No. 13-ranked Texas Tech held off No. 22 Houston in a major Big 12 matchup Friday night, 28–26, as the Red Raiders look to repeat as conference champions.
Houston threatened to tie the game in the final minute when quarterback Conner Weigman fired a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Patrick Overmyer. The Cougars went for two, fell short of the end zone, and couldn’t recover the onside kick.
Texas Tech overcame a 10–0 first-quarter deficit against the Cougars in a back-and-forth game at Galaxy Stadium in Lubbock. The Red Raiders improved to 3–0 with the conference-opening win in defense of the program’s first Big 12 title from last year.
Texas Tech went 12–2 in 2025 and beat BYU for the Big 12 championship game. The Red Raiders then earned a first-round bye for the College Football Playoff but fell 23–0 to Oregon in the quarterfinals.
Going into this season, Texas Tech lost Cincinnati transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby over a sports gambling scandal. Red Raiders quarterback Will Hammond has taken over this season, and he led his team to victory on Friday with 257 yards passing and a touchdown amid a 63 perce completion rate.
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“I do still truly believe we’re trying to find ourselves,” McGuire said. “Whenever you go through all of January and halfway through June, and the offense looks like this, then you turn around. Getting a quarterback to have confidence in himself and play like he [Hammond] played tonight, that’s still a work-in-progress. The more he gets snaps under his belt, the more we play together. Then we’re just going to keep getting better as a team.”
Hammond started slow on Friday with an interception, but he got things going in the second quarter when he led the Red Raiders on a seven-play, 75-yard scoring drive. He found wide receiver Kenny Johnson on a 35-yard touchdown pass to pull their team within a field goal, 10–7.
After a pair of defensive stops, Red Raiders backup quarterback Thomas Castellanos put the team ahead, 14–10, on a 3-yard run in the second quarter. Houston answered afterward as Weigman hit wide receiver Koby Young for a 46-yard touchdown pass, 17–14.
Texas Tech failed to answer as Castellanos threw an interception, but the Red Raiders regrouped on the first drive of the second half. Hammond led a five-play, 75-yard drive, capped by running back J’Koby Williams’ 29-yard touchdown run, 21–17.
The Red Raiders led the rest of the way, though Houston pulled close twice. Cougars kicker Jonathan Dimas hit a 28-yard field goal, 21–20, in the third quarter before Texas Tech’s attempt to put the game away in the fourth quarter.
Red Raiders running back Cameron Dickey’s 1-yard touchdown run capped an 11-play, 87-yard drive in the fourth, and Houston needed a 10-play, 78-yard drive late to attempt tying the game.
Weigman finished with 27-of-38 passing for 282 yards and three touchdowns, and he rushed for 56 yards on 13 carries. Amare Thomas, who caught Weigman’s first touchdown, led the Cougars wide receivers with seven receptions for 75 yards.
Overmyer caught eight passes for 72 yards, and Young caught two for 48 yards. Re’Sahun Sanford II also contributed in the passing game with five receptions for 50 yards.
Cougars running back Makhi Hughes led the rushing attack with 71 yards on 15 carries, and Houston had 176 yards on the ground overall. Defensively, linebacker Jaden Yates led the way for Houston with 11 tackles and 0.5 sacks, and defensive backs Jalen Mayo and Will James had interceptions.
Houston ultimately didn’t have enough answers against Texas Tech’s rushing attack, which produced 168 yards and three touchdowns. Dickey led the Red Raiders with 65 yards on 16 carries, and Williams had 62 yards on seven carries.
Johnson had the top skill-player performance of the game, with 113 yards on four receptions. Linebacker Ben Roberts and safety Brenden Jordan led the defense with 10 tackles apiece.
