AAC: HOUS-S FLOR
Time: 4 PM ET
Spread: HOU -9
Total: 44.5
Betting odds courtesy of Bookmaker
The Houston Cougars are 4-3 on the season with a 2-1 record in conference play. This week the Cougars travel to South Florida to take on the Bulls in a game college football oddsmakers are favoring Houston by 9-points.
The Cougars have got it done with defense, mostly. Houston has held opponents to just 17.9 points per game, good for 10th in the nation. Part of this is due to a couple outliers, not the least of which was a 47-0 laugher against Grambling State in Week 2. In the Cougars only matchup thus far against a ranked opponent, it fell by eight points to BYU.
Sophomore QB John O’Korn has had a subpar season thus far. He’s throwing just 51 percent for completion with a paltry 5.4 yards per reception average, and he’s also thrown more INTs (11) than TDs (6). His QB rating, accordingly, is barely over 100. Korn’s best game came in that loss to BYU, as he threw for 307 yards with three TDs and no interceptions. The week prior to that, he posted a 142.1 QB rating, but tat was against Grambling State, so that can kind of be thrown out the window.
Both of Houston’s top two running backs have been effective, with five-plus yard per carry averages. Kenneth Farrow has 437 yards on the season, while Ryan Jackson has 338, and the duo has scored seven TDs between them of Houston’s 12 total rushing TDs. At WR, Deontay Greenberry has impressed, with 465 yards on a 12.9 yard per reception average. He’s scored three TDs of the Cougars’ nine reception touchdowns.
South Florida has been mostly a disaster this season, ranking near the bottom of both passing and rushing yardage, while generating just 21.1 points per game. Moreover, the Bulls have lost three of its last four games, including a 34-17 loss to Cincy last week.
Mike White has been flat out bad as QB, with a 48 percent completion ratio and seven INTs to his six TDs. RB Marlon Mack has been a one-man show in the backfield, with 781 yards and eight TDs. Aside from Mack, the Bulls have just two other rushing TDs and no one with significant carries other than D’Ernest Johnson who averages just 3.5 yards per attempt.
