Lumberjacks Downed by Houston in Season Opener

Thursday, August 28

Houston, TX

7:00 P.M.

Stephen F. Austin

0-1 , 0-0

Houston

1-0 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

SFA

Houston

Lumberjacks Downed by Houston in Season Opener

8/28/2025 11:35:00 PM | Football

Box Score

HOUSTON, Texas – Stephen F. Austin dropped its season opener on Thursday night at Houston suffering a 27-0 loss to the Big 12 opposition. It was the first matchup between the Lumberjacks and Cougars since 1948. The all-time series is now even at 2-2.

The Cougars converted a handful of third down opportunities on two touchdown-scoring drives in the first half to build a 17-0 lead at the break.

Houston turned to special teams for plus field position to begin their third drive of the evening as a return on the 'Jacks second punt was returned to the SFA side of the field. From there, UH turned in a 7-play, 41-yard drive that was capped by Conner Weigman finding a wide-open Tanner Koziol from 11-yards out for the game's opening score. The Cougars covered 27 yards on four rushes to set up the scoring strike.

A promising drive appeared to be developing for the 'Jacks early in the second quarter. Senior wide receiver Kylon Harris hauled in an eight-yard pass from classmate quarterback Sam Vidlak on third and three to extend the drive near midfield. Three plays later, Vidlak hit a crossing Clayton Wayland for a tough three-yard grab to set up a 4^th and 2. A direct snap was turned away near the line of scrimmage as the Cougars took over at their own 45.

UH punched in its second touchdown of the game on a swing pass from Weigman to J'Marion Burnette who made a man miss and scored from 39 yards out with 3:15 remaining before the intermission. It was a nine-play scoring drive that covered 96 yards. The last two plays totaled 68 yards, and the drive also included a called defensive pass interference.

The 'Jacks received an injection late in the first half turning the Cougars over on downs after the host elected to go for it from the SFA21.

Houston scored two more times in the final 30 minutes of action with an 11-play drive that ate up nearly 6:30 of third quarter clock as Weigman found Amare Thomas on 3^rd and 12 for a 24-0 lead. Ethan Sanchez's second attempt from 40+ was good from 43 as the Cougars were set up with a short field near the start of the fourth quarter.

SCORING DRIVES
1Q (5:12) | UH 7, SFA 0 - 7 plays, 41 yards, 2:58 – Tanner Koziol from Conner Weigman (11 yards)

2Q (8:24) | UH 10, SFA 0 – 9 plays, 33 yards, 3:47 – Ethan Sanchez FG GOOD from 40 yards
2Q (3:15) | UH 17, SFA 0 – 9 plays, 96 yards, 3:46 – J'Marion Burnette from Conner Weigman (39 yards)

3Q (8:36) | UH 24, SFA 0 – 11 plays, 75 yards, 6:24 – Amare Thomas from Conner Weigman (20 yards)

4Q (14:10) | UH 27, SFA 0 – 4 plays, 3 yards, 0:49 – Ethan Sanchez FG GOOD from 43 yards

POSTGAME NOTES

SFA moves to 49-45-5 in 99 season openers
The Lumberjack defense forced five UH punts when facing the top line of the two-deep and two Cougar FGAs from 40+ in addition to the fourth down stop with under a minute remaining in the first half
SFA produced 8.0 tackles for loss
Houston converted all three of its redzone attempts for 17 of its 27 points
Six of Houston's seven third-down conversions came during touchdown-scoring drives
Senior linebacker Jaydon Southard led with a career-best 11.0 total tackles, half of which were solo stops, along 1.5 tackles for loss
Malachi Williams followed with seven tackles and a half tackle for loss
Houston native Michael Patterson III recorded a career-high five tackles as did fellow Houstonian Kameron Reddic
Harris hauled in four passes, while Wayland led with 43 yards receiving including a 40-yard strike from Gavin Rutherford in the fourth quarter
Lachie Pozzobon averaged 43.9 yards per punt with a long of 51 and one downed inside the 20
Bugs Mortimer's 30-yard punt return with under six minutes to play in the third quarter was the longest such return of his career
The 'Jacks totaled 144 yards in 58 plays with both Vidlak (13-26-1) and Rutherford (4-7-1) tossing for 50+ yards

UP NEXT
The 'Jacks prepare for the first FCS test of the campaign next weekend in a nationally ranked matchup at #16 Abilene Christian. SFA and ACU meet for the 27th time overall. The Lumberjacks lead the all-time series 14-12 and have won eight of the past ten. Kickoff on Saturday, September 6 from inside Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium is set for 7 p.m.

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