With the curtain about to fall on the 2018 regular season, there’s some news on the next regular season on which to note.
Houston had already been scheduled to open the 2019 season against Washington State on Saturday, Sept. 14. Tuesday, however, it was announced that that matchup has been selected as the 2019 AdvoCare Texas Kickoff Game.
The game will now be played Friday, Sept. 13, at NRG Stadium in Houston.
“We are excited to face a quality program such as the Houston Cougars next year in the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff Game at NRG Stadium,” said Washington State athletic director Pat Chun in a statement. “It provides our fan base the opportunity to see a tremendous nonconference opponent in a great part of the country, while giving our student-athletes the chance to play in a world-class stadium.”
“We are honored to receive the invitation to participate in the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff,” Chun’s counterpart, Chris Pezman, said in his statement. “We have fond memories from our last action in the event and look forward to creating more in front of our hometown fans in a primetime nationally-televised game.”
Houston has played in the Kickoff Classic one time previously, a 33-23 win over Oklahoma in 2016. This will mark Wazzu’s first appearance in the game.
The two football teams have met three times previously, the first coming in 1959 and the most recent in the 1988 Aloha Bowl. The Pac-12 Cougars own a 2-1 edge in the miniseries.