How and what to watch for Tulane vs. Houston

The Houston Cougars are expected to finally get their season started when they host the Tulane Green Wave on Thursday, Oct. 8. Houston has seen several matchups postponed or canceled so far but should finally see the field for an actual game, while Tulane is heading into its fourth game of the season.

Tulane enters with a 2-1 record so far, including a 66-24 road victory over Southern Miss in its last game on Sept. 26. The Green Wave kept the ball on the ground and found success against the Golden Eagles, rushing for 430 yards and seven touchdowns while putting the ball in the air just 21 times for 142 yards. Cameron Carroll received 15 carries for 163 yards and scored three touchdowns. Stephon Huderson carried the ball 11 times for 120 yards with a touchdown.

Houston is coming off a 4-8 season in its first year with Dana Holgorsen as the head coach in 2019. Multiple Cougars’ players redshirted midseason including D’Eriq King, who ended up transferring to Miami. Clayton Tune will take over as the full-time quarterback. He completed nearly 60% of his passes and threw 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Tune also threw for 1,533 passing yards.

Tulane won the previous matchup between these two teams, a 38-31 victory in New Orleans in 2019.

Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming

You can watch this game Thursday, October 8th at 7:30 ET on ESPN. Streaming is also available via the ESPN app.

Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends

Point spread: Tulane (+5.5) vs. Houston
Point Total: O/U 59.5 (-110)
Money line: Tulane (+165), Houston (-205)

• Tulane hit the under in five of its last seven games.
• Tulane is 4-11-1 against the spread in its last 16 games against Houston.
• Houston went 1-4 against the spread in its last five games.
• The total went under in four of the last five games Houston and Tulane played each other.

The Best Bet

This is going to be a tough one to handicap considering one team is heading into Game 4, while the other is playing its very first game of 2020. With not a whole lot to go off off in a unique situation, let’s go with Houston to cover this spread. The game is at the Cougars’ home field and after weeks of seeing potential matchups postponed, they have to be ready and should be motivated to come out hot.

Pick: Houston -5.5

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