The Houston Cougars visit the Tulane Green Wave at Yulman Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana on Thursday for an American Athletic Conference clash.
The Houston Cougars lost their opening game of the season to Texas Tech but have followed that with four consecutive victories. The most recent victory was 45-10 over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Friday. Alton McCaskill scored three touchdowns for Houston and quarterback Clayton Tune threw a pair of touchdowns for the Cougars in the rout. Running back James Fullbright III is the only player out for Houston.
Tulane has the opposite record of Houston at 1-4. The only victory of the season for Tulane was against Morgan State 69-20. Tulane was defeated by East Carolina 52-29 on Saturday. In the loss to East Carolina, the Tulane defense gave up 612 yards of total offense to the Pirates while the offense gained 404 yards but turned the ball over four times. Wide receiver Mykel Jones is the only player sidelined for Tulane.
Houston is 10th in scoring defense, allowing an average of 15.0 points per game. The Cougars are allowing an average of only 255.8 yards per game with 111.4 yards rushing and 144.4 yards passing per game. Opposing offenses are averaging only 3.1 yards per carry and 4.5 yards per play against the Cougar’s defense. Linebacker Donovan Mutin has a team-high 28 tackles for Houston and three members of the defense have 2.5 quarterback sacks each. Alex Hogan has two interceptions to lead the Cougars.Houston’s offense is 51st in the nation in scoring with an average of 36.6 points per game. The Cougars average 131.2 yards rushing and 239.8 yards passing per game. Clayton Tune is completing 71.3% of his passes and has 970 yards with seven touchdowns and 6 interceptions. With 310 yards, Alton McCaskill is the leading rusher for Houston and the freshman running back has seven touchdowns. Wide receiver Nathan Dell has 31 receptions for 424 yards and three touchdowns to lead all Houston receivers.
The Tulane Green Wave is allowing an average of 40.2 points per game which is 126th in the nation. Tulane is allowing an average of 483.2 yards of total offense per game with 208.2 yards rushing and 275.0 yards passing per game. Opponents are averaging 4.8 yards per carry and 6.4 yards per play against the Tulane defense. Safety Macon Clark has 30 tackles to lead Tulane and JoJo Dorceus and Noah Seiden each have 2.5 quarterback sacks to lead the Green Wave, while five different Tulane players each have one interception.