The Houston Cougars and Tulane Green Wave will go head-to-head on the turf at Benson Field at Yulman Stadium. ESPN owns the TV rights and the game is scheduled to kick off at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Betting Preview: Tulane Green Wave vs. Houston Cougars
Houston is a live dog in this one and is currently getting 4 points. The Cougars are also receiving +155 moneyline odds while the Green Wave are -175. Vegas has placed the over/under (O/U) at 56 points. If Tulane gets behind in the early stages, it’ll likely create a nice live betting scenario.
With the game’s total placed originally at 60, the under has been getting the majority of the early sharp action.
The Cougars have lost 1.0 unit so far and are 2-1 against the spread (ATS). They’ve been a good under bet and have posted an O/U mark of 0-3.
The Green Wave have gained 0.0 units for moneyline bettors this season. They’re 1-1 ATS and own an O/U record of 0-2.
The Cougars are 1-2 straight up (SU) and they haven’t faced any AAC competition yet. The Green Wave are 2-1 SU overall and are also 0-0 SU in conference play.
When these two teams met last year, Houston knocked off Houston soundly 48-17.
The Cougars look to bounce back after a 31-24 defeat to Washington State last week where D’Eriq King completed only 13-of-24 passes for 128 yards and one touchdown. King (94 yards on 17 rush attempts, two TDs) also led the ground attack and was complemented by Kyle Porter (53 yards on nine carries). Marquez Stevenson (five receptions, 34 yards, one TD) and Keith Corbin (three catches, 54 yards) shared the receiving duties in the defeat.
Tulane just earned a 58-6 win over Missouri State. As a group, the Green Wave collectively completed 17-of-22 passes for 242 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Justin McMillan went 13-for-16 for 122 yards and one interception while Keon Howard was four-of-six for 120 yards and one touchdown. McMillan (49 yards on nine rush attempts, two TDs) mounted the running game while Darnell Mooney (five receptions, 51 yards) and Amare Jones (three catches, 15 yards) led the Tulane pass-catchers in the win.
Houston has run the ball on 61.2 percent of its offensive possessions this year while Tulane has an overall rush percentage of 63.6 percent. The Cougars have produced 238.7 rush yards per game and have seven touchdowns on the ground this year. The Green Wave are logging 256 rush yards per game and have 10 total rushing TDs.
If the numbers so far this season are any indication, then it seems like the Green Wave may be the more disruptive team in the trenches. Their offensive line has given up just one sacks while the D-line has logged five sacks. The Cougars O-line has allowed nine sacks and their defense has sacked opposing QBs just five times.
The Cougars offense has tallied 146.3 yards/contest in the air overall and has four passing scores so far. The Green Wave have recorded 180 pass yards per contest and have three total pass TDs.
Houston has allowed opponents to run for an average of 166 yards and pass for 340 yards per game. The Tulane D has given up 189.3 yards per game to opposing passers and 95.0 yards per game to opposing runners. The Green Wave are allowing an adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) of only 4 to opposing QBs, while the Cougars have given up a whopping 9.20 ANY/A.
Offensively, King has amassed 295 passing yards on the year. The signal-caller has completed 53 percent of his 51 attempts with three passing scores and has yet to throw an interception. He has a 5.96 adjusted net yards per pass attempt overall, although that number is 4.14 over the last two outings.
Justin McMillan has connected on 27-of-34 passes for 321 yards, two TDs and one INT for Tulane. His ANY/A stands at 8.54 for the year and 2.76 across his past two games.
Houston Cougars vs. Tulane Green Wave Free Prediction
SU Winner: Tulane, ATS Winner: Tulane, O/U: Over
Betting Trends
- The Cougars offense has yet to create a pass play of 40 yards or more, while the Green Wave have accounted for two such plays.
- The Houston defense has allowed four pass plays of 40 yards or more, while Tulane has given up one such play.
- The Houston offense has created eight rushing plays of 20 or more yards, while Tulane has created seven such runs.
- The Cougars defense has allowed six rushing plays of 20 or more yards, while the Green Wave have given up two such runs.
- Each team defense has recorded five sacks this season.
- Houston, as a team, has averaged 5.9 yards per carry over its last two games.
- Tulane has averaged 5.1 yards per carry over its last two.
- The Over/Under for Houston’s last game going into it was 74. The under cashed in the team’s 31-24 defeat to Washington State.
- Over its last three contests, Houston is 2-1 ATS and the under cashed in each of those three.
