Why Houston Will Win The TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl
What kind of offense is Auburn about to bring?
The Tigers couldn’t run against Alabama, couldn’t get enough going in any way against South Carolina, and couldn’t keep up with Mississippi State – and Houston has a defense.
The Cougars might have had issues against Cincinnati and its running game, but the defensive front is great at generating consistent pressure, the run defense led the American Athletic Conference allowing just 106 yards per game, and there are lots and lots of takeaways.
Offensively, the Houston passing game should be okay. It was steady throughout the year with 200 yards or more in every game on a consistent basis against a pass defense that was ripped up – for the most part – by the high-octane SEC attacks.
Houston will keep pushing on both sides of the ball, but …
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Why Auburn Will Win The TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl
Houston’s best win was against … SMU? It was great against Memphis, dominated Tulsa, and got the O rolling against the USFs of the world, but the team never got the job done against anyone amazing.
The Cougars only gained 251 yards in the loss to Texas Tech to open the season, and they had their third-worst day against Cincinnati in the AAC Championship – both losses.
Auburn has to win this on the defensive front. The Houston running game isn’t that great, the offensive line gives up way too many plays in the backfield, and it’s about get hit hard by the D that lived behind the line against Alabama and generated 25 tackles for loss over the last three games.
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