Texas Tech 28-26 Houston (Sep 18, 2026) Final Score

Team pages: Houston · Texas Tech

No. 22 Houston2-126

No. 13 Texas Tech3-028Final

Fri, Sep 18 · Jones AT&T Stadium, Lubbock, Texas · Crowd 60,229

No. 13 Texas Tech beat No. 22 Houston 28-26.

We had Texas Tech favored. It won.

Next: Houston beat Georgia Southern 42-28, Sat Sep 26

Next: Texas Tech beat Sam Houston 49-14, Sat Sep 26

Top comment in the game thread

4 plays: -3 yards and an INT. Not good!

Q1 3:00 · r/CFB game thread · Fri, Sep 18

How it swung

The turning point: Hammond 35-yd TD pass to Johnson, cuts it to 10-7 (Q2, 14:08). Texas Tech went from 39% to 61% to win.

Before kickoff, our ratings gave Texas Tech a 70% chance, and the closing betting line (Texas Tech was a 7.5-point favorite) put it at 73%.

Texas Tech came back from 10 down, at one point just a 27% chance in the first quarter.

Houston led by 10, was as high as 73% in the first quarter, and still lost.

FinalTexas Tech 28-26 HoustonTexas Tech wonMove across the chart, or tap a numbered swing, to see any play.

The two plays that swung it

1Q2 14:08Hammond 35-yd TD pass to Johnson, cuts it to 10-7Texas Tech 39% → 61% (+22)
2Q2 1:11Weigman 46-yd TD pass to Young, Houston goes ahead 17-14Texas Tech 80% → 62% (−18)

The two plays that swung it

1Q2 14:08Hammond 35-yd TD pass to Johnson, cuts it to 10-7Houston 61% → 39% (−22)
2Q2 1:11Weigman 46-yd TD pass to Young, Houston goes ahead 17-14Houston 20% → 38% (+18)

What fans said, play by play

The line in bold above each quote is written by our model from the thread’s comments and the play-by-play.

Q1 9:17Castellanos throws interception, fans mock Texas Tech's two-quarterback systemAll the Castellanos fans can sit down nowr/CFB game thread
Q1 3:00Texas Tech fans lament the team's poor start and dropped passesQuoted at the top of the page.This game has "turn off angrily in the 3rd quarter" vibes...r/CFB game thread
Q2 0:44Fans criticize announcers for ignoring Houston's interceptionFeel like announcers are overcompensating for totally blowing the original phenomenal catch by just being totally silent kinda getting annoying nowr/CFB game threadSerious question: are these announcers drunk?r/CFB game thread

Texas Tech’s chance to win after every play.

How to read this chart

Starts from the pregame line (Texas Tech -7.5), at 76% for Texas Tech (the play-by-play feed's kickoff number, moved to match the line; our model's and the betting line's own numbers are in “The betting line, and the fans”). Dots are the biggest swings; ticks under the chart are scores. Under the scores, r/CFB comments per minute from fans with a Texas Tech or Houston flair (1,593 and 679); both sides share one scale, regulation only. A gold diamond marks a play fans were reacting to.

Watch the plays

The bar and the arrow show Texas Tech’s chance to win after each play; the logo is the team the play helped.

Q1, 9:17Castellanos intercepted by James at the Houston 45Q1, 9:17 · Texas Tech 0, Houston 3▼9%Texas Tech’s chance to win, 69% to 60%▼9%Texas Tech’s chance to win, 69% to 60%Watch from this playBig 12 Conference

Every drive

Texas Tech scored on 4 of its 11 drives; Houston on 5 of its 11.

Texas Tech’s drives are teal, Houston’s amber. A line runs from where a drive started to where it ended; a filled dot means it scored.

From Houston’s side

Houston’s best moment: Weigman 46-yd TD pass to Young, Houston goes ahead 17-14 (Q2 1:11). It lifted Houston’s win chance by 18 points.

How Houston fans took it: “I hate this sport” r/CFB game thread

“Never worried not once ever”

A Texas Tech fan

When fans got loud

Busy

The jump was busy; the crowd was loud.

Two crowds, one game

The words each side’s fans used far more than the other side, from the game thread.

Texas Tech fans

hammond“I am a Hammond believer. Even if this game goes in to OT, I trust him to bring us the win.”

Both sets of fans kept coming back to: now, ball, run, need.

What it cost

Texas Tech’s chance to make the playoff rose from 40% to 46%.

Make the playoff

Houston · lost9% → ▼5%

Texas Tech · won40% → ▲46%

Win the conference

Houston · lost8% → ▼5%

Texas Tech · won36% → ▲40%

Before the game (September 18, 2026) → after this result, in our model.

Box score

Texas Tech 28, Houston 26

Houston covered +7.5 by 5.5. The total, 54, went over 52.5.

Team totals	Houston	Texas Tech
Total yards	458	425
Passing	27 of 38, 282 yds	17 of 28, 257 yds
Rushing	37 for 176 yds	32 for 168 yds
First downs	27	22
Third down	9 of 15	6 of 10
Fourth down	0 of 0	0 of 1
Turnovers	1	2
Penalties	7 for 60 yds	5 for 35 yds
Time of possession	33:42	26:18

Houston leaders

Passing Conner Weigman 27 of 38, 282 yds, 3 TD
Rushing Makhi Hughes 15 for 71 yds; Conner Weigman 13 for 56 yds
Receiving Amare Thomas 7 for 75 yds, 1 TD; Patrick Overmyer 8 for 72 yds, 1 TD

Texas Tech leaders

Passing Will Hammond 17 of 27, 257 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing Cameron Dickey 16 for 65 yds, 1 TD; J'Koby Williams 7 for 62 yds, 1 TD
Receiving Kenny Johnson 4 for 113 yds, 1 TD; Coy Eakin 3 for 40 yds

No rain and calm

90° at kickoff · no rain recorded · wind 10 mph from the south-southeast, mostly along the field, gusts to 18

The usual here around this date is 77°, with about 7 in 10 games between 67° and 87°.

September game-day temperatures at Jones AT&T Stadium

Drag along the chart, or step through the game.

Second quarter, 14:08 left7:53 p.m.

Houston 10, Texas Tech 7 · Texas Tech 61% to win

no rain · wind 10 mph from the south-southeast, mostly along the field · 86°

Hammond 35-yd TD pass to Johnson, cuts it to 10-7

Measured at Lubbock International Airport, 5.8 miles away. Rain is NOAA's radar-and-gauge estimate at the stadium and wind is an airport reading; neither is measured on the field. Game times come from the play-by-play, good to a minute or two. Source: National Weather Service, through the Iowa Environmental Mesonet; rain radar from NOAA MRMS, through Iowa State University. Field direction from OpenStreetMap contributors.

Before kickoff

Recent games, the series and the betting line below are as they stood going in; the season profile is the season so far.

Recent games

Last two games

Houston · 2-0

Rated 20th in our preseason ratings, 23rd now.

Two straight wins — but still hunting a ranked opponent.

W 77-6 vs Southern #198 of 668

won by 71 as a 51.5-point favorite

W 33-20 vs Oregon State #67 of 668

won by 13 as a 21-point favorite

Last two games

Texas Tech · 2-0

Rated 7th in our preseason ratings, 8th now.

Two straight wins — but still hunting a ranked opponent.

W 35-24 @ Oregon State #60 of 668

won by 11 as a 25.5-point favorite

W 33-10 vs Abilene Christian #108 of 668

won by 23 as a 45.5-point favorite

Week by week

Texas Tech

Wk 1Wvs Abilene Christian33-10
Wk 2Wat Oregon State35-24

Houston

Wk 1Wvs Oregon State33-20
Wk 2Wvs Southern77-6

Power rating by week

Texas Tech is rated 4.3 points ahead as of week 2. Our power rating by week; higher is better.

Matchups

Biggest mismatch: Texas Tech’s passing EPA against Houston, 45 points

Each row ranks the two sides among all teams. The longer the line, the bigger the mismatch.

Texas Tech’s passing EPA against Houston’s defense
Texas Tech offense, 74th percentile · Houston defense, 29th
Texas Tech’s EPA/play against Houston’s defense
Texas Tech offense, 68th percentile · Houston defense, 34th

Season profile, all the rows

Season profile

HoustonTexas Tech

EPA/play, offense

EPA/play, defense

Success rate, offense

Success rate, defense

Explosive-play rate, offense

Explosive-play rate, defense

Rush EPA, offense

Rush EPA, defense

Pass EPA, offense

Pass EPA, defense

The series

Houston leads the series 18-17-1

36 meetings since 1951 · Texas Tech has won the last 7

2025Texas Tech 35-11
2023Texas Tech 49-28
2022Texas Tech 33-30
2021 · neutral siteTexas Tech 38-21
2018Texas Tech 63-49

Each line is Texas Tech’s chance to win through that meeting. Texas Tech is 2-0 in the meetings since 2018 that were still close in the fourth quarter.

Line, fans and home field

The betting line, and the fans

Houston fans are in a better mood than Texas Tech fans (85th vs 50th among FBS fanbases), even with Texas Tech favored.

Texas Tech favored by 7.5 · Total 52.5

How games like this usually go

Texas Tech by 7.5, and it went to form

Half of games8 in 10 gamesThis game

The band is where a favorite’s chance ran in the 385 games since 2025 with a favorite of 7.5 to 14.5 points.

The market

The spread moved 6 points toward Houston.

The total fell 0.5 points.

The books’ cut: 4.2%, the margin built into the odds

Home field

Texas Tech is worth +5.2 points (±4.2) more at home than on the road since 2018 — top third of FBS, 69th percentile.

65% at home, 40% on the road against FBS opponents (30-16 home, 17-25 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 +1.3 at home vs. away over 97 games — inside the ±6.3 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. The visitors travel about 467 miles to get here.

Last meeting in our History pages

Texas Tech 33, Houston 30Sep 10, 2022

Our History pages cover 2 of their meetings since 2017.

Where next

Conference standings

Place in the conference, then conference record.

Texas Tech14th0-0
Houston13th0-0

Full Big 12 standings

No. 13 Texas Tech beats No. 22 Houston 28-26