ESPN College GameDay is in Salt Lake City, Rice-Eccles will be loud, and a sea-level Houston team kicks off at 8:15 PM Mountain at 4,630 feet. All of that is real, and all of it is already in Utah -6.5. Utah's 6-0 has come against weak offenses. Arkansas (114th in scoring) and Utah State (132nd) did nothing, but the last two weeks were a warning. Kansas threw for 333. Colorado scores 13.0 a game, yet it ran for 138 and threw for 256. Utah had 0 sacks in either game. Houston's offense is better than anything on that schedule, and Utah's own safeties coach called Conner Weigman the best quarterback they've faced. Houston has done its work against tougher defenses. At No. 8 Texas Tech it ran for 176 and threw for 282 in a 26-28 loss. At Kansas State it ran for 233 and threw for 242. Weigman's only interception since Sept. 5 came last week. The defense held Oregon State, the nation's 2nd-ranked scoring offense, to 26 rushing yards. Its worst outing, 365 passing yards to Oklahoma State, came with several regulars missing. Sione Fotu is off the report and preparing to play; Jalen Mayo's return is unconfirmed. Utah's real path to covering is Wayshawn Parker, with 597 yards on 89 carries, running at a Houston interior without nose guard De'Marion Thomas and linebacker Jaden Yates. That's a genuine concern. Utah losing offensive lineman Kelvin Obot this week takes some of the edge off it. Ignore the noise: GameDay, Fotu's homecoming, Utah's three-point escape at Colorado and Houston's three-point win over Oklahoma State. JC Hart's absence is already in Utah's recent numbers, and the weather is dry and calm. Adjusted for who they've played, these teams are close. Houston's offense is the best unit on the field. Laying a touchdown asks Utah to win in the trenches and get stops from a secondary that just leaked against the 134th-ranked scoring offense. If Mayo and Fotu both sit, this edge shrinks to almost nothing. Otherwise, I'm taking the points.
ESPN College GameDay is in Salt Lake City, Rice-Eccles will be loud, and a sea-level Houston team kicks off at 8:15 PM Mountain at 4,630 feet. All of that is real, and all of it is already in Utah -6.5.
Utah's 6-0 has come against weak offenses. Arkansas (114th in scoring) and Utah State (132nd) did nothing, but the last two weeks were a warning. Kansas threw for 333. Colorado scores 13.0 a game, yet it ran for 138 and threw for 256. Utah had 0 sacks in either game. Houston's offense is better than anything on that schedule, and Utah's own safeties coach called Conner Weigman the best quarterback they've faced.
Houston has done its work against tougher defenses. At No. 8 Texas Tech it ran for 176 and threw for 282 in a 26-28 loss. At Kansas State it ran for 233 and threw for 242. Weigman's only interception since Sept. 5 came last week. The defense held Oregon State, the nation's 2nd-ranked scoring offense, to 26 rushing yards. Its worst outing, 365 passing yards to Oklahoma State, came with several regulars missing. Sione Fotu is off the report and preparing to play; Jalen Mayo's return is unconfirmed.
Utah's real path to covering is Wayshawn Parker, with 597 yards on 89 carries, running at a Houston interior without nose guard De'Marion Thomas and linebacker Jaden Yates. That's a genuine concern. Utah losing offensive lineman Kelvin Obot this week takes some of the edge off it.
Ignore the noise: GameDay, Fotu's homecoming, Utah's three-point escape at Colorado and Houston's three-point win over Oklahoma State. JC Hart's absence is already in Utah's recent numbers, and the weather is dry and calm.
Adjusted for who they've played, these teams are close. Houston's offense is the best unit on the field. Laying a touchdown asks Utah to win in the trenches and get stops from a secondary that just leaked against the 134th-ranked scoring offense. If Mayo and Fotu both sit, this edge shrinks to almost nothing. Otherwise, I'm taking the points.
Houston +6.5