College Football Picks 11/13 – Houston at Colorado

by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

The No. 14 ranked Houston Cougars (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) visit the Colorado Buffaloes (3-6, 1-5 Big 12) tonight in a ‘Friday the 13th’  Big 12 matchup on ESPN. This will be the third all-time meeting (1971, 2025) between the schools due to Houston joining the Big 12 in 2023, and Colorado re-joining the Big 12 in 2024.

Houston defeated visiting Colorado 36-20 when the teams met last season. Houston’s current starting quarterback Conner Weigman threw for 222 yards, rushed for 83 yards and scored 2 rushing touchdowns in last year’s victory against Colorado. 

Houston is a 10-point favorite and the total is 51.5. 

WHAT BOTH TEAMS DID LAST WEEK

Houston outlasted the Cincinnati Bearcats 31-24 at home last Saturday. Running back Re’Shaun Sanford II’s tiebreaking, 51-yard touchdown run with 5:10 remaining in the game proved to be the game-winning score. Sanford ran for a career-high 126 yards on 15 carries. Houston led 14-0 after the first quarter before holding off Cincinnati. 

Star quarterback Conner Weigman completed 17 of 24 passes for 227 yards with two touchdowns for Houston in the win. He also carried the ball 6 times for 30 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Amare Thomas finished with team-highs of 6 catches, 78 yards and 2 touchdowns, while running back Makhi Hughes rushed for 90 yards on 12 carries for Houston. 

Colorado lost 20-10 at Arizona State last Saturday. The Buffaloes offense was sluggish for the entire first half, totaling just 103 yards — 62 of which came in the final 45 seconds. Colorado trailed 17-0 at the half. The offense came alive slightly in the second half, pulling to within 20-10 with 8:14 remaining in the game, but Colorado was unable to score again. 

Quarterback Isaac Wilson completed 20 of 31 passes for 248 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the loss. Star wideout Joseph Williams finished with game-highs of 7 catches for 121 yards, along with a touchdown. This was the fourth time that Williams exceeded 120 receiving yards in a game this season. 

Colorado has lost six of their last seven games since getting off to a 2-0 start. 

GAME STORYLINES: HOUSTON

Last season, head coach Willie Fritz led the Houston Cougars to a 10-3 record, and a victory over LSU in the Texas Bowl, in his second year at the school. Houston recorded back-to-back 4-8 finishes prior to last season’s turnaround. It was also Houston’s third double-digit win season over the previous 14 seasons. 

The key to Houston’s great success/turnaround last season was a high-powered offense led by star junior quarterback Conner Weigman, who joined the program after spending his first 3 seasons as at Texas A&M. Weigman was excellent in his debut campaign with Houston, finishing with 2,705 yards passing, along with 25 touchdowns to 9 interceptions on 65.2 percent completions. He also rushed for 700 yards and 11 touchdowns. Weigman passed for a total of 19 touchdowns in his 3 seasons at Texas A&M.

During the offseason, Houston got a double-dose of great news when Conner Weigman decided to return to Houston for his final college season. and five-star quarterback and consensus top-five 2026 recruit Keisean Henderson signed with Houston. Henderson is the highest rated recruit to ever sign with Houston. He’ll likely take over for Weigman in 2027 with huge expectations. 

Conner Weigman has been even better this year in his final college season. He’s passed for 2,280 yards with 22 touchdowns to 2 interceptions on 66.1 percent completions, while rushing for 279 yards with 7 touchdowns. Weigman was named to the Davey O’Brien list, which is the annual award given to the top player at the quarterback position. 

Houston possesses a foursome of outstanding skill position players in returning star wideout Amare Thomas (team-high 698 REC YDS, 8 TDs this yr), University of Texas-San Antonio transfer tight end Patrick Overmyer (498 REC YDS, 7 TDs), Oregon transfer running back Makhi Hughes (team-high 606 RUSH YDS, 4 TDs) and returning junior running back Re’Shaun Sanford II (573 RUSH YDS, 3TDs). 

Amare Thomas posted a spectacular season last year after transferring in from UAB, he finished the 2025 campaign with 67 catches for 966 yards and 12 touchdowns. He earned First-Team All-Big 12 honors last year. He’s projected to be a second or third-round pick in the 2027 NFL draft. Makhi Hughes has bounced back after being buried on Oregon’s depth chart (70 RUSH YDS in 2025) last year. He rushed for 1,378 and 1,401 yards, respectively, in his first two collegiate seasons at Tulane before transferring to Oregon. 

GAME STORYLINES: COLORADO

When the University of Colorado hired Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders in December 2022, it made nationwide headlines due to Coach Prime’s exceptional Hall of Fame NFL career as a defensive back, his flamboyant personality and his tremendous record — 27-6 over 3 seasons — at Jackson State. Sanders arrived in Boulder with his usual flashiness, telling the remaining Colorado players in his first team meeting, “I’m bringing my own luggage, and its Louis.”

Deion Sanders’ four-year tenure at Colorado has been somewhat underwhelming when you consider the hype and hysteria of his arrival nearly four years ago in December 2022. His record at Colorado is currently 19-27. The Coach Prime era got off to an exhilarating start when Colorado picked up a dramatic 45-42 upset win at No. 17 TCU in his first game as Colorado coach on Sept. 2, 2023. The Buffaloes started the 2023 season 3-0 and appeared to have the overwhelming majority of the country enamored with Colorado football. 

Unfortunately, Colorado’s 3-0 start in 2023 ended up being peak of that season, as they would proceed to lose 7 of their last 8 games to finish 4-8. Colorado compiled a 9-4 record in 2024 — Coach Prime’s best season as Colorado’s head coach — behind the sensational play of two-way (DB/WR), Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders (Coach Prime’s youngest son). But it’s been all downhill since the 2024 season as Colorado has been unable to replace the massive production of Hunter and Sanders, who are both in the NFL. 

Colorado is 6-15 since their breakthrough 2024 season and have won only 2 of their last 15 Big 12 conference games. A big reason for Colorado’s abysmal performance of late is inconsistent quarterback play since Shedeur Sanders departed and a lack of talent on the offensive and defensive lines. Colorado has started four quarterbacks (Kaiden Salter, Ryan Staub, Julian Lewis, Isaac Wilson) since the beginning of the 2025 season, and all of them struggled. 

After finishing 3-9 last year, Coach Prime essentially started from scratch again by hiring two new coordinators in offensive coordinator Brennan Marian and defensive coordinator Chris Marve. He also brought in 40 players from the transfer portal.

Despite Colorado’s overhaul prior to the season, the same weaknesses (inconsistent QB play, a glaring lack of playmakers outside of the wide receiver position) persist this year. They began the season with former five-star recruit Julian “JuJu” Lewis as its starting quarterback, but he was benched at halftime of Colorado’s fourth game of the year, a listless 23-13 loss at Baylor on Sep. 26. Isaac Wilson — the younger brother of New Orleans Saints quarterback Zach Wilson — replaced Lewis and has remained Colorado’s starting quarterback. 

It appears as if Colorado will stick with Isaac Wilson as its starting quarterback for the rest of the season. The junior transferred to Colorado this year after spending his first 2 seasons at Utah. Wilson has passed 1,412 yards with 8 touchdowns to 8 interceptions, while completing 61.7 percent of his passes across 5 starts and 7 appearances this season. If Wilson can cut down on his turnovers, he has the opportunity to become a very good player and give Colorado the stability they’ve lacked at quarterback since Shedeur Sanders departed in 2024.

The magnificent play of junior wideout Joseph Williams has been one of the few bright spots for Colorado this season. The 6-foot-2, Texas native leads the team in receptions (53), receiving yards (853) and touchdown catches (6). Williams becoming Colorado’s unquestioned top wideout this season was unexpected despite the fact that he was Colorado’s leading returning wideout (489 REC YDS last yr).

Prior to the season, Colorado brought in a trio of highly-regarded wide receivers (Danny Scudoro, Kam Perry and DeAndrew Moore Jr.) with the belief that they needed an upgrade at the position, which makes Joseph Williams emerging as the team’s WR1 and one of the top wideouts in the nation quite an accomplishment. 

THE PICK: COLORADO (+10)

Despite the lost season, Colorado has been pretty formidable at home this season — they lost by 3 (27-24) at home to then No.12, currently No. 2 Utah on Oct. 17. I think they give a spirited performance tonight in what will be their last big home game of the year. Take the Points…Houston 31, Colorado 27