Houston, a lovable underdog and popular sleeper pick for the College Football Playoff, is currently losing by two touchdowns to Navy.
Now that Louisville vs. Clemson is over, everyone is looking forward to the Cardinals’ showdown with the Houston Cougars. Both Lamar Jackson and Greg Ward Jr. are having Heisman-caliber seasons, and are among the two most exciting teams in the country to watch. In addition, it might even have playoff implications – even with Louisville losing to Clemson, they have a strong enough resume to sneak in as a 4-seed.
But Houston’s game against Navy is putting that contest in jeopardy. Against a team that they should have no trouble against, Houston is losing 34-27. It was tied at 20 heading into halftime, but Navy added two scores to start the second half.
No disrespect to Navy, they had a great season last year, but they shouldn’t be posing any problems. They lost to Houston 52-31 last year. And Houston’s defense shouldn’t be giving up 34 points to a Navy team without Keenan Reynolds. And Houston’s too good for the All-American Conference, which is why so many people were holding out hope that they would join the Big 12.
Of course, it’s still early, and there’s still time for the Cougars to come back. They did that against Oklahoma, and it’s usually never a good idea to count out a Tom Herman team. But if Houston can’t take care of business in their own conference, then they won’t stand a chance against Louisville.
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With less than a half to go, let’s see if Greg Ward still has some magic up his sleeves. If they lose, any chance they had of making the playoff will effectively be gone. And people will use this as an excuse for why the Cougars should stay in the AAC, which is the last thing college football fans need to hear.