College football on Saturday night and we will see the Houston Cougars take on the Louisville Cardinals in an American Athletic Conference bout at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. The game has a start time of 7:00 pm (Eastern) and be will televised on ESPN U. Current odds have Louisville listed as 17 point favorites, while the total sits at 57.5.
Analysis: Houston comes in off a tough 19-14 loss o the UCF Knights, which was their first conference loss of the year. Houston is still enjoying a fantastic year, its first as a member of the AAC, as they enter play this weekend with a 7-2 overall record. The Cougars have a very potent offense as they rank third in the AAC in total offense (470.2 ypg) and second in scoring (38.1 ppg). John O'Korn had his struggles against UCF, but still this year he has thrown for 2,352 yards and 23 scores and 6 INTs, while completing 63.1% of his pass attempts. Deontay Greenberry is his top target and with 70 receptions, 1,042 yards and 9 Tds, he is as sure a thing for all-conference honors as there is. On defense the Cougars have been very opportunistic as they lead the AAC with 32 turnover created. That has helped make up for the Cougars' overall defensive effort as they are third to last in the conference in total defense, allowing 426.7 ypg.
With a 4-1 mark in league play, Louisville is still in the mix in the AAC, but will need UCF to falter down the stretch. The Houston offense may be god, but the Louisville offense is better, as they are second in the AAC in total offense (481.2 ypg) and leading the conference in scoring (38.4 ppg). Guiding the offense is Teddy Bridgewater, who has thrown for 2,845 yards this season and is completing 71.4% of his pass attempts. Bridgewater spreads the ball well but his favorite target is Damian Copeland, who leads the team in receptions (39) and yards (569), while scoring 4 times. The backfield has gotten its production from a trio of backs, but Michael Dyer (223 yards, two TDs) is listed as questionable this week after missing the last two games. That leaves Dominique Brown (513 yards, four TDs) and Senorise Perry (482 yards, six Tds) as they primary backs for this game. The Cardinals rank at the top of the AAC in total defense (243.7 ypg), holding teams to just over 10 points per game.
Pick: Wow the Cougars getting over 2 TD's in this one. I can't see it. The Cougars struggled last week on offense, but they still have the offense to match the Cardinals point for point in this one. Louisville hasn't looked all that sharp of late and that was vs not so great teams. Since the 49-7 win vs Ohio to open the season, the Cardinals have faced just 2 winning teams and struggled mightily with Rutgers and lost to UCF. They also didn't look sharp vs Kentucky, Temple and UConn in other games. Louisville does have the 2ndranked defense in the nation, but the highest scoring offense they have faced as UCF (34th) and they allowed 38 points in that game. The 2nd highest scoring team is Rutgers (54th) and after them they haven't faced a scoring offense that has been ranked higher than 74th. Houston will be able to score on this team and they should be able to keep this game close just like they did last week vs UCF.
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