Willie Fritz will return to a familiar place Saturday when No. 25 Houston travels to face Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga.
Fritz coached the Eagles for two seasons from 2014-15, posting a 17-7 record and leading Georgia Southern to the 2014 Sun Belt championship in its first season as an FBS team. He went 10-1 at Paulson Stadium before leaving for Tulane.
Now in his third season at Houston, Fritz's Cougars (2-1) are looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season.
"It's a work trip," Fritz said Monday. "Here in 10 or 15 years, I'll retire and go back and watch a homecoming game. But this is a business trip."
Houston dropped three spots to No. 25 in the Associated Press poll following a 28-26 road loss to No. 11 Texas Tech.
The Cougars outgained the Red Raiders 458-425 and drove 88 yards for a touchdown in the final two minutes before failing on a potential game-tying two-point conversion with 49 seconds remaining.
Quarterback Conner Weigman completed 27 of 38 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. Houston converted 9 of 15 third downs and held the ball for nearly 34 minutes in the loss.
Houston enters Saturday averaging 527.3 yards per game, seventh nationally, while its 264.0 rushing yards per game rank 11th.
The Cougars will face a Georgia Southern defense allowing 255.3 yards per game, 19th in the nation. The Eagles rank 25th against the run at 88.7 yards per game.
Georgia Southern (1-2) returns home after consecutive road losses to Clemson and Jacksonville State.
The Eagles led Jacksonville State 17-0 before falling 31-27 Saturday. They entered the fourth quarter ahead 27-17 but were held scoreless as the Gamecocks stormed back with two touchdowns in a 3:01 span.
Georgia Southern outgained Jacksonville State 369-302, held the ball for 36:23 and converted 10 of 17 third downs but couldn't close out the win.
"We played our best football as a team for three quarters but did not play to standard in the fourth quarter," Georgia Southern coach Clay Helton said Monday. "That cost us the football game from not paying attention to the little details."
David Mbadinga rushed for 103 yards on 18 carries against Jacksonville State, while Weston Bryan scored a career-high three rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Max Johnson completed 23 of 33 passes for 187 yards and has thrown for 712 yards through three games with two touchdowns and one interceptions.
Saturday will mark the first meeting between Houston and Georgia Southern and the first time a Power Four program has played at Paulson Stadium.
"Introducing a top-25 team and a Power Four team to Paulson Stadium for the first time in history, yeah, it makes it a special game," Helton said.
Helton also has ties to Houston. He played quarterback for the Cougars from 1993-94 under his father Kim Helton.
Johnson and Weigman were teammates at Texas A&M. Johnson replaced an injured Weigman during the 2023 season and threw for 1,452 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions in eight games.
Georgia Southern is 2-2 all-time against top-25 opponents at home
--Field Level Media