The No. 24 Houston Cougars (5-0) look to continue their unbeaten streak as they travel to meet the Tulane Green Wave (2-3). The AAC’s third-leading passer, Greg Ward Jr. (1,301 yards, 8 TDs), is a player to watch in this contest. Players will take the field Friday, Oct 16 at 9:00 p.m. ET and it will air on ESPU.
Tulane lost big against Temple 49-10 last week. Teddy Veal had a good game in the loss, registering six receptions for 43 yards and one TD. Houston is hoping for another victory like last week’s performance, when it routed SMU 49-28. Greg Ward Jr. had a solid outing throwing the ball for the Cougars, completing 16 of 18 passes for 243 yards. He added 82 yards and four TDs on 14 rush attempts. Demarcus Ayers added 91 receiving yards on seven receptions.
Houston is a 16-point favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is currently unavailable.
Heading into Week 7 of the college football season, the Green Wave are 2-3 for both Straight Up (SU) and Against The Spread (ATS). One of the keys to the game will be whether the Cougars can protect the ball against Tulane’s aggressive defense. It’s ranked fourth in the nation in fumbles recovered with 1.4 per game.
On the other side, the Cougars have a record of 3-2 ATS and 5-0 SU. Houston has found a lot of success through the air. Its 286 passing yards per game ranks 25th in Division I. Switching gears to the Houston defense, there are certain areas where it measures up well against the Green Wave. The Houston defense has allowed just 95.8 rush yards per game this season, ninth in the nation. When Houston’s defensive front gets going, it is basically unstoppable. This year, the Cougars average 3.6 sacks per game, good enough for seventh in the country. The Cougars usually get going immediately from the initial kickoff, averaging 9.8 points in the first quarter this year. Houston tends to run a lot of plays during games, averaging 82.4 offensive snaps for fifth-most in the country.
Predictions: SU Winner – Houston, ATS Winner – Houston
Notes
Tulane is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Tulane’s last 5 games.
Tulane is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games.
Tulane is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games at home.
Tulane is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Tulane’s last 7 games at home.
Tulane is 1-10 SU in its last 11 games when playing Houston.
Tulane is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Houston.
Houston is 4-0 SU when leading at the half this season. Tulane is 2-0 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Among all FBS teams, the Tulane offensive passing game is ranked 84th in the country, while the Houston pass defense is only ranked 121st. The Cougars passing attack is ranked 25th, compared to the 98th-ranked pass defense of the Green Wave.
