WACO, Texas (AP) — Dean Connors scored on a 1-yard run with 1:57 left, Conner Weigman accounted for three touchdowns while passing for 201 yards and running for 121, and Houston wrapped its regular season with a 31-24 win at Baylor on Saturday.
The bowl-bound Cougars (9-3, 6-3 Big 12) got the game-winning drive after Baylor had erased a 15-point deficit following a scary injury to Bears freshman running back Caden Knighten late in the third quarter.
Baylor (5-7, 3-6) had one more chance to tie the game again, but Sawyer Robertson was under heavy pressure on a fourth-down incompletion from the Houston 13 with 43 seconds left.
The Bears ended coach Dave Aranda’s sixth season with their third loss in a row and fifth in six games.
Weigman had his two rushing TDs after throwing one to Amare Thomas for the fourth game in a row. The quarterback's 1-yard plunge put Houston up 24-9 with 4:58 left in the third quarter.
Knighten was injured on the ensuing drive, staying facedown on the field after taking a direct hit to the back while being tackled for no gain at the Houston 12. He was taken off the field on a stretcher and Baylor gave the ball up on downs on the next play before the Cougars went 3-and-out.
Baylor then got a 1-yard TD run from Joseph Dodds, and Robertson ran for the 2-point conversion. Weigman's incompletion on fourth-and-2 from the Houston 44 set up the Bears, who got the tying score when Robertson threw a 31-yard TD to Josh Cameron on fourth-and-9 with 8:53 left.
Weigman was 21-of-31 passing with an interception, and ran 22 times. Thomas had a 25-yard TD to cap Houston's first drive, his 10th of the season, and sixth in the four-game run.
Robertson finished 23-of-46 for 309 yards with an interception, on a tipped ball in the end zone, and a fumble while being sacked. Both turnovers were in the first quarter.
The takeaway
Houston: The Cougars, in their second season with coach Willie Fritz, finished with a nine-win regular season for the first time since 2021. It was only their second since 2016. While missing out on chance to go to the Big 12 title game, Houston's six wins in conference play were one more than combined its first two years in the league.
Baylor: It was the first home game for the Bears since athletic director Mack Rhoades stepped down for personal reasons and the school later said Aranda, now 36-37, would remain as coach.
Up next
Houston is going to a bowl game for the first time in three seasons, so the Cougars wait to find out where and who they will play.
The Bears open the 2026 season against Auburn in Atlanta on Sept. 5 .
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