After West Virginia came up short in a 23-17 loss to TCU during homecoming weekend, they will be back on the road on for a 12PM ET kickoff against Houston on Saturday, November 1st. The Houston Cougars (7-1, 4-1) are ranked 22nd in the AP Poll heading into the matchup and are one of the great surprises across all of college football this season. Several outlets had them projected to finish last in the Big 12 Conference, while others considered them a near certainty to finish among the bottom few teams in the league. However, as the calendar turns to November, they are in contention for a spot in the Big 12 championship game, a place maybe nobody outside of their own locker room figured they would be.

#22 Houston Cougars

How They Got Here

Houston picked up non-conference wins over Stephen F. Austin, Rice, and Oregon State. In Big 12 play, Houston has proven to be a legitimate threat in this conference, boasting a 4-1 record thus far. They have wins over Colorado, Oklahoma State, and, most recently, Arizona and Arizona State in consecutive weeks.

Houston’s lone loss on the season came against a talented Texas Tech team that blew the Cougars out in their home stadium, 35-11. Willie Fritz’s team was simply no match for the Red Raiders, who picked up 552 yards of total offense compared to just 267 for a Houston team that turned the ball over 3 times and converted on just 1-of-12 3rd down attempts. Since that October 4th loss, Houston has reeled off 3 wins against the aforementioned Oklahoma State, Arizona, and Arizona State.

Numbers to Know

18.6

Houston’s defense is giving up just 18.6 points per game, ranking them 5th in the Big 12 in that department.

58.6

On the season, 58.6% of the team’s total receiving yards belong to 2 players, Amare Thomas and Tanner Kozoil. These two playmakers have been major contributors to an improved Houston offense.

8

Texas A&M transfer QB Connor Weigman has 8 rushing touchdowns on the season to go along with 354 yards. Last week, in the win over Arizona State, Weigman carried the ball 21 times for 111 yards and 2 touchdowns.

4

In each of their last two games (wins over Arizona and Arizona State), Houston’s defense has gotten after the quarterback. The Cougars have 4 sacks in each of the last two games. Eddie Walls III had a breakout game with 3 sacks and 3 TFLs last week against Arizona State. Keep an eye on #90 this Saturday afternoon.

The new era of WVU men’s basketball under head coach Ross Hodge will officially begin on November 4th. However, on the last Sunday of October, the Mountaineers had an exhibition matchup against D2 Wheeling at the Hope Coliseum. West Virginia was victorious by a final score of 80-54. For starters, independent of the outcome, it was good to see the new-look Mountaineers take the floor. With the start of the season just days away, there is a healthy buzz in Morgantown surrounding the men’s basketball program. Let’s assess the performance of the team.

The Good

Harlan Obioha

If there was one notable mismatch heading into the game, it was West Virginia 7-footer Harlan Obioha matching up with a much smaller Wheeling team. In 19 minutes played, Obioha had his way with 19 points and 8 rebounds while shooting 8-of-9 from the floor. The only thing he didn’t do particularly well was shoot free throws, making just 3-of-7 attempts from the stripe. Certainly, this will be something to monitor as the season progresses. Obioha is a 62.9% free-throw shooter in his career.

Jasper Floyd’s Pace and Control

While his stats weren’t jaw-dropping, in just 20 minutes played, you could tell just how important Jasper Floyd will be to the team’s success this season. As the starting point guard with one year of experience in Ross Hodge’s system at North Texas, Floyd controls the pace and holds the keys to the offense. His veteran leadership will be vital this season; you could see it even in the small sample size against Wheeling.

Brenen Lorient’s Versatility

If you have kept up with the WVU basketball program throughout the off-season, you’ve likely heard about Brenen Lorient’s impressive athleticism for a 6’9 forward. It was on display against Wheeling. Lorient looked rather comfortable on both ends of the floor. He posted 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal in 25 minutes while making 7 of his 9 shot attempts.

The Not So Good

Turnovers

West Virginia turned the ball over 13 times, and honestly, it felt like even more. While it is common for turnovers to be higher in October scrimmages and November non-conference matchups, this sloppy play is a bit of a concern for WVU. There were a couple of spurts in this game where Wheeling took advantage of West Virginia’s struggles offensively and defensively. Wheeling began the second half on a run of their own, forcing Hodge to call a timeout in the first few minutes. In one sense, this is why you play these exhibition games as you work out the kinks for an entirely new roster. Hopefully, West Virginia will be able to seal things up over the next week of practice and play a cleaner game in the season opener.

Treysen Eaglestaff Struggling in a New Role?

Make no mistake about it, Treysen Eagelstaff was “the guy” for the North Dakota team last year. Not only did he average 18.9 points per game, he had 149 more shot attempts than the next closest on the team. Now, at West Virginia, he is surrounded by high-level talent and may see his shot attempts decrease due to the balance of the roster. No, we’re not going to blow things out of proportion after a Sunday exhibition in October, but watching how Eaglestaff finds himself in this offense will be something to monitor. He had limited ball-handling opportunities in his 23 minutes played, making just 1 of his 7 3-point attempts, and he did not attempt a shot inside the arc.

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Should Scotty finish out the season as QB1?

What does this performance tell us as we look ahead to 2026?