College Football Game Odds: What is the Game Total?

Texas-Tech vs. Houston Preview – Biggest TOTAL Of The Season!

Houston and quarterback Case Keenum have been making a quiet case for themselves in the AP ranking and the Heisman race. Keenum has thrown 725 yards and 7 touchdowns with one pick, but its his incredible 72.4 percent completion rate that have people buzzing. The kid makes good decisions, and if he wants to avoid Texas Tech from dismantling their AP ranking, then he’s going to have to prove he can win big statement games. Texas Tech doesn’t plan on making things easy for Houston after coming off a loss against the Longhorns last weekend.

I’ve been somewhat avoiding a discussion about Keenum this season because I really wanted to see what they kid had. But leading the Cougars to the fourth best passing game with 410.0 yards, and the third best scoring offense with 50.0 points per game after three weeks has caught my attention. Though slightly undersized for a quarterback (he’s 6-2, 210 pounds), Keenum’s cerebral faculties have positioned him as one of the nation’s better quarterbacks. He’s a 21-year old junior, but is coming of a 5,020, 44 touchdown season in 2008.

Not to be outdone, the Red Raiders have a budding quarterback of their own in Taylor Potts, who leads the nation in passing. That’s not the biggest surprise for any Texas Tech quarterback, but Potts’ numbers are incredible. He has 1,281 yards and 12 touchdowns with 4 interceptions. He led the Raiders to a respectable win against the spread in a loss to Texas last weekend, 24-34. Can the Red Raiders continue their 4-2 ATS road record?

Texas Tech Red Raiders (2-1) vs. Houston Cougars (2-0)
Saturday, September 26th — Robertson Stadium, Houston — 9:15pm EST
NCAAF Betting Line: PK (73)

The Raiders have usually served as a season killer for most teams, and Houston may not be an exception. To be honest, we still don’t have a ton of metrics on the Cougars’ football program. What we do know about Texas Tech is that Taylor Potts is a gamer. In a loss to Texas last weekend, he posted 420 yards on 46 passes and was hit all day long. The hits didn’t seem to deter the kid at all.

We can’t say the same thing about Keenum yet. Houston doesn’t really play big name schools, although a huge win over Oklahoma State on the road two weeks ago shows the potential that Houston has.

I know I’m going back and forth in my internal dialogue here so I’ll sum it up right here: Houston will win this game for two reasons. In a shoot-out between two incredible quarterbacks, you have to call it a near-draw. Neither team has a stout defense, and both teams can crank up the scoreboard like crazy. The tilt for me in this game is that Houston has had two weeks to prepare, and the Red raiders are coming off a road loss in their last game. Preparation is the key in college football, and Houston gets the edge in that one.

Now about that TOTAL, is that possible the biggest TOTAL we’ll see all year? I say yes, and for the sheer joy of it, I’d take the OVER just to see if they can get near that point total. For the sheer pressure of the game, I’d take the UNDER, considering that both quarterbacks are young and this is a big game for both of them.

Furious Free Pick: Houston (UNDER…barely)