On Friday, October 1, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane host the Houston Cougars at Chapman Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma at 7:30 p.m. ET. These programs didn’t face one another last season, making it the first time since 2013 that they didn’t clash. Conference games are always exciting to watch, but last year’s circumstances have made all of them better in 2021.
Will Houston move to 4-1 with a road victory over Tulsa? Check out our Houston vs. Tulsa picks and predictions to get a better read on this one.
Houston vs Tulsa odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
Tulsa was favored by only 3.5 points when this thing opened, but the spread is as high as five points at some books. Also, while the total opened at 57.0 originally, the number is now down to 54.5 almost everywhere you look.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full college football odds before placing your bets.
Houston vs Tulsa picks
Picks made on 10/29/2021 at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Houston vs Tulsa game info
• Location: H.A. Chapman Stadium, Tulsa, OK
• Date: Friday, October 1, 2021
• Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
• TV: ESPN
Houston vs Tulsa betting preview
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.
Key injuries
Houston: Mulbah Car RB (questionable), Sedrick Williams DL (out), James Fullbright III RB (out)
Tulsa: Deneric Prince RB (probable), Josh Stewart WR (out)
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.
Betting trend to know
Tulsa is 5-1 against the spread in its last six games as a favorite. Find more NCAA betting trends for Houston vs. Tulsa.
Houston vs Tulsa predictions
Tulsa -4.5 (-105)
It’s not often that you see a 3-1 team getting points against a 1-3 team, but that’s one of the reasons the Golden Hurricane look like such an enticing play in this one. When a line looks this wacky, it’s generally better to just get on board with Vegas. However, it’s not hard to figure out why the oddsmakers are giving Tulsa so much respect on Friday.
For starters, the atmosphere for a Friday night game should be pretty electric in this game. That’s not something that will make life easy on a Houston team that is just 2-11 straight-up and 6-7 against the spread when playing as an underdog under head coach Dana Holgorsen. The Cougars are also just 6-9 both straight-up and against the spread in conference games with Holgorsen at the helm. And if that isn’t bad enough, the Cougars are 2-5 straight-up and 1-6 against the spread under Holgorsen after having covered in two of their previous three games.
The Golden Hurricane also have the ability to run the ball down the Cougars’ throats in this one. On the season, Tulsa is averaging 187.8 rushing yards per game and the number would be a lot higher if the Golden Hurricane were able to get anything going against the Ohio State Buckeyes. In a 41-20 loss on September 18, Tulsa rushed for just 73 yards on 28 carries. The team is averaging 226.0 yards per game in its other three games, which would be good for 17th in the nation for the entire season. Shbari Brooks, Deneric Prince and Anthony Watkins have all rushed for at least 175 yards this season, and it can be any of them that hits the holes in this game.
Houston also has some major issues along the offensive line, but it hasn’t prevented them from beating teams like the Rice Owls, Grambling State Tigers and Navy Midshipmen. This is a step up in competition, though. Don’t be surprised if Tulsa gets a lot of bodies in the backfield and really disrupts this Cougars offense. Houston should be able to score a bit in this game, but the offense likely won’t be efficient enough to keep up with Tulsa.
Over 54.5 (-110)
Coming into this game, the Cougars have gone Over in two of their last three, while the Golden Hurricane have gone Over in each of their last two. Over the last three weeks, Houston is averaging 39.0 points per game and Tulsa is at 28.0 points per game — with the Golden Hurricane having faced tougher competition. Both of these teams are more than capable of putting up a decent number of points in this game, and this total just looks a bit too low right now.
Under head coach Philip Montgomery, the Over is 7-4 when Tulsa is coming off games in which the team rushed for 300 or more yards. The Over is also 6-2 under Holgorsen when Houston has faced teams that rush for over 4.75 yards per game. That makes the three-headed monster in the Golden Hurricanes’ backfield even more relevant when looking at this game.
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