GAME DETAILS
WHERE: NRG Stadium in Houston, TX
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 4 at 6 p.m.
WATCH IT ON: ESPN
SERIES HISTORY: 13-18-1. Texas Tech has won eight of the last nine games it's played against Houston.
BET MGM LIVE ODDS: Texas Tech -1.5, OVER/UNDER 65.5
TEXAS TECH BETTING TRENDS:
· Texas Tech is 13-1 SU in their last 14 games played in week one.
· The total has gone UNDER in eight of Texas Tech’s last nine games when playing as the favorite.
· Texas Tech is 1-4-1 ATS in their last six games played in September.
· Texas Tech is 4-1 SU in their last five games against Houston.
· Texas Tech is 4-8 ATS in their last 12 games.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT HOUSTON
The Houston Cougars are coming off a 2020 season where they went 3-5 overall and 3-3 in AAC play. Coach Dana Holgorsen enters his third season at Houston on a bit of a hot seat, as the Cougars have gone 7-13 during his tenure.
The Cougars averaged 30 points a game a season ago. Houston was 3-0 a season ago when scoring 37 or more points and 0-5 when scoring less than 37.
The Cougar defense returns 11 starters from a season ago and the offense returns eight starters. Houston has added a number of players through the transfer portal that are expected to make an impact in 2021.
Four of Houston’s top-five tacklers a season ago were members of its secondary unit and all four have returned.
Texas Tech transfers WR KeSean Carter and RB Ta’Zhawn Henry will both be making their Houston Cougar debut against their former team on Saturday.
The Houston defensive line was second in the AAC in sacks a season ago. Payton Turner, the leading sack getter for the Cougar defense in 2020, was a first round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints. The Cougars return Super SR David Anenih who finished just a half sack behind Turner and JR Derek Parish who was third on the team in sacks in 2020.
Leading receiver for the Cougar offense a season ago, Nathanial Dell, returns after hauling in 428 yards on 29 receptions and three touchdowns. With leading rusher Kyle Porter gone, the Cougars will look to a trio of Mulbah Car, Chandler Smith and Henry to carry the load for the offense.
THREE KEY PLAYERS
QB- 3 - CLAYTON TUNE – Tune took over full time for the Cougars following D’Eriq King’s transfer to Miami. Tune has 20 career starts at Houston dating back to 2018. While Tune has the ability to throw the football the Red Raider defense will need to be aware of Tune’s ability to take off and run with the football. He was the second leading rusher for the Cougar offense a season ago with 254 yards rushing and five rushing touchdowns. Ball security hasn’t been a strength of Tune’s the last couple of seasons as he had 19 interceptions over his last 15 games.
WR - 20 - KeSean Carter – A familiar name to Texas Tech fans, Carter was an impact player for three seasons on the Red Raider offense. Carter was eighth in the Big 12 a season ago in touchdowns, despite only playing in six games before a shoulder injury ended his season. Carter was the Big 12 leader in touchdowns and catches per game at the time of his injury. He was named as an honorable mention All-Big 12 WR in 2020 and entered the transfer portal following the season.
DE- 12 -David Anenih – The super senior defensive end made seven starts in 2020 and recorded 17 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, which was second on the Cougars defense. He played in 12 games and made eight starts in 2019 and finished with 26 tackles, seven tackles for loss and was tied for the team lead with five sacks. Anenih can line up on both sides of the defensive line so he’ll be an early season test for Texas Tech offensive tackles T.J. Storment and Caleb Rogers.
MY THOUGHTS ON THE MATCHUP
When looking at football games, I always like to watch the gambling lines and see how they move because more often than not, they’re spot on. Texas Tech opened as a -6.5 point favorite against Houston and I’ve got to admit, it makes me slightly nervous to see how far the line has moved since the opening - now down to -1.5 currently. Safe to say, a lot of the early money was on the Cougars. Even though Vegas has this game as pretty much a toss-up currently, I think Texas Tech wins and honestly, the opening line of -6.5 feels more like the right number to me. Houston does have a ton of returning starters, but this is also a 3-5 team from a year ago that lost by two touchdowns to Hawaii in the New Mexico Bowl the last time they took the field. Texas Tech will have a good opportunity to showcase its depth on both sides of the football early on in its 2021 campaign and I expect they’ll do just that on Saturday night against the Cougars.
Score Prediction
Texas Tech - 38
Houston - 27
