If you want to watch a potential barnburner of a game, you will have to make time for the matchup between the Houston Cougars (+375 to win the AAC) and the Oklahoma Sooners (+165 to win the Big 12). The Cougars are breaking in a new head coach, while the Sooners are going to feature a fresh face under center. Read on for more about this game below.
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Betting Preview for the Houston Cougars vs Oklahoma Sooners Week 1 College Football Game on September 1 2019
Where: Memorial Stadium , Norman
When: Sunday, September 1 , 2019, 7:30 PM ET
Line: Houston Cougars (+23) vs. Oklahoma Sooners (-23) – view all 2019 NCAAF lines
TV Broadcast: ABC
Betting on the Houston Cougars (0-0 Overall / 0-0 Conference)
There’s a new sheriff in town in Houston, with Dana Holgorsen bringing his coaching chops to the Cougars’ lair. Holgorsen was the architect of the West Virginia Mountaineers’ high-scoring offense in 2018, and he is intent on doing the same for the Cougars. However, Houston already had a high-octane attack even before Holgorsen’s arrival, as the Cougars averaged 41.8 points per game last year — seventh most in the nation. Holgorsen will have electrifying quarterback D’Eriq King running the offense on the field. King missed a number of games last year due to injury, but is now healthy. He passed for 2,982 yards and 36 touchdowns with six interceptions and also had 674 rushing yards and 14 rushing scores. With plenty of talented playmakers surrounding King, the Sooners will have a tough night keeping Houston attackers in check.
The over is 3-0 in Houston’s last three games.
Betting on the Oklahoma Sooners (0-0 Overall / 0-0 Conference)
Unlike the Cougars, Oklahoma is not getting back its starting quarterback from a year ago with Kyler Murray now an Arizona Cardinal in the NFL. But the good thing for the Sooners is that they don’t have to parade a freshman under center to kick off the post-Murray era, as they will have former Alabama Crimson Tide signal-caller Jalen Hurts taking over the starting quarterback gig. Hurts is taking over an offense that averaged 48.4 points per game in 2018 — the most in the nation. He’s not going to replicate what Murray had done in Norman, but he’ll be looking to slice up Houston’s defense that was as sturdy as a silk curtain last year. The Cougars allowed 39.1 points per game in 2018 and 510.1 total yards per contest. Hurt has seen way better defenses in the SEC, and he should be fine in the pocket versus Houston. Plus, the Sooners have an excellent backfield with Kennedy Brooks and Trey Sermon coming back and sharing the duties in Oklahoma;s ground attack.
The Sooners are 2-0-1 against the spread (ATS) in their last three games.
Writer’s Prediction
The Cougars win, 41-38.
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