The Houston Cougars travel north to take on the Cincinnati Bearcats in one of the college football games on Thursday. The match will take place on September 15th, at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. The event will be televised for the viewing public on ESPN. Houston is a -7.5 favorite and the over/under is posted at 64.
Houston Cougars:
The Houston Cougars are 2-0 after their recent drubbing of the Lamar Cardinals. The impressive win came in week one when the Cougars took it to the Oklahoma Sooners. Houston came out on top by a 33-23 margin.
Greg Ward Jr. completed 23 of 40 throws for 321 yards. As a result, the gunslinger collected two end-zone tosses to his 2016 resume’. The Cougar’s first string running back Duke Catalon, ran the ball 22 times for 88 yards.
Steven Dunbar and fellow wide receiver Linell Bonner pitched in 11 catches for almost 200 yards. Both Greg Ward Jr. and Duke Catalon sat out of the contest against lowly Lamar University because of in juries sustained in the season opener.
The Cougars average almost 250 yards a game through the air. That stat is a little miscued because of Greg Ward Jr’s absences in last week’s game. Furthermore, he did compete against one of the Big 12’s best defenses to open the year.
The running game is averaging over 235 yards a game. This to may be somewhat of a misleading number. Duke Catalon also sat on the side lines last week. Nevertheless, it was business as usual for Houston. The well coached ball club played to it’s strength amassing over 380 yards on the ground. The game was over by half time.
On the defensive side of the pigskin, Houston is allowing almost 275 yards a game through the air. That could pose a problem on Thursday if they let the Bearcats get their young and talented receivers in the open.
The front seven is as advertised in 2016. Even though they dominated one cupcake on the schedule, they were also impressive against the mighty Sooners. Throw the two performances together and they are only giving up a tad under 110 yards a game via the ground.
Cincinnati Bearcats:
The Cincinnati Bearcats come into the Thursday contest with a 2-0 record of their own. The American Athletic Conference giant defeated the Big Ten’s Purdue Boilermakers last week.
Hayden Moore, Cincinnati’s quarterback connected on 19 of 32 passes for 250 yards. He was rewarded with three touchdown throws en route to a 38-20 victory. Tommy Tuberville, the Bearcat’s coach, will look to get Moore going early to help set up the run.
Cincinnati’s running backs Kahlil Lewis and Mike Boone, combined for almost 140 yards rushing and two trips to pay-dirt. Scat back Tion Green pitched in 53 more yards in 16 attempts. Houston’s strength seems to be in their front seven so the passing game needs to find some success to open up the running attack.
Nate Cole and Devin Gray posted 131 yards and two touchdowns from the wide-out position in last week’s match-up in Purdue. They helped balance out the Bearcat’s attack which kept the Boilermaker defense on it’s heels.
Unfortunately, these figures are also a bit construed. Cincinnati’s defense created plenty of turn overs that kept the Purdue defense on a short field for much of the game. Safety Mike Tyson recorded three interceptions by himself against the Boilermaker offense.
It’s just too early to tell how the Bearcat defense will stack up against a impressive opponent. Their last two games were against somewhat offensively inept programs. The Houston Cougars will definitely test their mettle on Thursday night.
Match-Up Analysis:
The Bearcats defeated Houston in 2013 and 2014. The Cougars doled out a little payback last year when they won 33-30. Oddsmakers had Cincinnati as a nine point underdog in that game.
Greg Ward Jr. looks like he’s healthy and ready to roll. I fully expect him to avoid the mistakes that helped the Bearcats in their first two affairs. Having their starting running back return should add to an even more electric offense.
Hayden Moore is experienced enough to make the right decisions with the rock. Balance will be the key if Cincinnati hopes to score with the Cougars. Bearcat Nation will be out in full force on Thursday night. The raucous crowd could be the lift the over-matched Bearcats need.
Houston just has too many weapons at their disposal and sticking around for four quarters will be a problem for Cincinnati. The Tommy Tuberville offense should get it’s share of points, but I don’t think it will be enough. I hate betting against American Athletic Conference dogs, especially on a souped-up Thursday night game at home. The play here if Thursday night action is your thing, is the over 64.
The Hun’s Prediction:
Give me the over 64.
