The Football Writers Association of America dropped its Outland Trophy Preseason Watch List on Tuesday, and the University of Houston made sure it left a mark on both sides of the ball. Guard Shadre Hurst and defensive lineman Khalil Laufau each earned a spot, giving the Cougars a presence up front that few programs in the country, let alone the Big 12 can match heading into the fall.
Houston is one of just three Big 12 schools with a player on the watch list from both the offensive and defensive line, and one of five in the conference with multiple honorees overall. In a league built on trench warfare, that's not a coincidence. It's a statement.
The Anchor: Shadre Hurst
Hurst arrives on the list already carrying preseason All-America buzz, and the pedigree behind it is hard to ignore. He follows head coach Willie Fritz and offensive line coach Eman Naghavi to Houston after the trio built something special together at Tulane, where Hurst racked up All-American and Freshman All-American honors and repeatedly landed on All-AAC teams.
The numbers tell the story of a lineman who simply doesn't lose reps. In 2025, Pro Football Focus tagged Hurst as the top-graded offensive lineman in the American Athletic Conference and the sixth-highest-graded guard in the entire country. Even more staggering: across four collegiate seasons, he's surrendered just one sack. Hurst helped power Tulane to three conference championships along the way (2022, 2023, 2025) — now he's bringing that championship pedigree and his old coaching staff, to H-Town.
The Enforcer: Khalil Laufau
On the other side of the ball, Laufau has built his reputation by making life miserable for opposing run games. A Preseason All-Big 12 selection by both Phil Steele and Athlon Sports, the Salt Lake City native was a load in the middle of Houston's defensive front all season.
His signature performance came on the biggest stage: two tackles for loss in the Cougars' Texas Bowl win over LSU, a season-high mark that punctuated a year in which he totaled two sacks and consistently clogged rushing lanes. Laufau wasn't a one-game wonder, either — he posted a season-high seven tackles at Oregon State and showed up in the box score with multiple tackles in 10 of Houston's 12 games.
A Big 12 Statement
With Hurst controlling the point of attack up front and Laufau collapsing pockets from the interior, Houston's front seven — and front five — look like a legitimate strength as the program continues to establish itself in its new conference home. Being one of only three Big 12 schools represented on both lines of scrimmage is the kind of detail that gets noticed in film rooms across the league.
About the Outland Trophy
The Outland Trophy is celebrating its 81st year, making it the third-oldest major award in college football. Dr. John Outland, an All-American at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1890s who later practiced medicine in Kansas City, Missouri, funded the award's creation in 1946 through the FWAA. An avid outdoorsman, Dr. Outland believed interior linemen never got their due — and set out to make sure the best in the country would finally be recognized. Eight decades later, Hurst and Laufau are carrying that mission into the 2026 season for Houston.
