team selection James Cleveland Fred Biletnikoff Award watch list Conference USA Preseason offensive first team selection Marcus McGraw Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list Lombardi Award watch list Conference USA Preseason defensive first team selection Patrick Edwards Fred Biletnikoff Award watch list Tyron Carrier Fred Biletnikoff Award watch list Paul Hornung Award watch list Conference USA Preseason Special Teams Player of the Year Conference USA Preseason special teams first team selection Roster Schedule Denotes the largest crowd to have watched a football game at Robertson Stadium in its current capacity, and the largest Houston had ever hosted on-campus. This broke the record set during last season versus Texas Tech. Denotes a tie for largest crowd to have watched a football game at Robertson Stadium in its current capacity, and a tie for the largest Houston had ever hosted on-campus. This matched the attendance of the previous week. Game summaries Texas State As a season opener, Houston met with Texas State of the Southland Conference (a Division I FCS conference) for the fourth time in history. However, the two teams had not competed against each other in over six decades, with the last game being in 1948. Texas State had been undefeated against Houston, and were led by fourth-year head coach Brad Wright. Attendance was at an all-time high for Robertson Stadium, as 32,119 fans watched the game. The record-setting crowd at the stadium surpassed the previous season record against Texas Tech. This marked the largest home-opening crowd to watch the Cougars play since 37,652 fans watched Houston face California at the Astrodome on September 6, 1997. Quarterback Case Keenum set school records for both career passing yards and career pass attempts, surpassing then-current Philadelphia Eagles starting quarterback Kevin Kolb. UTEP Conference USA foe UTEP traveled to Robertson Stadium to face-off against Houston for the eighth time in history. Prior to UTEP's defeat, Houston's record against the team stood at 3–4. During the previous season, UTEP defeated No. 12 Houston to knock the team out of the national rankings for a period of time. The team was led by sixth-year head coach Mike Price who had previously served as head coach for Washington State with Kevin Sumlin as a graduate assistant. Attendance for the game was again at an all-time high, as the 32,119 fans in attendance tied the previous record from the game prior. The matchup was nationally televised on ESPN.