Hoping to extend their flawless record, the No. 18 Houston Cougars (7-0) take on the Vanderbilt Commodores (3-4). The AAC’s third-leading passer, Greg Ward Jr. (1,734 yards, 10 TDs), will be featured in this game. It starts at 7:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct 31 and will be available on ESP2.
In last week’s matchup, Houston easily got past UCF 59-10. Kenneth Farrow had a great game running the ball in the victory, rushing 13 times for 167 yards and three TDs. Ryan Jackson had a great game as well, adding 75 rushing yards and a TD on nine carries. Vanderbilt also won last week’s performance, defeating Missouri 10-3. Darrius Sims had a quality performance, putting up 87 total yards. He did the most damage on the ground, putting up 58 yards. Ralph Webb also had a great game with 99 rushing yards and a TD on 26 carries.
The Commodores are a 13-point underdog against the Cougars and the Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is unavailable currently.
Sitting at 7-0 Straight Up (SU) and 5-2 Against The Spread (ATS), the Cougars will look to improve heading into Week 9. Houston’s offense is averaging 569 total yards over the last five games. Turning to the Cougars defense, there are several areas to keep an eye on. Vanderbilt’s offense will need to use all of its options against the ninth-ranked Cougars run defense, which gives up 98.3 rushing yards per game. An important aspect of the game will be if the Commodores can fend off Houston’s ability to take the ball away. The Cougars currently rank fourth in the nation with 2.6 turnovers per game. In the third quarter, Houston is a tough test, putting up 11.9 points during the third frame.
Over on the other sideline, the Commodores head into Week 9 with records of 4-2-1 ATS and 3-4 SU. Over their last five games, the Commodores have a SU and ATS record of 3-2 for those betting with them. Vanderbilt’s game plan centers around passing the football. The Commodores pass 38 times per game. Over the last five games, the Commodores turned it up on defense, only allowing an average of 13 PPG. Their season average is 16.3 points, so they’ve shown a marked improvement. Vanderbilt’s run defense has performed well over those five games, holding its opponents to just 90.2 rushing yards per game. Few teams have been worse than Houston when it comes to penalties. This season, the Cougars have earned 69 penalty yards per game.
Predictions: SU Winner – Houston, ATS Winner – Houston
Notes
Houston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Houston’s last 9 games.
Houston is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Houston’s last 6 games at home.
Vanderbilt is 2-2 SU when leading at the half this season. Houston is 6-0 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Vanderbilt is only 1-2 SU this season when allowing at least 3.0 sacks in a game. The Houston defense is currently averaging 3.1 sacks over the last five games.
Nationally, the Houston passing attack is ranked 30th, while the Vanderbilt pass defense is only ranked 51st. The Commodores passing game is ranked 68th, compared to the 104th-ranked pass defense of the Cougars.
