (analyst) and Ricky Thompson (sideline).

SCOUTING THE COOGS

• Houston is in the midst of its best season since joining the Big 12 Conference. The Coogs sport an 8-3 record and a 5-3 mark in the Big 12. UH opened the year with wins over SFA, Rice - broke for a conference opener vs. Colorado - and then wrapped up non-league play vs. Oregon State. UH lost to Texas Tech and West Virginia, and own league wins over Oklahoma State, Arizona, Arizona State and UCF. On Saturday, TCU posted a 17-14 win over the Coogs in Houston.

• Houston is led by Willie Fritz, 65, who is in his second season leading the Coogs. He has led UH to an elite season in 2025 after going 4-8 in his debut season in Houston. He had a decorated career at Tulane from 2016-23, posting a 54-47 record that included a 12-2 mark in 2022 and an 11-2 record in 2023, with Tulane going 15-1 in American Conference play during that stretch. He previously served as the head coach at Georgia Southern, going 17-7, Sam Houston State - going 40-15 with two NCAA Title Game losses, and Central Missouri.

• Austin Armstrong is in his first season as the defensive coordinator for the Coogs, after sending as the DC at Florida from 2023-24 and as DC at Southern Miss from 2021-22. Slade Nagle is in his first year as the offensive coordinator at UH, after coaching special teams and tight ends in 2024 at LSU. Nagle was the OC and interim head coach at Tulane in 2023.

• UH averages 28.1 points per game, with 388.5 yards of total offense, 216.5 in passing and 172.0 rushing. Defensively, opponents are totaling 341.5 yards of offense, with 206.3 passing and 135.3 rushing, scoring 21.6 points per game.

• QB Conner Weigman has thrown for 2,274 yards with 20 TDs and eight interceptions, also rushing for nine TDs and 523 yards. Dean Connors leads the team with 800 yards rushing on 170 totes. Tanner Koziol is in the running for the nation’s best tight end and leads the team with 58 grabs for 592 yards and five TDs. Amare Thomas has 50 catches for 809 yards and nine TDs. Defensively, Carlos Allen has 72 tackles, Eddie Walls III has a team-high nine TFLs and 5.5 sacks, and Will James has a club-best three interceptions.

LAST MEETING

• Baylor used a stiff defense to post a 20-10 win at Houston to win its fifth straight in 2024. The Bears allowed only three points defensively, as UH used a pick-six to score its lone touchdown.

• The Bears totaled 325 yards of total offense, with 204 passing and 121 rushing. UH was held to just 239 yards of offense, with 92 rushing.

• Baylor got two TD passes from Sawyer Robertson, finding Michael Trigg - who had four catches for 96 yards - while also finding Ashtyn Hawkins, who had a team-high six catches.

CONNECTING THE TEAMS

• Houston QB coach and Passing Game Coordinator Shawn Bell is one of the top QBs in program history and previously spent the seven years - spanning two coaching staffs - on the Baylor staff, working with the offensive line, TEs and QBs. He set 28 school records and threw for 5,666 yards with 38 TDs while with the Bears. Brian Bell, Shawn’s brother, spent the last two seasons working with defense as a QC at Baylor, which followed a decorated career as the head coach at China Spring High School.

• Baylor special teams coordinator Mark Scott coordinated the special teams at Houston from 2019-23, where the Coogs led the Big 12 in 2023 in kickoffs, and was the only school in the country to have a kickoff and punt returned for a TD in each of the last five seasons, leading the nation with 13 return TDs since 2019.

• UH cornerbacks coach PJ Hall is in his first year with the Coogs, after spending the 2024 season at Tarleton State, which followed three seasons as a graduate assistant coach with Baylor from 2021-23.

• UC DC Austin Armstrong was on the Louisiana-Lafayette coaching staff with Baylor DC Matt Powledge in 2018.

SENIOR DAY

• Baylor will honor 20 seniors on Senior Day on Saturday, including Omar Aigbedion, Devyn Bobby, Josh Cameron, Placide Djungu-Sungu, Adonis Friloux, Sidney Fugar, Joseph Hagman, Ashtyn Hawkins, Tyler Kirkwood, Cooper Lanz, Ryan Lengyel, KJ Makins, Jackie Marshall, Kobe Prentice, Sawyer Robertson, Kendrick Simpkins, Michael Trigg, Seth Weller, Tevin Williams and Kole Wilson.

SERIES HISTORY

• The series with Houston is led by Baylor, 15-14-1, with BU leading the series, 8-7-1 in Waco.

• The Bears have won four of the last five in the series and an overtime loss to the Coogs in 2023 marked the first meeting in the series since 1995. The two teams met every year from 1976-1995 as members of the Southwest Conference.

LAST MEETING IN WACO

• Baylor fell in its first overtime game of the 2023 season in a matchup with old Southwest Conference foe Houston at McLane Stadium, 25-24.

• The Bears rallied late in the game to force overtime on the strength of a heroic drive from QB Blake Shapen but after scoring on the first possession of overtime, the Bears saw Houston drive from the BU 40-yard line and finish off the win with a two-point conversion.

• Baylor got two TDs, 263 yards passing and 21 yards rushing from Shapen, who had a key 27-yard scramble on fourth and 17 on the game-tying drive in the final two minutes. Shapen was 29 of 37 in the air and completed his first 10 passes of the second half.

• TE Drake Dabney had 76 yards receiving and a TD, while freshman TE Hawkins Polley had a TD catch to tie the game on his third collegiate snap.

SECOND-HALF SURGE FUELS ARIZONA IN TUCSON

• A three-point halftime lead for Baylor was erased in the second half as Arizona outscored the Bears 27-0 to win 41-17 at Casino Del Sol Stadium.

• Baylor (5-6, 3-5 Big 12 Conference) owned a 17-14 lead at halftime but saw Arizona (8-3, 5-3 Big 12) zip past the Bears with the Cats taking a 21-17 lead in the third quarter.

• The Bears had a chance to take the lead with 14 minutes left but an interception in the end zone thwarted the go-ahead drive and allowed the Cats to keep the lead. Even then, the Bears forced a missed field goal and took over with 10:46 left in the game with a chance to take the lead, trailing by four, but a fumble on the first play from scrimmage resulted in a first-play 28-yard TD run for the Cats, who finished off the game with two straight TD drives and an interception returned for a TD.

• Freshman tailback Caden Knighten had 17 carries for 100 yards to highlight the offensive attack. WR Josh Cameron had a TD grab over his six catches for 71 yards. TE Michael Trigg had seven catches for 45 yards.

 • QB Sawyer Robertson completed 22-of-33 passes for 162 yards and a TD, throwing a pair of second-half interceptions, including a pick-6 in the fourth quarter.

- BaylorBears.com -

--

Brent Ingram | Associate AD for Communications

Baseball Sport Program Administrator

Department of Athletics | Baylor University

C: 210-845-8651

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