Conner Weigman Left Utah’s Stadium In a Walking Boot, and He Was Limited In Practice All Week — a PaperCity Exclusive

SALT LAKE CITY — Conner Weigman left Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium in a walking boot, hobbling towards the Houston buses. The bulky gray boot encased Weigman’s left foot and lower left leg. And  Weigman did not practice much in the week leading up to University of Houston’s 21-13 loss to undefeated Utah, multiple sources tell PaperCity.

These developments put Weigman and the now 6-2 Cougars’ fate into new context.

Willie Fritz and Conner Weigman both tried to dismiss the injury talk in Houston’s postgame press conference, but a source tells PaperCity that UH’s lifeline quarterback is dealing with a left ankle/foot injury. The ESPN announcing team brought up Weigman looking like he was playing hindered several times during the game broadcast. Weigman did not wear the walking boot to his postgame session with the media.

Fritz closed practices to reporters for the first time this season in the week leading up to the Utah game, only allowing access for the last 15 minutes of the Tuesday and Wednesday sessions. There was never any question that Conner Weigman would play against Utah, a source close to the team tells PaperCity.

Weigman would be there for his guys, battling through his pains to try to lead Houston to win in the biggest game for UH’s football program in years. And Weigman and the Cougars put themselves in position to win the game, taking 10-0 and 13-7 leads. And even after Utah roared back with 14 points in the fourth quarter to take its own 21-13 lead, Weigman brought Houston down the field, getting his team to the 23-yard line, down eight points, with 1:43 still left on the clock.

The now 7-0 Utes could not breathe easy until Weigman’s fourth-and-10 pass sailed by Koby Young in the corner of the end zone.

Conner Weigman was not close to healthy, but he still helped give Willie Fritz’s team a chance to win. UH offensive coordinator Slade Nagle called less designed runs for Weigman than usual and the usual dual-threat quarterback rushed for only 20 total yards against Utah when sacks were subtracted. Though Weigman did pull off an impressive 33-yard run with a cutback, hurting ankle and all.

No can ever question the toughness of Houston’s quarterback.

Utah defensive coordinator Cotton Swan dialed up the blitz against Weigman and mixed up those blitzes, particularly in the fourth quarter. Utah head coach Morgan Scalley repeatedly praised Weigman’s toughness after the game, and it was apparent the Utes coaching staff understood Weigman was not 100 percent. There are few real secrets in college football.

“We got to the quarterback,” Scalley says. “I know he’s hobbled. You could tell he was kind of hobbled. But what a competitor that kid is.”

Conner Weigman’s want-to and determination is never in doubt. After valiantly playing through some major injuries at Texas A&M, only to still be benched, this is a quarterback who never wants to leave the field. Weigman will be there for his teammates, no matter what.

Blindsided

On the blindsided sack that swung the game in many ways, with Weigman getting leveled and fumbling inside UH’s 10-yard line with the Cougars trailing 14-13, it probably would not have mattered how mobile Weigman was. Or wasn’t. An in-his-prime Michael Vick probably could not have avoided that rush.

Still, one could wonder if a more mobile Weigman would have just kept the ball and converted the fourth-and-one in the first quarter that robbed UH of points when the quarterback could not connect with Trent Walker. Utah’s defense stopped Weigman on a third-and-one run the play before.

Could a package with uber talented freshman quarterback Keisean Henderson worked in that short yardage situation? It seems less and less likely we will ever find that out this season.

The margin between being a contender for the national championship, having a place in the College Football Playoffs and the Big 12 Championship, and being left out can be razor thin. For this talented Houston team it comes down to a few plays in that 28-26 Friday night loss at Texas Tech and a few more in the 21-13 loss in an after dark Saturday night special at Rice-Eccles.

You could feel the pain in Conner Weigman as he made his way to the tunnel without ever taking his helmet off after the loss in Utah’s 4,637 feet above sea level stadium. And you could hear it in his voice in the postgame press conference.

Houston comes off the field after its season-altering 21-13 loss to Utah. Quarterback Conner Weigman keeps his helmet on all the way into the tunnel. Javion White slams his down on the turf in frustration. Assistant head coach Shawn Bell circles back to scoop up some of inside… https://t.co/tg2YpUoobi pic.twitter.com/3wlHDj8zB1

— Chris Baldwin (@ChrisYBaldwin) October 25, 2026

This one did not just hurt. It changed the course of the season. And will require Weigman and his teammates to shift to other goals. Or forget the big picture altogether and just try to go 4-0 over the last four games of the regular season.

“It’s definitely tough,” Weigman says. “We were in that game. And we were in a really good position to go win it. And we didn’t. So it sucks. And we feel it in that locker room.”

He  brushed off his own injury. “It’s football,” Weigman says. “I wasn’t on the injury report. So I’m all right.”

“We got to the quarterback. I know he’s hobbled. You could tell he was kind of hobbled. But what a competitor that kid is.” — Utah coach Morgan Scalley

You could argue that at this point in a football season, almost everyone who plays regularly is dealing with some kind of injury. “I think he was healthy,” Fritz says when I ask directly if Weigman was dealing with something during the Utah game.

Utah sacks Weigman three times and for the first time all season he does not account for any touchdowns passing or running. He completes a season-low 54.3 percent of his passes. Still, he finds a way to hit Young for a 41-yard pass to put UH in position to try and force overtime on that final drive.

Now Houston must hope that this bye week — and the 14 days off between games (with a home tilt with Cincinnati next on Saturday, November 7) — will give Weigman the chance to heal further. A healthier Conner Weigman may be all that can put UH’s dream season back together again.