BYU Must Crush Houston Tonight
The BYU must capitalize on playing one of the few quality opponents remaining on their schedule to keep the NY6 dreams alive.
Kalani Sitake's team faces a critical opportunity tonight to blast another undefeated Cougars team (1-0) to make up for their narrow win over UTSA last week. Houston is coming off a good win over Tulane that saw them run it up even after giving Tulane several turnovers to keep the Green Wave close into the second half. Can Zach Wilson keep the magic alive? He looks like a BYU Heisman QB of old at the moment and may already be a dark horse in the running for the trophy. Despite such a lethal air attack, BYU has remained very well balanced, averaging 215 yards on the ground in combination with their 342 passing. On the Houston side, Speedy Stevenson was the standout from last week's game, shredding the Tulane secondary for 118 yards and a TD on only 5 receptions. Will anyone in the BYU secondary be able to keep pace with NFL talent Stevenson? It won't matter if they can disrupt QB Clayton Tune the way the Green Wave did last week and force him to make dangerous throws.
BYU hasn't played on the road in over a month; Houston has only played one game. It could be a sloppy game of turnovers, especially if Houston's fumble woes continue. Their defense has only allowed an average of 11 points per game thus far. and averages less than 75 rushing yards per game, which isn't Houston's strength to begin with. Keeping them one dimensional will be crucial. I fully expect BYU to capitalize on the turnovers of Tune though. They must. Especially in a week with so many teams ranked ahead of them playing contentious games or not playing at all, BYU has a prime chance to get a bump from the AP. #13 Miami faces a strong Pitt defense that will smother D'Eriq King much the same Clemson did, #11 Texas A&M travels to play a Miss State squad that could either lay 50 on them or get blanked, and then #7 OK State, #8 Cincinnati, & #10 Florida have all had their games postponed. Whether that will give BYU an opportunity to move up all depends on how bad of a beatdown they lay on Houston.
BYU will cover the spread (-4) and send a message tonight, mark it.