Texas El Paso will look to improve on its 2-2 record this week when they host unbeaten Houston in Week 5 action at the Sun Bowl on Thursday.

They will face the 4-0 Cougars, who own a 3-1 ATS mark on the season. These teams have played three straight OVERs in very high-scoring games the past few seasons. It's an important clash in Conference USA action.



View Houston vs Texas El Paso Odds and Stats.

Betting Line: The Cougars were listed as 17.5-point favorites on the Sportsbook NCAA football line at most sportsbooks tracked by OddsShark. No total was available early in the week.

Power Rankings / Prediction: It's a betting matchup between the No. 89-rated Miners and the No. 100-ranked Cougars, according to the NCAAF Power Rankings here at Odds Shark. Predictive-scoring models run on this game indicate a potential 51-23 result in favor of the Cougars.



How They Match Up:
Offensively, the game matches up Texas El Paso's No. 95-ranked offense (22 PPG) against a Cougars defense that ranks No. 50 at 22.8 PPG. The Miners passing attack has averaged 252.2 yards per game, more than the Cougars give up through the air (209.5 YPG on average).

Defensively, the Cougars feature the league's No. 70-rated road run defense, allowing 175.5 yards per game. Texas El Paso, meanwhile, ranks No. 117 in rushing offense at home.

Houston was a 56-0 Sportsbook in their most recent outing at home against Georgia State. They covered the 40.5–point spread as favorites, while the total score (56) made Sportsbooks of UNDER bettors.

Texas El Paso was a 52-24 loser in their most recent outing on the road against South Florida. They covered the 29.5–point spread as underdogs, while the total score (76) made Sportsbooks of OVER bettors.


Houston Cougars Trends:
When playing in September are 9-1
When playing on turf are 6-4
After outgaining opponent are 4-6
When playing within the conference are 5-5

Texas El Paso Miners Trends:
When playing in September are 6-4
When playing on turf are 4-6
After being outgained are 3-7
When playing within the conference are 4-6

A few Cougars at Miners trends to consider:
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Houston's last 6 games on the road
Houston is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Houston is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Texas El Paso
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Houston's last 10 games
Texas El Paso is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Texas El Paso's last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Texas El Paso's last 6 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Texas El Paso's last 6 games when playing Houston


Next up:
Houston home to East Carolina, Saturday, October 8
Texas El Paso at Tulane, Saturday, October 15