Unbeaten Utah meets its first winning opponent when No. 14 Houston visits tonight

No. 10 Utah hosts No. 14 Houston at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday night at 10:15 p.m. ET on ESPN, the last ranked-versus-ranked game of the day. Utah is 6-0, its best start since 2015, but none of its first six opponents had a winning record at midseason, according to the Associated Press. Houston, at 6-1, is the first.

The Utes have won 12 straight games, the longest active streak in the FBS since Notre Dame and Indiana lost last weekend. The last loss was 24-21 to BYU in 2025. College GameDay was in Salt Lake City on Saturday morning, and Utah is a 6.5-point favorite with a total of 57.5, per ESPN's odds feed.

Houston is 3-1 in the Big 12. Its only loss was 28-26 at Texas Tech, and it has beaten Kansas State and Oklahoma State, the latter 35-32 last week. Quarterback Conner Weigman leads the Big 12 with 20 touchdown passes and has thrown two interceptions. He had career highs of 343 yards and five touchdowns against Oklahoma State. Coach Willie Fritz's team went 4-8 in each of its first two Big 12 seasons.

Utah leads the Big 12 at 40.2 points a game and ranks ninth nationally with 486.5 yards a game. Devon Dampier has 15 touchdown passes, but he threw two interceptions and completed 58.5% of his passes in last week's 27-24 win at Colorado, the first time this season he finished under 66%. Running back Wayshawn Parker is averaging 147.7 rushing yards in Big 12 games, the most in the league.

The two offenses run the ball almost exactly as well. Houston averages 220.3 rushing yards and Utah 220.2. Both defenses shut the run down, too: Utah allows 88.7 yards a game on the ground and Houston 82.8. Makhi Hughes and Re'Shaun Sanford II have combined for 904 rushing yards for the Cougars.

It is Utah's fourth 8:15 p.m. local kickoff in seven games. Athletic director Mark Harlan said the school has asked ESPN and Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark to spread the late games around. "It'll be a late night for everybody," he said.

What to watch: whether Weigman can keep his interception count low against the best defense he has faced, whether Dampier bounces back after the Colorado game, and which run game blinks first. A Houston win would leave the Cougars tied with Utah in the Big 12 loss column. Beat Chuck will have the recap overnight.