NCAAF Week 5 Friday Tulane at Houston Betting Preview
It's Been a Grind for Cougars This season
Houston started the season ranked #24 in the country and high hopes of building on last year’s 11-2 record. As it turns out the 2-2 Cougars have already matched last season’s loss total, and both of their wins have come by just one score.
The Green Wave (3-1) will try to continue to make life hard for UH in the Friday Tulane at Houston betting matchup. Tulane might have got caught looking ahead to this game as they suffered a 27-24 defeat at home to Southern Mississippi last week even as -17 point favorites. 62% of the betting public likes Houston with the Cougars picking up a 40-22 win at Tulane last season to easily cover the -6.5 point spread.
Another Signature Win for Tulane?
The Green Wave are 3-1 to start the year for the first time in 2019, so they are riding high even despite the three point loss to Southern Mississippi last week. Last Saturday’s loss to the Golden Eagles definitely came in a letdown spot for Tulane as they had beaten Kansas State 17-10 on the road the week prior as +13.5 underdogs.
Tulane really was the better team in every way last week against Southern Miss – except on the scoreboard. The Golden Eagles had just 59 rush yards and 194 through the air, the Green Wave had a 36-24 time of possession advantage, and had fewer turnovers and penalties. The win wasn’t meant to be, but this is still a high quality Tulane squad.
The Green Wave will try to win the Friday Tulane vs Houston betting matchup with their defense, which ranks #1 in the country vs. the pass (102.5) and top 5 in total yards allowed (228.8). The Cougars have yet to find the explosiveness on offense they had in 2021 when they ranked 24th in the country in passing (270.7 ypg) and 14th in scoring (37.3 ppg).
Is This the Get Right Game for Cougars?
It’s been an exhausting season already for Houston and they are only four games into it. The Cougars went to OT in each of their first two games of the year (37-35 win over UTSA, 33-30 loss against Texas Tech) and needed a late fumble recovery TD to pick up the 34-27 win over Rice last week. UH also took their medicine in a 48-30 home loss to Kansas as -9.5 favorites in week three.
It’s been a grind this year for the Cougars, who not only committed 10 penalties for 73 yards in the loss to Kansas while also having two players fight on the sidelines. Questions have to be abound as to whether Dana Holgorsen has lost this team?
Houston QB Clayton Tune has threw an INT in three straight games and he’s still yet to throw for over 300 yards. WR Nathaniel Dell does have a couple of 120+ yard receiving games this season so his potential always gives the Cougars a chance to cover the -4 point number on Friday night.
Friday Tulane at Houston Betting Pick
Both teams looked less than stellar last week although Tulane’s loss wasn’t indicative of how much the Green Wave controlled the game against Southern Miss. We will see on Friday night if the Tulane defense is for real, and the line says they just might be.
Free Pick: Tulane +4
