College football makes a cameo appearance on a Sunday during the opening week of the season when the no. 4 Oklahoma Sooners host the Houston Cougars. Kickoff is set for 7:30 EST on Sunday, September 1, at Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. The game will be broadcast nationally on ABC.
The Sooners are listed as 24-point home favorites with an ambitious over/under of 82.5 points. Be sure to check out a full list of this week’s college football betting odds.
Oklahoma’s first two seasons under Lincoln Riley have been strikingly similar to the Bob Stoops era. The Sooners have gone 12-2 in each of the past two seasons, winning the Big 12 championship both years and then advancing to the College Football Playoff. Just for good measure, Oklahoma has also had the last two Heisman Trophy winners.
Alas, the Sooners have lost in the CFP semifinals both years, each time coming up short against an SEC team. Needless to say, Oklahoma is once again favored to win the Big 12. If the Sooners can avoid more than one loss and win the conference title, recent history says they’ll be back in the CFP this year. Of course, with every Big 12 team gunning for them, the Sooners can’t afford to have a letdown during the non-conference part of their schedule.
Meanwhile, Houston is a program in transition. Going 15-11 and losing three bowl games wasn’t enough for Major Applewhite to keep his job. He was fired after last year’s 8-5 campaign and replaced with longtime West Virginia coach Dana Holgersen, who was 61-41 in eight seasons with the Mountaineers and was an assistant at Houston in 2008 and 2009.
At first glance, Holgersen moving from West Virginia to Houston seems like a downgrade for him, as the Cougars don’t play in a power-5 conference. However, it’s surely an upgrade for Houston, who believes that Holgersen can take them to the same level of success they enjoyed under Tom Herman.
Oklahoma and Houston last met in 2016 with the Cougars pulling off the upset over Stoops and the Sooners. But there are only a few Oklahoma players who will remember that game. It may be more relevant to mention that Holgersen was 0-7 against Oklahoma during his time at West Virginia. Surely, he will be aware that he’s never defeated the Sooners as a head coach.
For the record, I don’t think Houston is going to win this game. But Oklahoma covering a 24-point spread is a whole other matter. The Oklahoma defense is usually a weakness, and last year they were particularly porous. Houston has the talent on offense and the coach in Holgersen to take advantage of that. I like Oklahoma to win, but the Cougars will beat the 24-point spread.
The assumption is that Oklahoma’s offense won’t miss a beat with Alabama transfer Jalen Hurts taking over for Kyler Murray. But despite Hurts’ 26-2 record as a starter at Alabama, he doesn’t have the same skillset as Murray, specifically when it comes to throwing the ball.
It helps that CeeDee Lamb is back to lead the receiving corps and the running back tandem of Kennedy Brooks and Trey Sermon remains in place. But Hurts isn’t the same caliber of downfield passer as Murray. The Sooners also lost four starters along the offensive line, so I’m not convinced the Oklahoma offense is going to hit the ground running the way they did in 2018.
On the other side of the field, Houston has a quarterback in D’Eriq King who could be a dark horse to win the Heisman. King is a handful with his legs and also threw 36 touchdowns to just six interceptions in 2018 despite an injury ending his season early. The Cougars will also have plenty of continuity on offense with their top three receivers returning. There is also the added element of Holgersen’s play-calling, which can keep opposing defenses off balance.
Speaking of defenses, that could be a problem for Oklahoma in this game. The Sooners were last in the country in pass defense in 2018. It didn’t prevent them from reaching the CFP, but it could be an issue against a quarterback like King. For what it’s worth, the Sooners are bringing back nine starters on that side of the ball and have brought in a new defensive coordinator in Alex Grinch, who was previously at Ohio State. But that doesn’t guarantee instant success, especially for a unit that was beyond terrible last year.
Even if I thought that the Oklahoma offense wouldn’t miss a beat with Hurts at quarterback, I’d still be skeptical enough about Oklahoma’s defense to lean toward Houston in this game. King is the real deal at quarterback, and he has the weapons around him to so serious damage against the Oklahoma defense. Honestly, taking the over in this game isn’t a bad bet because both teams are more than capable of scoring 40-plus points. However, I think it’s more likely that Houston’s offense makes sure the Cougars keep the final score within 24 points and beat the spread.