Armed Forces Bowl First Look: Houston vs. Army

Army-Houston

Houston meets Army on Saturday at the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth. Here is a first look at the Cougars-Black Knights matchup.



Houston (8-4) vs. Army (10-2)
Armed Forces Bowl (TICKETS) – Dec. 22, 2018

Houston Season so far

DATE OPPONENT SCORE
Sept. 1 at Rice W 45-27
Sept. 8 Arizona W 45-18
Sept. 15 at Texas Tech L 63-49
Sept. 22 Texas Southern W 70-14
Oct. 4 Tulsa W 41-26
Oct. 13 at East Carolina W 42-20
Oct. 20 at Navy W 49-36
Oct. 27 USF W 57-36
Nov. 3 at SMU L 45-31
Nov. 10 Temple L 59-49
Nov. 15 Tulane W 48-17
Nov. 23 at Memphis L 52-31

Army Season so far

DATE OPPONENT SCORE
Aug. 31 at Duke L 34-14
Sept. 8 Liberty W 38-14
Sept. 15 Hawaii W 28-21
Sept. 22 at Oklahoma L 28-21 (OT)
Sept. 29 at Buffalo W 42-13
Oct. 13 at San José State [Santa Clara] W 52-3
Oct. 20 Miami (Ohio) W 31-30 (OT)
Oct. 27 at Eastern Michigan W 37-22
Nov. 3 Air Force W 17-14
Nov. 10 Lafayette W 31-13
Nov. 17 Colgate W 28-14
Nov. 8 Navy W 17-10

Stat Comparison

HOUSTON STAT ARMY
46.4 Points Scored 29.7
34.4 Points Allowed 18.0
528.6 Total YDS 375.9
300.9 Pass YDS 79.7
227.67 Rush YDS 296.25
488.9 Total YDS Allowed 293.5
291.4 Pass YDS Allowed 185.3
197.50 Rush YDS Allowed 108.17
47.25 3rd down conv % 55.56
44.70 Opp 3rd down conv % 26.72
0.50 Turnover margin 0.75
61 & Massey Composite 33

& The Massey Composite Ratings are compiled from 98 different college football ratings and rankings.

Houston Injuries and Suspensions

DATE POSITION NAME ISSUE STATUS
12/02/18 WR Courtney Lark Knee is "?" Saturday vs Army
12/02/18 WR Keith Corbin Undisclosed is "?" Saturday vs Army
12/02/18 RB Terence Williams Undisclosed is "?" Saturday vs Army
11/30/18 DT Ed Oliver Knee is out for season
11/19/18 DL Payton Turner Undisclosed is out for season
11/18/18 QB D'Eriq King Knee is out for season
11/10/18 DE Jerard Carter Foot is out for season
10/10/18 DL Isaiah Chambers Knee is out for season
09/16/18 DB Garrett Davis Foot is out for season

Army Injuries and Suspensions

DATE POSITION NAME ISSUE STATUS
10/17/18 RB Fred Cooper Jr. Suspension is out indefinitely

Source: DonBest.com

Challenges for Houston

The Cougars main challenge is the stop the option. They didn’t do too well against Navy’s option earlier in the season allowing nearly 350 yards rushing. Army and Navy run almost exactly the same offenses. If the Cougars can’t figure out Army’s option it could be a very long game for UH. You see, Army has a much better defense than Navy. The Black Knights held playoff team Oklahoma to 21 points in regulation. The Cadets have the ability to stop explosive offensive attacks.

Challenges for Army

Army marches into Fort Worth with a sparkling 10-2 record to face Houston’s juggernaut offense. The Cougars are piling up over 520 yards total offense per game, including 300 plus through the air. This is a challenge for Army on both sides of the ball. Offensively the Black Knight attack must win the time of possession game while the defense makes some stops and at least forces some field goals.

Saturday’s game kicks off at 3:30 pm ET and can be seen on ESPN. Buy tickets to the Armed Forces Bowl.