The Memphis Tigers will travel to TDECU Stadium on Friday night to take on the Houston Cougars in an American Conference matchup.
The Tigers are 5-5 (2-4) and are coming off a 30-29 overtime home loss to the East Carolina Pirates. Freshman quarterback Seth Henigan finished going 15-of-26 for 233 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
The Cougars are 9-1 (7-0) this season and are riding a nine-game winning streak after going on the road and defeating the Temple Owls 37-8. Junior quarterback Clayton Tune finished 21-of-34 for 224 yards with two touchdowns.
Memphis at Houston Betting Analysis
On the Memphis Tigers side
Senior wide receiver Calvin Austin III has been incredible this season as he has recorded 67 receptions for 1,026 yards (15.3 yards per catch) with eight receiving touchdowns and a single rushing attempt for 69 yards with a rushing touchdown.
In his last game against the Pirates, he was held in check with just two catches for 37 yards (18.5 yards per reception).
The Memphis Tigers need to improve defensively a bit as they are giving up 29.2 points per game this season. In their previous game against the East Carolina Pirates, Memphis allowed 30 points on 341 total yards of offense (233 passing, 108 rushing).
The Tigers cannot give up first dows as the Pirates went 18-of-26 on third down attempts and 1-of-2 on fourth down tries. Memphis also needs to work on getting their defense off of the field as the Pirates were on offense for 42:47 in this game.
On the Houston Cougars side
Freshman running back Alton McCaskill has been dominating the running game for the Houston Cougars this season. He has 144 rushes for 732 yards (5.1 yards per attempt) with 14 rushing touchdowns as well as 15 catches for 88 yards (5.9 yards per reception) with a receiving touchdown. In his last game against the Owls, he had 21 rushes for 129 yards (6.1 yards per carry), two rushing touchdowns, and a 12-yard catch.
The Houston Cougars have been doing pretty well defensively, as they are allowing 20.8 points per game. In their previous game against the Temple Owls, Houston gave up eight points on 218 total yards of offense (119 passing, 99 rushing).
The Cougars did a great job of killing drives as the Owls went just 2-of-10 on third down opportunities. Houston was able to also force three turnovers (all interceptions), so their secondary has been doing extremely well.
Memphis Tigers at Houston Cougars Prediction
The top sportsbooks across the United States are telling us that the Cougars are a single-digit favorite over the Tigers.
These two programs are relatively healthy as they only have a handful of players listed on the injury report as of this writing. Both of these offenses are pretty good, but the difference is going to be defensively.
The Cougars are giving up 26.2 points per game in their previous five outings, while the Cougars are allowing 20.8 points per game this season. Memphis is 4-6 against the spread this season, while Houston is 6-4 against the spread. All in all, go with the Houston Cougars to win at home by double digits.
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