Nov 2, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Cougars running back Donovan Smith (1) runs for a touchdown against the Kansas State Wildcats in the first quarter at TDECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-Imagn Images Thomas B. Shea-Imagn Images

What Happened Last Time Between the Houston Cougars and Stephen F. Austin?

Originally posted on Houston Cougars on SI
By Aaron Raley | Last updated Aug 26, 2025 4:55 PM ET

Thursday night marks game one of the 2025 college football season for many teams across the NCAA, two of them being the Houston Cougars of the BCS' Big 12 Conference and the No. 23 (FCS) Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks of the Southland Conference.

The Cougars enter the contest hoping to improve in their second year under head coach Willie Fritz after a 4-8 season in 2024, while the Lumberjacks enjoyed a 7-5 year in Colby Carthel's sixth season in Nacogdoches.

However, the two teams don't have much history to look back on between one another, and the history they do have goes back all the way to nearly the middle of the 20th century.

SFA Currently Holds a 2-1 All-Time Series Lead Over the Cougars

According to the announcement of the game back in October last year by theSFA Athletics website, the most recent matchup between the two Lone Star schools happened all the way back on November 6th, 1948, and resulted in a 21-13 win for the Lumberjacks, giving them a 2-1 lead in the all-time series against Houston.

Sean Ellertson / USA TODAY NETWORK

The lone win for the Cougars came in the very first meeting between the two, winning 16-7 back on November 9, 1946.

Craig Turnage, the executive director of SFA's alumni relations, said in that announcement how much the game will mean to the alumnus of the university, given that a lot of their events are held in Space City.

"Houston, Texas, has long been a vibrant hub for our alumni events," said Turnage. "With a majority of SFA alumni residing in Texas-one-third of whom call the greater Houston area home-it's a natural fit for us to engage with our community in the Houston market. Houston has consistently embraced us, and we eagerly anticipate the opportunity to unite our alumni as we compete against the University of Houston in 2025."

The Cougars come into the contest with a much more well-endowed roster on both sides of the ball, having landed a new quarterback in Conner Weigman, an elite tight end in Tanner Koziol, and added some legs to their receiving corps in wideout Amare Thomas, all sure to prevent the repeat of a lackluster offensive performance from the Cougars in 2024 that only saw them reach the end zone 18 times.

Game number four all-time between the two gets under way Thursday night at 7:00 PM from TDECU Stadium in Houston.

This article first appeared on Houston Cougars on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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