Utah vs Houston Prediction College Football Picks 10/26/24

The Utah Utes and the Houston Cougars meet in week 9 college football action from TDECU Stadium on Saturday night. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Utah vs. Houston prediction.

Utah Recap

The Utah Utes come into this game looking to rebound from a third straight loss after a 13-7 defeat at the hands of TCU to fall to 4-3 on the year. After this game, Utah will have a bye before welcoming BYU to town for a rivalry game.

Utes Trying To Wake Up

Isaac Wilson has thrown for 1,029 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions on 54.8% passing. Micah Bernard has a team-high 731 rushing yards while Dorian Singer has a team-high 33 receptions for 486 yards. Brant Kuithe also has 369 receiving yards and a team-high 4 touchdowns while Money Parks has 288 receiving yards and 3 TDs this season. On defense, Tao Johnson has a team-high 43 total tackles including 27 solo tackles. Van Filinger has a team-high 5.5 sacks as well and Connor O’Toole also has 2.5 sacks while Utah’s defense as a whole has combined for 13 sacks and 7 interceptions.

Why the Utah Utes will win

• Houston has lost each of its last four home games against conference opponents.
• Utah has won 17 of its last 21 games against non-AP-ranked teams.
• Houston has failed to cover the spread in eight of its last 10 home games against conference opponents.
• The favorite has covered the spread in four of Houston’s last five games.

Houston Recap

The Houston Cougars come into this one looking to bounce back from a 42-14 loss to Kansas last time out to drop to 2-5 on the year. After this game, Houston will welcome Kansas State to town.

Cougars Trying To Right The Ship

Donovan Smith has thrown for 867 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions on 65.4% passing while Zeon Chriss has 187 passing yards, a touchdown, and 2 interceptions on 67.7% passing and Ui Ale has 112 yards and a touchdown on 76.9% passing. Stacy Sneed leads the Cougars with 245 rushing yards while Re’Shaun Sanford II has 222 rushing yards. Mekhi Mews has a team-high 20 grabs for 218 yards while Stephon Johnson has 18 receptions for 202 yards. Two more Cougars have 100+ receiving yards as well on the year. On defense, Michael Batton has a team-high 46 total tackles in addition to 3 sacks while A.J. Haulcy has 42 total tackles with a team-high 24 solo tackles as well as a team-high 3 interceptions this season. As a unit, Houston has combined for 10 sacks and 5 interceptions this season.

Why the Houston Cougars will win

• Utah has lost each of its last three games as a favorite.
• The underdog has won each of Utah’s last three games.
• Utah has failed to cover the spread in seven of its last eight games as a favorite against non-AP-ranked teams.
• The underdog has covered the spread in five of Utah’s last six games.

Utah vs. Houston Prediction

I’m on the under here. This is a rock bottom total, but for good reason. Houston’s offense stinks outside of the win over TCU, and while the defense for the Cougars hasn’t been very good either, it’s not like Utah’s offense looks capable of exploiting that weakness. Utah’s defense is the best unit on the field, and this feels like a 17-10 kind of game if we even get there. Give me the under.