Two of the Big 12’s strongest teams meet tonight as the 14th-ranked Houston Cougars travel to face the 10th-ranked, undefeated Utah Utes.
Houston enters the matchup at 3-1, with its only loss coming in a tight 28-26 road defeat to Texas Tech. Since then, the Cougars have won four straight games, beating Georgia Southern by 14 points and UCF by 10. In the last two weeks, Houston defeated Kansas State by 19 points on the road and held off Oklahoma State 3 points after letting an 11-point fourth-quarter lead shrink before scoring a go-ahead touchdown.
Utah is 6-0 and has yet to face a team of Houston’s caliber this season. The Utes’ closest call came last week, a 27-24 road win over Colorado. They have also beaten Kansas, Iowa State, Utah State, Arkansas and Idaho, winning every other game by more than one score. Their smallest margin among those was a 14-point road win at Iowa State, and at home this season Utah has won by an average of 33.8 points.
Much of Utah’s success is tied to quarterback Devon Dampier, who has completed about 69% of his passes for 15 touchdowns against four interceptions this season, while also rushing for three more scores. Houston’s offense is led by quarterback Connor Weigman, who has thrown 20 touchdown passes through seven games.
With two productive offenses on the field, bettors tracking the game have pointed to the total, with at least one analyst backing the over at 56.5 points.
