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.
