Is Khalil Laufau starting?
Khalil Laufau is the projected starter at DT for Houston Cougars.
Senior · #18 · 6'3", 290 lbs
See full Houston Cougars depth chart ›Depth at DT · Houston Cougars
- 11888Khalil LaufauStarter
- 29272Travis Buhake
Houston Starting Lineup
- DE
- NT
- DTKhalil LaufauThis player
- JACK
- WLB
- MLB
- LCB
- SS
- FS
- RCB
- NB
- RES
Top defensive linemen in the Big 12
The Story
Making His Case
A 3-star recruit out of Herriman, ranked #1,803 nationally coming out of high school. In 2025: 34 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 sacks. That's 5% of the team's production at his spot and 84th-percentile production nationally — good for a 88 overall (Great tier).
- Jersey
- #18
- Class
- SR/TR
- Height
- 6'3"
- Weight
- 290 lbs
2025 Stats
| Season | Tkl | TFL | Sacks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 34 | 3 | 2 |
Regular-season totals from public sources. Derived splits (completion %, yards per carry, catch rate) aren't available in our current dataset.
Recruiting Profile
- Stars
- ★★★☆☆3-star
- Composite
- 0.8367
- National Rank
- #1803
- High School
- Herriman
- Hometown
- Herriman, UT
Why this rating?
On a 87-rated defense; 84th-percentile production (×0.91 for competition level) put them +1 vs unit starters → 88.
2026 projection — based on SP+ (a respected team-efficiency metric; 2026 not published yet, using 2025), 2025 production, recruiting, and the 2026 transfer portal; capped to depth-chart order.
2026 Game Log
Oct 10WKSUTKL 2
- TKL
- 2
- SOLO
- 1
- SACK
- 0.5
- INT
- 0
- PD
- 0
Final W 35-16
Oct 3WUCFTKL 5
- TKL
- 5
- SOLO
- 4
- SACK
- 1
- INT
- 0
- PD
- 0
Final W 27-17
Sep 26WGASOTKL 5
- TKL
- 5
- SOLO
- 3
- SACK
- 0
- INT
- 0
- PD
- 1
Final W 42-28
Sep 19LTTUTKL 4
- TKL
- 4
- SOLO
- 2
- SACK
- 0.5
- INT
- 0
- PD
- 0
Final L 28-26
Sep 12WSOUTKL 1
- TKL
- 1
- SOLO
- 0
- SACK
- 0
- INT
- 0
- PD
- 0
Final W 77-6
Sep 5WORSTTKL 2
- TKL
- 2
- SOLO
- 1
- SACK
- 0
- INT
- 0
- PD
- 0
Final W 33-20
| OPP | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 10 | WKSU | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 3 | WUCF | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 26 | WGASO | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 19 | LTTU | 4 | 2 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 12 | WSOU | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 5 | WORST | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Khalil Laufau's 2026 game-by-game stat log.
The People's Ratings
Team Role
Overall ratings blend team strength (SP+), on-field production, and recruiting. Higher = more impactful.