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On a natural high after beating the University of West Virginia (UWV) on a last-second Hail Mary pass for their first Big 12 Conference victory, the University of Houston (UH) Cougars football team was determined to keep the momentum going in their highly anticipated home matchup against the No. 8 University of Texas (UT) Longhorns. The game had everything a football diehard could ask for, with the plucky Cougars keeping pace with the vaunted Longhorns in what nearly resembled a tense heavyweight title fight, but in the end, UH’s upset bid fell short, 31-24.
“Would [you] look at that @TexasFootball we enjoyed a close fun game at TDECU without any issues,” Cougars fan account UHBig12 said postgame on X on Oct. 21.
The first quarter gave the impression UT was going to make easy work of their hosts. Heading into the second quarter, the Longhorns built a 14-0 lead over UH until quarterback Donovan Smith chucked the first of three touchdown passes to Matthew Golden. Per a report on the program’s website, Smith, a transfer from Texas Tech University (TTU), ended the afternoon with a line of 378 yards and the aforementioned three scores.
Houston ABC station KTRK News reported that UH was down by double digits, but the Cougars eventually found themselves knotted up with their visitors after the second half began. KTRK reported that UT sealed the victory on a go-ahead touchdown with five minutes left in the contest.
According to the station, it was the first time in nearly 20 years the former Southwest Conference (SWC) foes meet on the gridiron, and as expected, the Longhorns were deemed the favorites. The coming week will see the Cougars get ready for a road game against Kansas State University (KSU), according to UH’s report.