Sep 12, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Cougars running back Dean Connors (44) runs with the ball during the third quarter against the Colorado Buffaloes at TDECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Houston Football is Having a Historic Start to the 2025 Season

Originally posted on Houston Cougars on SI
By Ashton Grissom | Last updated Sep 22, 2025 7:41 PM ET

Houston football is undefeated in 2025 and their ball security is a big reason why.

For the first time in program history, the Cougars have yet to commit a turnover in the first three games to begin a season.

Houston’s Winning Formula: Ball Security

Houston football has a clear focus for this season: Win the turnover battle.

”The first component of the plan to win is to win the turnover-takeaway margin,” head coach Willie Fritz said. “When I’ve been plus one or better, all these different stops for 31 years as a head coach, we’ve won 91 percent of our games.”

So far this season, the Cougars have forced six total turnovers without giving the ball away once. Houston has been plus two in the turnover battle every game this season, resulting in three dominant victories.

”Last year we won four games, and in the four games we won, we were plus in the turnover takeaway margin,” Fritz said. “In all the games we didn’t win, we were minus. I harped on that throughout the spring and summer and how important that statistic is.”

After the third week of the college football season, the Cougars were among nine FBS teams that hadn’t committed a turnover.

With the completion of the fourth week of college football on Saturday night, the Cougars are now one of five teams now that haven’t committed a turnover.

That list includes No. 17 Alabama, Temple, UConn, San Diego State and Houston.

Looking Ahead

Houston football can add to their historic start with a win over Oregon State this Friday.

The Beavers are 0-4 and have been outscored by a combined score of 156-63 through their first four games.

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The bye week was beneficial for the Cougars, and it set them up very well for their first true away game of the 2025 season.

”We were a little banged up after the last ball game,” Fritz said. “It gave us a chance for some guys to heal up.”

The Cougars are 13.5-point favorites and have a 81.3% chance to win according to the ESPN Matchup Predictor.

Houston also has a chance to match their win total from last season with a victory over the Beavers and have their first 4-0 start since the 2016 season.

”They’ve had some tough luck, and they were in the ball game quite a period of time last week against a very good Oregon team,” Fritz said. “We are going to have to play extremely well, and that is something we are chasing… we are working on getting better every single day and every single week.”