Houston vs Kansas Prediction & Betting Tips - October 19 | College Football Week 8

The Houston Cougars are on the road to play the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Houston (2-4, 1-2 Big 12) is coming off a 30-19 win over TCU. Meanwhile, Kansas (1-5, 0-3) is on a five-game losing streak.

Houston vs. Kansas: Preview

Houston is a 5.5-point underdog against Kansas, with the over/under set at 47.5 points.

The Cougars are coming off a road win over TCU in a game that Houston was led by quarterback Zeion Chriss, who threw for 141 yards and a touchdown while he also rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown.

The Cougars made the quarterback switch last game, and coach Willie Fritz believes that sparked the offense.

“I think we've done a good job of playing defensively and staying over the top and not allowing big plays and making it difficult for the opponent to get easy scores,” Fritz said, via Rivals.

“Offensively, I thought our last ball game out against TCU, we did some really good things. Running the ball, had some high completion percentage, you know, we did some good things.”

Houston is also led on offense by Stacy Sneed, who has rushed for 235 yards, while Stephon Johnson has 202 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Defensively, the Cougars are led by AJ Haulcy, who has three interceptions. Michael Batton has three sacks, while he also leads the team with 42 tackles.

On the other hand, Kansas has lost five games in a row and hasn't looked good in any of them. Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels has thrown for 1,065 yards, seven touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Daniels knows he has to be better and adjust to what the defenses are giving him.

"I feel like a lot of the teams this year have definitely done some things different against us when it comes to watching them on film and then they come out with something different that they feel is able to stop our offense," Daniels said, via 247Sports. "We just have to do a better job of adjusting to that.

"I feel like the last few games we've been able to make those adjustments. We've been able to make plays further in the game, not just in the first half. That just comes with us being able to adjust on the fly."

Also on offense, Kansas is led by Devin Neal, who has rushed for 584 yards and five touchdowns. On defense, the Jayhawks are led by Mello Dotson, who has three picks. Jereme Robinson has 3.5 sacks and JB Brown has 33 tackles.

Both Houston and Kansas have struggled this season, as this should be a sloppy game with plenty of turnovers on both sides. The Jayhawks are looking to snap their losing streak, but this is a good spot to take the Cougars as underdogs here, as this will be a field goal game.

Prediction: Kansas 27, Houston 24

Houston vs. Kansas: Betting Tips

Tip 1: Houston +5.5 (-110)

Tip 2: Over 47.5 (-108)

Tip 3: Devin Neal over 80+ rushing yards (-175)