Houston vs. East Carolina Preview – Case Keenum Guns For 5,000 Yards
Case Keenum and the Cougars did everything they possible could to garner national attention, but heavy losses to Texas El Paso and UCF killed their chances of going undefeated. Now they’ve fallen to 21st in the BCS Standings, and are tight favorites on the road against East Carolina.
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The C-USA title will be on the line in this sports betting matchup and Case Keenum will look to break the 5,000 yard plateau against a Pirates team that has failed to contain him in years past. That’s an unheard of mark for college players, by the way.
Keenum tore apart East Carolina in a 41-24 win last season with 4-01 yards and three touchdowns. The year before, with Keenum just a freshman, the Pirates won 37-35 with Keenum piling up just 95-yards and a touchdown while also notching a pair of interceptions.
This season, Keenum is the best touchdown man in the league with 38 scores, tied with Boise State’s Kellen Moore, but his absurd yards-per-game has made him the most productive passer in the nation. Matching up against the 70th ranked pass defense in the country will be easy picking for Keenum.
The rushing game for the Cougars is balanced and boasts two stiff rushers in Bryce Beall and Charles Sims who have combined for 1,283 yards on the ground along with 16 rushing touchdowns between the two. They’ll find plenty of room to score on the 31st ranked defense in the nation (21.3 points against for the Pirates) and the 78th ranked rush defense (154.8 yards allowed). 
However, a 4-10 ATS record is why this spread is so low. Nobody’s all that sure if Houston can carry its prolific numbers when playing away from the comforts of home.
Houston Cougars (10-2) vs. East Carolina Pirates (8-4)
Saturday, December 5th — Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville — 12:00pm EST
NCAAF Betting Line: Houston -2 (68.5)
East Carolina has been strong against the spread after getting off to a horrific, and expectedly poor, start. They’re 4-2 ATS and 5-1 SU in their last 6 games. Overall, they’re 8-1 SU at home and are 5-2 ATS when playing Houston. That, however, doesn’t take in to account Houston’s recent surge in the offensive rankings. The Cougars have the top passing game and the top overall scoring offense in the league, racking up 560.9 total yards per game and 44.9 points.
I am not expecting much out of the Pirates in this game. They’re on a roll right now, but a glaring loss to the Virginia Tech Hokies has me convinced overall if they can keep up with Keenum’s insane numbers.
The road factor is affecting my judgment, but that tight line is only encouraging to me. Houston wins this one cleanly and covers a small spread that is bound to inflate closer to Saturday. Get it while it’s hot.
Free Pick: Houston -2 (UNDER)
One reply on “Houston vs East Carolina Free Pick (Wk 14)”
While this game isn’t on everybody’s radar screen it should be very enterating none the less. I do agree that the key to East Carolina having a chance in this games revolves around their ability to contain Case Keenum.