Louisville Cardinals at Houston Cougars Start Time, College Football Odds, Free Pick
Jackson is now the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy and has No. 3 Louisville (9-1) in the hunt for a spot in the College Football Playoff as the Cardinals visit Houston on Thursday night. He completed 25 of 44 passes for 233 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Outspoken about his perception that margin of victory plays too much of a role in the voting, Petrino’s team wound up with an attention-grabbing 32-point victory, capped off by a touchdown run with less than a minute to play after the game was already decided.
U of L coach Bobby Petrino answered questions about the Cougars on Monday.
Wisconsin is battling Nebraska for the Big Ten West, but is now ranked higher by the college football playoff committee.
This was expected to be one of the games of the year, but it’s lost quite a bit of its shine. No. 3 Louisville (9-1) is in the hunt for a spot in the College Football Playoff as the Cardinals prepare to face Houston (8-2) on Thursday night, November 17.
This season, Jackson has thrown for 2,898 yards and 27 touchdowns. The Houston offense is averaging 37.6 points per game with 168.6 rushing yards and 283.8 passing yards per game.
However, now that they are back on level terms and pretty much control their own destinies, Louisville is desperate to get back on the voters’ good side. We’ve just got to go play the way we’re capable of playing. “Really, that’s what we need to do our last two games, and then whatever happens, happens”.
The Houston Cougars (8-2) are coming from a 30-18 win over the Tulane Green Wave in Week 11.
It gets worse. Louisville had 16 penalties for 127 yards.
With a star quarterback, Greg Ward Jr., and the biggest rising star coach in the country, Tom Herman, the Cougars held dreams of going undefeated and maybe making a playoff case despite not being in a Power Five conference.
And let’s not forget – Herman is only in his second year. They get a lot of big plays just by throwing the ball out, getting a block, and taking off and running.
Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) is tackled by Houston cornerback Howard Wilson (6) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, in Houston. Now, Louisville will likely end up in the Orange Bowl, which is still a New Year’s Six game, but it’s obviously not where UL fans were hoping the Cards would end up.
This won’t be just another midweek opponent though, playing a Houston team, which defeated the Cardinals 34-31 at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in the second game of the 2015 season.
Louisville: RB Brandon Radcliff. On the season, Louisville entered the game averaging 583 yards of offense and allowing 2.5 sacks per game. Fellow Heisman contenders like Alabama’s Jalen Hurts and Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett have had their off-nights, and their best games have paled in comparison to Jackson’s unbelievable production this season. The Houston-native finished with 107 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns. The Houston defense is giving up 21.3 points per game with 92.8 rushing yards and 210.5 passing yards per game.
Jackson went just 9-of-20 for 92 yards through the air with 41 yards on the ground in the first half. After Jackson was sacked for the 10th time he threw up his hands and two of his lineman looked to be yelling at each other about who was to blame for his latest takedown.