The Houston Cougars and the Kansas State Wildcats meet Saturday in college football action from Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Houston took on Texas in their last appearance over the weekend. The Cougars went on to lose a tough one and fall to 3-4 overall. As for Kansas State, they played TCU on Saturday. In that matchup the Wildcats had few issues, moving to 5-2 on the season with a blowout win. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.

Houston Cougars 

The Cougars have seen their ups and downs over this season so far, and they started out at 3-3 over the first half-dozen games. Houston took out UTSA 17-14, Sam Houston 38-7 and West Virginia 41-39 in that stretch. The losses otherwise were to Rice 43-41 (OT), TCU 36-13 and Texas Tech 49-28. 

On Saturday versus Texas, the Cougars worked their way back from an early 14-0 deficit but were burned by a bad spot late in the game on the way to a 31-24 defeat. QB Donovan Smith posted 378 yards with three scores and a pick, with Matthew Golden getting much of the work on 88 yards and two scores from seven catches. Joseph Manjack added 88 receiving yards and a score as well. 

Houston Cougars Team Facts

• Houston has won each of its last nine road games in October.
• Houston has covered the spread in eight of its last nine road games in October.
• Houston has lost the first half in three of its last four games against conference opponents.
• Seven of Houston’s last eight road games against non-AP-ranked teams have gone OVER the total points line.

Kansas State Wildcats 

Over on the Wildcats’ side, they hit a 4-2 run in their first six games this year but remained competitive in their defeats. Kansas State lost to Missouri 30-27 and Oklahoma State 29-21 in that time, but otherwise beat Southeast Missouri State 45-0, Troy 42-13, UCF 44-31 and Texas Tech 38-21. QB Avery Johnson rushed for 90 yards and a whopping five scores in the win over the Red Raiders. 

In their matchup versus TCU, Kansas State stormed out of the gate with 21 first-quarter points in an eventual 41-3 rout. Will Howard did most of the QB work here with 154 yards and three scores, while Treshaun Ward led the rush with 89 yards on 17 carries. Jayce Brown added 88 yards and a TD on four catches. 

Kansas State Wildcats Team Facts

• The favorite has won each of Kansas State’s last eight games at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
• The favorite has covered the spread in each of Kansas State’s last eight games at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
• Kansas State has won the first half in seven of its last eight games against conference opponents.
• Each of Kansas State’s last four October games as a favorite have gone UNDER the total points line.

Matchup/League Facts

• Kansas State are one of only six FBS teams undefeated in home games this season ([z-0]).
• Kansas State rank 13th among FBS teams for points per game this season (36.9).
• Houston has recorded the equal-most home wins by a margin of three points or less of any FBS team this season (2).

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll probably lean toward Houston here, but you could make a very good case either way. The Cougars played a great Texas team very tough in their last outing, resulting in 392 total yards (378 passing), 6.0 yards per play and 20 first downs. The two turnovers and 4-of-13 rate on third-down tries hurt, but for the most part the team kept pace. Houston is just 2-2 in their last four games but they’ve scored 24 or more points in each of those outings. 

As for Kansas State, they’ve hit 38 or more points in three of their last four outings. The Wildcats offense is on fire right now, even after using an unconventional two-quarterback rotation in the win over TCU last weekend. The Wildcats probably won’t go with that exact setup in this one but they’ll have some interesting personnel tricks up their sleeve. I still think Houston keeps pace cover-wise, though.