Houston at Utah
Usual during the game: 51°, between 40° and 65° in about 7 in 10 games. Altitude 4,631 ft above sea level.
Airport reading near the stadium31 games since 2016 · How we measure
Houston (#14, 6‑1) travels to Utah (#10, 6‑0), with Utah favored by 6.5. Utah’s offense is at the 85th percentile on efficiency; Houston’s defense is at the 34th.
How they got here
Last three games
Houston · 6-1
Rated 20th in our preseason ratings, 13th now.
Three straight wins, including a 19-point win over Kansas State as a 2.5-point underdog.
Last three games
Utah · 6-0
Rated 25th in our preseason ratings, 21st now.
Three straight wins — but still hunting a ranked opponent.
Biggest mismatch: Utah’s explosive plays against Houston, 52 points
Each row ranks the two sides among all teams. The longer the line, the bigger the mismatch.
Utah’s EPA/play against Houston’s defense
Utah offense, 85th percentile · Houston defense, 34th
Utah’s explosive plays against Houston’s defense
Utah offense, 70th percentile · Houston defense, 18th
Utah’s passing EPA against Houston’s defense
Utah offense, 71st percentile · Houston defense, 29th
What’s at stake
Make the playoff
Win the conference
Win the title
CFP odds as of October 23, 2026
The series
Houston leads the series 5-0
5 meetings since 1966 · Houston has won the last 5
- 2024Houston 17-14
- 1978Houston 42-25
- 1977Houston 34-16
- 1971Houston 42-16
- 1966Houston 34-14
Each line is Utah’s chance to win through that meeting. Older meetings have no play by play, so no line.
Face-off
What each fanbase carries into this one.
Houston
The chip · vs big brotherCougar fans watched Texas and Texas A&M get the invitations and the TV money while a program in the nation's fourth-largest city was told to wait its turn; they carry the snub of being the third team in their own state into every Big 12 Saturday.
What this game touches
Left behind in realignment. When the Southwest Conference broke up in 1996, Houston — a Houston-based program with real history — was left out of the Big 12 while the in-state powers were waved in, condemning the Cougars to two decades of mid-major exile despite living in one of the country's richest talent beds.
Utah
The chip · vs the national mediaUtah fans are tired of being the program the country keeps underrating — the conference-killer everyone treats as a fluke until it does it again. They'll tell you the Utes have out-toughed bluer blood than anyone wants to admit.
Best players
Houston
- Conner Weigman (QB) · 1,770 passing yards — Heisman odds: 23rd (+7000)
- Kentrell Webb (DB) · 43 tackles
- Amare Thomas (WR) · 487 receiving yards
Utah
- Wayshawn Parker (RB) · 597 rushing yards
- Devon Dampier (QB) · 1,412 passing yards — Heisman odds: 25th (+7200)
- Braden Pegan (WR) · 422 receiving yards
What to watch
Player to watch: Devon Dampier (QB) — Utah’s leading passer (1,412 passing yards) takes on Houston’s pass defense (29th percentile allowed).
The total has moved up 6.0 points since opening (50.5 → 56.5): books now expect more combined points.
The betting line, and the fans
Houston fans are in a better mood than Utah fans (75th vs 59th among FBS fanbases), even with Utah favored.
- Model · 57%
- Line · 70%
- Utah fans · 59th
- Houston fans · 75th
Utah favored by 6.5 · Total 56.5
Utah by 6.5: where a favorite like this usually runs
Half of games8 in 10 games
Utah’s chance through the game, if this goes like the 378 games since 2025 with a favorite of 3.5 to 7.5 points.
Weather at kickoff
Cool. Bring a jacket.
Houston at Utah · Saturday, Oct. 24 · 10:15 pm ET · ESPN · Rice-Eccles Stadium.
- 48°feels like
- 2%average rain chance
- 10 mphwind gusts
- 93weather score, Comfortable
Forecast, read Fri Oct 23, 3:20 am ET. It can change until kickoff.
Weather score: 0 to 100, higher is better, for the first 3 hours and 20 minutes of the game. Ideal is 100, Comfortable 90 to 99, Mixed 75 to 89, Rough 50 to 74, Harsh under 50. Gusts count toward the score (up to 15 points). Average rain chance: the hourly chances of rain over the first 3 hours and 20 minutes, averaged.
This game among this Saturday's 33 TV games with a forecast
- Baylor at Kansas: 100, Ideal
- Boston College at Georgia Tech: 100, Ideal
- Colorado at Oklahoma State: 100, Ideal
- Eastern Michigan at Ohio: 100, Ideal
- Indiana at Michigan: 100, Ideal
- Iowa State at Arizona: 100, Ideal
- Kansas State at Arizona State: 100, Ideal
- LSU at Auburn: 100, Ideal
- Michigan State at UCLA: 100, Ideal
- North Texas at Navy: 100, Ideal
- Oklahoma at Mississippi State: 100, Ideal
- Oregon at Illinois: 100, Ideal
- Tennessee at South Carolina: 100, Ideal
- Texas A&M at Alabama: 100, Ideal
- Texas Tech at Cincinnati: 100, Ideal
- USC at Wisconsin: 100, Ideal
- UTSA at Tulane: 100, Ideal
- West Virginia at TCU: 100, Ideal
- Western Michigan at Toledo: 100, Ideal
- California at SMU: 99, Comfortable
- Vanderbilt at Kentucky: 98, Comfortable
- Boise State at Washington State: 97, Comfortable
- Iowa at Minnesota: 97, Comfortable
- Utah State at Texas State: 96, Comfortable
- Ole Miss at Texas: 95, Comfortable
- Syracuse at North Carolina: 95, Comfortable
- Virginia Tech at Clemson: 95, Comfortable
- Houston at Utah: 93, Comfortable
- North Dakota State at New Mexico: 93, Comfortable
- San Diego State at Colorado State: 91, Comfortable
- BYU at UCF: 88, Mixed
- Pittsburgh at Miami: 85, Mixed
- Rice at Florida Atlantic: 85, Mixed
Tap a dot to read the game.
Forecast, read Fri Oct 23, 3:20 am to 9:20 am ET (each game has its own read time). It can change until kickoff.
If it kicked off at
Typical at Rice-Eccles Stadium: noon Saturdays score 89, 3:30 pm 84, 7:30 pm 88.
- noon: 89, Mixed
- 3:30 pm: 84, Mixed
- 7:30 pm: 88, Mixed
Typical weather score at each kickoff time.
Typical means the average of regular-season Saturdays at this stadium, 2018 to 2025. It is not a forecast for this game.
Home field
Utah is worth +3.4 points (±3.8) more at home than on the road since 2018 — middle of FBS, 36th percentile.
81% at home, 61% on the road against FBS opponents (35-8 home, 27-17 away).
Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads +2.1 at home vs. away over 95 games — inside the ±5.8 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.
Night kickoff — historically worth about half a point more to the home side against the number, and not much more than that. 4,631 ft of altitude — real, and smaller than the folklore: high venues run a point or two better against the number, noisily. The visitors travel about 1,200 miles to get here.
Season profile
Week by week
Utah
- Wk 2Wvs Arkansas43-10
- Wk 3Wvs Utah State33-0
- Wk 4Wat Iowa State31-17
- Wk 6Wvs Kansas41-24
- Wk 7Wat Colorado27-24
Houston
- Wk 3Lat Texas Tech26-28
- Wk 4Wat Georgia Southern42-28
- Wk 5Wvs UCF27-17
- Wk 6Wat Kansas State35-16
- Wk 7Wvs Oklahoma State35-32
Power rating by week
Houston is rated 1.7 points ahead as of week 8. Our power rating by week; higher is better.
The market
The total rose 6 points.
Total: 50.5 → 56.5
The books’ cut: 4.2%, the margin built into the odds
Conference standings
Place in the conference, then conference record.
Last meeting in our History pages
- Houston 17, Utah 14Oct 26, 2024