Getty The Houston Cougars defense finished 118th out of 129 FBS teams last year in points allowed per game.
The Houston Cougars look to get back on track when they visit the Tulane Green Wave to start American Athletic Conference play on Thursday night.
Houston is coming off a close 31-24 home loss against No. 20 Washington State last Friday, which was a push for our college football picks while Tulane crushed FCS opponent Missouri State 58-6 on Saturday. Houston leads the all-time series 17-6, including last year’s convincing 48-17 home win on November 15.
Houston Cougars (1-2) vs. Tulane Green Wave (2-1)
Thursday, September 19 at 8:00 PM ET
Yulman Stadium
Coverage: ESPN
*All odds and betting info courtesy of OddsShark and originally posted by Jazz Sports
- Houston Cougars vs. Tulane Green Wave -4.5
- Over/Under: 60
Houston Cougars
Block out the noise.
Houston quarterback D’Eriq King made history against Washington State, tying Tim Tebow for most consecutive games with both a passing and rushing touchdown in FBS history (14).
King completed 13 of 24 passes for 128 yards and one touchdown and he ran for 94 yards and two more scores on 17 carries. Patrick Carr ran for 77 yards on nine carries, Keith Corbin caught three passes for 54 yards and Marquez Stevenson had five receptions for 34 yards and one touchdown.
Washington State struggled to get going but pulled away in the second half for the win, outscoring Houston 24-10 after halftime. Houston had trouble moving the ball in the second half, they lost two fumbles and didn’t get in the end zone until King’s 12-yard run with 2:21 to play cut the lead to 31-24.
Tulane Green Wave
Another home game, another dominant win for the Wave! #RollWave
Tyjae Spears, Amare Jones, Justin McMillan had two touchdowns each in Tulane’s 58-6 win against Missouri State last Saturday.
McMillan completed 13 of 16 passes for 122 yards and while he didn’t throw for a touchdown, he scored two on the ground, Jones ran for 73 yards and two touchdowns on five carries and Spears ran for 89 yards and one touchdown on eight carries and he also caught one 88-yard touchdown from Keon Howard in the third quarter.
Tulane had 540 total yards against Missouri State’s 182, they forced three turnovers and had 26 first downs while limiting Missouri State to just 11.
Trends and Prediction
The Houston Cougars are:
- 5-1 ATS in their last six games after accumulating less than 170 passing yards in their previous game
- 5-2 ATS in their last seven Thursday games
- 18-8 ATS in their last 26 games in September
- 28-13-1 ATS in their last 42 games after accumulating more than 200 rushing yards in their previous game
- 21-10-1 ATS in their last 32 games after allowing less than 100 rushing yards in their previous game
- 6-1 ATS in their last seven meetings in Tulane
- 12-3 ATS in their last 15 meetings
The Tulane Green Wave are:
- 2-5 ATS in their last seven conference games
- 2-5 ATS in their last seven games following a straight up win
- 2-5 ATS in their last seven games after accumulating more than 200 rushing yards in their previous game
- 1-4 ATS in their last five games after scoring more than 40 points in their previous game
- 1-4 ATS in their last five games following an ATS win
- 1-4 ATS in their last five games after allowing less than 20 points in their previous game
- 0-4 ATS in their last four games following a straight up win of more than 20 points
Tulane is the better team but this will be their biggest challenge of the season, they haven’t faced an opponent like Houston. The key to this game will be the matchup between the Houston offense and the Tulane defense.
D’Eriq King will test Tulane’s pass defense, he completed 11 of 15 passes for 82 yards and one touchdown and ran for 82 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries in last year’s game and while Tulane has improved since, this Houston offense can score against anyone and they really need this game.
Pick: Houston +5