Houston Cougars 2016 NCAA Football Preview

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HOUSTON COUGARS

American Athletic Conference – West Division

2015 Record – 13-1

ATS – 9-5

2016 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating Rank

West Division #1

Conference #2

2015 Recap

Houston was on a collision course with an undefeated record (started 10-0) before a slip-up at UConn ruined any hope of a New Year’s Six Bowl appearance. Instead of tucking their tails between their legs – the Cougars rattled off three straight wins over quality opponents (Navy, Temple, Florida St) by a combined score of 114-68. They were underdogs in two of those games. They used a balanced offense and opportunistic defense (#1 NCAA takeaways – 35) to grab 13 wins and make college football fans take notice.

2016 Preview

OFFENSE

The Cougars had phenomenal balance on offense last season (236 yards rushing, 248 passing) and there is no reason to believe that will change this season. QB Greg Ward rushed for over 1,100 yards and 21 TDs while throwing for over 2,800 yards and another 17 TDs. Leading receiver from last season DeMarcus Ayers left early for the NFL but they return every other receiver who had at least 10 catches. Houston is very inexperienced at RB and will need Texas transfer Duke Catalon to do big things if the offense is to be as deadly as the 2015 version. There is also concern on the offensive line which ranks in the bottom 10 of the NCAA in terms of returning starts. Oh. And they get Oklahoma in week one.

DEFENSE

We were guilty last season of not realizing how well that the Houston defense was playing. Sure they gave up some passing yards but they stopped the run (#8 rushing defense NCAA) and created havoc (35 takeaways – including AAC best 21 INT). They also picked up 36 sacks. We really like what DC Todd Orlando managed to do with the unit last season – but with only 5 returning starters, an inexperienced secondary and the loss of leading tackler and leader LB Elandon Roberts – it seems only reasonable that the defense takes a step back in 2016.

SPECIAL TEAMS

This still looks like a very good unit. Brandon Wilson brought two kicks back for TDs and MEGALOCKS DEEP INSIDERS will tell you that Wilson was the only player in the NCAA to have 2+ TDs on offense, defense AND special teams. PK Ty Cummings takes over full-time FG duty (8/8 in 2015) and with all of the great athletes on this squad they should be able to rustle up a new punt returner. Backup QB Kyle Postma takes over the punting duties which makes us wonder about potential TRICKERATION.

MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 4.5

MEGALOCKS says:

Houston lost quite a few nice pieces from last season’s 13-1 team but still appear to have a lot of talent on board. The season starts with a bang in week one vs Oklahoma and they also have a matchup with Louisville in mid-November. They also have some tough road conference games to deal with, so on paper at least, the schedule is tougher than it was in 2015.

Overall, we give the COUGARS a 4.5 ATS Value Rating (Below Average) this season. Houston has made their ATS backers very happy the past three seasons going 26-13-1 (67%) and doing a lot of the heavy lifting on the road. People are going to be looking to play on this exciting team on the rise. Point spreads will probably be skewed a bit in their direction taking away some of the value. Given the questions we have regarding the defense and offensive line we recommend taking a wait and see approach with Houston.

Want more Houston Cougars football?

Website

http://www.uhcougars.com/sports/m-footbl/hou-m-footbl-body.html

Forum

http://www.coogfans.com/c/football

http://www.scout.com/college/houston/forums/2804-uh-football

https://houston.forums.rivals.com/forums/cullen-boulevard.10/

News

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/teams/houston-cougars

http://bleacherreport.com/houston-cougars-football

http://www.chron.com/sports/cougars/

Twitter

https://twitter.com/UHCougarFB (@UHCougarFB) #HTownTakeover

https://twitter.com/Joseph_Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) Joseph Duarte