Houston’s first two seasons in the Big XII Conference have not gone well.

The Cougars hope that their second season under head coach Willie Fritz will feature improvement.

They’ll get their first indication when they host in-state FCS Stephen F. Austin in their season opener Thursday night.

“We have very high expectations,” Fritz said. “Season goals are great, but our first goal is to be successful on Thursday night. I think guys sometimes look ahead too much. I’ll know a lot more about our ball club after Thursday night.”

The Cougars have finished 4-8 overall each of the last two seasons and were 3-6 in the league last season.

Houston ranked 128th out of 133 FBS teams in total offense, averaging 288.1 yards. Fritz is counting on quarterback Conner Weigman, who spent the last three seasons at Texas A&M, to help improve that number significantly.

Fritz leaned heavily on the transfer portal to try to get a significant boost this season.

“Our slogan this year is Houston 2025,” Fritz said. “In this day and age every year is going to be a little different. I hope we have a lot of continuity but we’re just worried about this team this year.”

The Lumberjacks finished 7-5 last season after quarterback Sam Vidlak came over from Montana and led an offense that averaged 35.6 points per game, eighth best in the FCS.

He passed for 2,387 yards with 27 touchdowns and just four interceptions despite missing three games.

“Obviously quarterback is a strength for us,” SFA head coach Colby Carthel said.

The Lumberjacks were ranked No. 24 in the FCS Coaches Preseason poll.

“We just want to go out and take steps and be the best that the 2025 Lumberjacks can be,” Carthel said. “I just want to see us get better from kickoff until the clock hits zero and find out what we have to work with.

“Obviously when you’re fighting up a couple of weight classes you want to get out of the game healthy. We’ll be ready to take the field and see what we’re made of.”