College football Week 9: 5 best games of the week

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LUBBOCK, TX – SEPTEMBER 15: D’Eriq King #4 of the Houston Cougars passes the ball during the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on September 15, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech won the game 63-49. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /

(21) South Florida at Houston – 3:30 p.m. ET – ABC

South Florida is undefeated and the No. 21 ranked team in the country, but will be a 7.5 point underdog when traveling to play Houston on Saturday.

Houston is 6-1 and has dominated the competition since losing to Texas Tech by two touchdowns early in the season. Quarterback D’Eriq King has put up big numbers all year, but most impressive is his efficiency. Over 222 passing attempts, King has completed 64 percent of the attempts, thrown only three interceptions, and has a quarterback rating of 170.1. However, if there is one area of concern, it’s the Cougars secondary that is giving up 343 yards per game. If the Cougars plan to take down the undefeated Bulls, it will start with slowing down the USF offense that is averaging 500 yards and 36 points per game.

South Florida is led by running back Jordan Cronkite, who has ran for over 100 yards in the past five games and ranks third nationally with 151 yards per game. However, the Bulls second leading rusher Johnny ford stole the show against Connecticut last weekend and racked up 164 yards with three touchdowns. So it should be no surprise that the Bulls are planning to beat the Cougars on the ground. Whether they can slow down the high-powered Houston passing attack will decide if the Bulls can remain undefeated.

In my opinion, Houston is simply the better team and should be able to cover the 7.5 point spread.

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