Two teams from Texas that love to air it out bring a lot of experience on both sides of the ball will clash in Week 1 at NRG Stadium as the Texas Tech Red Raiders visit the Houston Cougars.
Texas Tech had a disappointing season last year, going 4-6, but it’ll take a different approach to the quarterback position this year with Oregon transfer Tyler Shough coming in. Erik Ezukanma and Myles Price return as the two leading wide receivers for Texas Tech and, on the defensive front, it brings back 11 of 13 top tacklers on the team.
Can Shough and a revamped offense hold off the underdog Houston Cougars? Check out our free college football picks and predictions for Texas Tech vs. Houston on September 4.
Texas Tech vs Houston game info
• Location: NRG Stadium, Houston, TX
• Date: Saturday, September 4, 2021
• Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
• TV: ESPN
Texas Tech vs Houston odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
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Texas Tech vs Houston betting preview
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.
Key injuries
Texas Tech: Erik Ezukanma WR (Questionable), SaRodorick Thompson RB (Questionable).
Houston: James Fullbright III (Out).
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.
Betting trend to know
Houston is 0-4 ATS in its last four games as an underdog. Find more NCAA betting trends for Texas Tech vs. Houston.
Against the spread (ATS) pick
Tyler Shough's first game as a Red Raider will have a learning curve but, besides that, I like what the Red Raiders are returning on both sides of the ball. He will get help on the offensive side that comes with a lot of production, including over 1,400 yards from the backfield and receivers Ezukanma and Price.
The key for Texas Tech in this game comes down to experience on the defensive side. Being able to bring back familiarity in the front seven, including the NCAA's active leader in tackles and TFLs in Colin Schooler, will be big for this game. They will have to make sure they have a spy on Clayton Tune as he can throw and run with the ball. He is the engine that runs this team. This Houston team has a hard time causing turnovers and if they are not able to take advantage of a new QB on this Red Raiders team, I see Texas Tech covering this spread.
PREDICTION: Texas Tech -1.5 (-108)
Over/Under pick
This is a very difficult game to gauge based on many question marks.
In my opinion, this 65 total is a little too high for this game. Typically, this would be an Over game but with a new QB getting familiar for the Red Raiders, this could slow down the points being scored in this game. Shough only had 167 attempts throwing the football last year, which isn’t a big number for a starter. Plus, the Red Raiders have a very strong backfield they can use to their advantage to move the chains and move that clock.
Along with the experience on the defensive side of the Red Raiders, it could lead to more stops and cause havoc towards Clayton Tune. This also keeps that clock moving to cash that Under 65 total points.
PREDICTION: Under 65 (-108)
Texas Tech vs Houston betting card
- Texas Tech -1.5 (-110)
- Under 65 (-110)
Picks made on 09/2/2021 at 8:00 p.m. ET
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