Houston Cougars vs. Texas State Bobcats Betting Preview
Where: Bobcat Stadium — San Marcos, Texas
When: Saturday, September 24, 2016, 7:00 PM ET
Line: Houston Cougars (-34.5) vs. Texas State Bobcats (+34.5) – view all NCAA Football odds and lines
TV Broadcast: ESPNU
Writer’s Pick: Houston Cougars (-34.5)
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Betting on the Houston Cougars (-34.5)
The Houston Cougars will place their perfect record on the line, when they travel to San Marcos for a favorable matchup with Texas State this weekend.
A win here for the No. 6 Cougars seems to be a given. Three games into the the new season, they’ve looked really solid, and are no longer your ordinary Group of Five program. A proof of that would be their opening-week performance against then third-ranked Oklahoma.
During that game, the Cougars silenced all doubters, shocking the Sooners with a big 33-23 victory. QB Greg Ward Jr. led the way, passing for 321 yards and two scores while senior defensive back Brandon Wilson delivered the biggest play of the game after returning a 109-yard missed field goal for a touchdown in the third period. That play extended his team’s lead to 26-17.
Wilson, however, won’t be suiting up in this Saturday’s game versus the Bobcats due to a leg injury. But even so, the Cougars are still in good shape to improve to 4-0 this season. Ward Jr., who sat on the sidelines in the game with Lamar, is back and has a dynamic Houston offense that’s averaging nearly 40 points per contest and piling up 458.0 yards of total offense at his command.
Yes, the Cougars have been stacking up the points, but their defensive efforts deserve huge credit for the team’s fiery start, too. They currently lead the nation in rushing defense (38.3 yards per game), and managed to limit the Sooners’ powerful running game to just 70 yards. Doing that versus an inferior Bobcats program should be quite easier.
Houston, by the way, went through a scare in its last game versus Cincinnati. The Cougars trailed 16-12 early in the final period before scoring 28 unanswered points to stay undefeated.
Betting on the Texas State Bobcats (+34.5)
Do not underestimate the Texas State Bobcats. They kicked of the new season—and the Everett Withers era—with a bang by pulling off a triple-overtime win at Ohio. But that victory was quickly forgotten in their following game versus the Razorbacks, who trampled them, 42-3, last weekend.
In that loss, the Bobcats were outplayed from both sides of the ball. They were outgained in total yardage, 350-26, and posted just three points. Tyler Jones was completely shut down as well, finishing with mediocre numbers of 83 yards on 11-of-26 passing.
Needless to say, Jones has to show up the way he did during the team’s season opener in order for the Bobcats to at least stand a chance of winning. The senior QB equaled the school record with 418 passing yards and four touchdowns versus Ohio. He’ll also need his targets in Elijah King and Eric Luna to wake up. Both wide receivers were crucial in the win at Ohio, as the two combined for 179 yards on 16 catches and three TDs.
Texas State is 3-9 ATS in its last 12 games overall.
Writer’s Prediction
Houston (-34.5) wins it, 44-17.
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