The No. 18 Houston Cougars fell in the rankings after taking an unfortunate loss to the No. 6 Utah Utes. Houston missed opportunities and struggled to execute offensively.

Head coach Willie Fritz revealed that the absence of star tight end Patrick Overmyer hurt the Cougars badly.

Patrick Overmyer Has Been a Star This Season So Far

Overmyer became a reliable and good option at quarterback, Conner Weigman, through the first seven games of the season.

Weigman came into this game hot and looked like one of the best quarterbacks in the country. The receiving corps, and especially Overmyer were helping Weigman look, frankly, amazing.

Overmyer even caught four touchdown passes against the Kansas State Wildcats, helping Houston win 35-16 in Week 6. Overmyer was still solid the following week against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, catching five passes for 32 yards and a touchdown.

Against Utah, the team's leading receiver, with seven touchdowns, went down with an injury in the first quarter. Unfortunately, that one catch for no gain was the only action Overmyer saw all night, as he remained out of the game.

So far, no major updates have been provided on the tight end's health. Overmyer is second on the team with 432 receiving yards behind wide receiver Amare Thomas, who has put together back-to-back amazing games.

Overmyer has done a great job replacing fifth-round NFL pick Tanner Koziol, who totaled 727 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns last season. Getting Overmyer back healthy soon will be huge for Houston, which has used the former UTSA Roadrunner extremely well in 2026.

The Cougar Offense Didn't Look the Same Without Overymer

The Cougar offense has been a major problem in 2026. Unfortunately, the Utes defense got the best of Weigman and the offense on Saturday night.

The Cougars failed to convert on fourth-and-one from the Utah three-yard line and settled for a couple of field goals. Houston left points on the board when it couldn't have. In the red zone, the absence of a weapon like Overmyer hurt a lot.

Fritz said in the postgame interview: "He’s been a great weapon in the red zone... Obviously, we weren’t able to have him down there. We still need to score and get some points out of it. We didn’t take advantage of the great field position.” The Cougars got a lot of breaks, including three total turnovers, and Utah even missed a field goal at the end of the first half.

Unfortunately, the offense died in the fourth quarter. It left at least 11 points on the board in the first half and couldn't get anything going in the fourth quarter. Without Overmyer, too much fell on Thomas and others, making the offense feel like a fraction of what it has been this season.

Houston's final four drives of the game included a punt, a fumble lost, a punt, and a turnover on downs. The fumble lost deep in Houston's own territory made life much easier for Utah, which was struggling to stay alive in the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately, Weigman wasn't as accurate as he has been, and the offense ultimately couldn't get into the end zone in its final drive, leading to a 21-13 win for Utah. The offense had its worst performance by far this season and didn't look very good in the face of the Utes defense.

Without Overmyer, the offense was even worse. Getting a clear injury update on him will be huge for the rest of the season. The defense stepped up, playing a good game overall, but it didn't get the help it needed from the offense.

Houston wasted a good chance to take control of the Big 12. Ultimately, this loss just stings extra because of what happened with other teams like the BYU Cougars and Texas Tech Red Raiders.

The good news is that Houston now enters a bye week, and a big one at that. The final four games of the season don't look too hard, so Weigman and the Cougars can definitely bounce back. Hopefully, Overmyer will be there in a couple of weeks to help the offense get rolling again.