The Houston Cougars are looking to defeat the Army Black Knights in the Armed Forces Bowl, but they’ll have to do it without a couple of their stars.
Houston’s D’Eriq King quietly had one of the best seasons a college quarterback could possibly have. The Cougars’ thrived on offense with King leading them and, with Ed Oliver dominating opposing offensive linemen and crushing quarterbacks on the other side of the ball, UH saw plenty of success this season.
But then King went down with an injury and Oliver will be skipping Houston’s bowl game. That means that Major Applewhite will have to find a way to beat an Army team that won 10 games without a quarterback that put up 50 touchdowns and one of the most talented defensive linemen in all of college football.
The Black Knights probably won’t mind facing a team that is a bit understaffed. Army plays with a methodical, grinding pace that chokes opposing teams out. Now, the fact of the matter is that the Black Knights won’t have to go up against one of the quickest and most explosive quarterbacks in the country.
That’ll give them even more opportunities to slow this game down and control the clock. Army averages fewer than eight passing attempts per game. Expect the Black Knights to do everything that they can to slowly and carefully move the ball right through Houston’s defense and hold onto the ball for as long as possible in the process.
How to watch and bet on the 2018 Armed Forces Bowl
- Date: Saturday, Dec. 22
- Start time: 3:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Fort Worth, TX
- Stadium: Amon G. Carter Stadium
- Spread: Army -5
- Channel: ESPN
- Stream: WatchESPN
Prediction: If Houston can force the Black Knights to play at a pace that they aren’t comfortable with, then there’s a chance that the Cougars can make this game interesting. However, it’s going to be difficult for Houston to actually pull this off given how good Army is at taking over and controlling games by running the ball well. Army will probably come out on top in a close game.