North Texas @ Houston

Scouting Report for North Texas Mean Green (2-3) vs. Houston Cougars(1-3)
October 6, 2012- Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX

North Texas: Despite not having much of a running game (56 net yards), the Mean Green held off the Owls 20-14 for their first conference win. It was also their first road win. If anything good came from this win, UNT never trailed.

Brelan Chancellor was his usual self catching a game high 6 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown. Drew Miller was the first player other than Chancellor to have a receiving touchdown in the third quarter. Mike Trice and Derek Akunne intercepted Graham Wilbert on back to back possessions. Zach Olen overcame his two misses from last week to help seal the deal for North Texas.

Houston: The Cougars have lost their first 3 games by an average of 18.3 points. But if you watched the Battle for the Bayou Bucket at Reliant Stadium last week (35-14 over Rice), it would be hard to believe.

David Piland torched the Owls secondary for 361 yards and 2 touchdowns. Charles Sims did his fair share of the damage on the ground with 158 yards on 24 carries. The Cougar defense made Driphus Jackson uncomfortable in his 1st start. Houston brought pressure to Jackson. Despite giving up big plays on Sam McGuffie's 2 TD catches, the Cougars defense did its job well.

What to watch for: If the Cougars can do what they did last week, then the Mean Green offensive line will have to step up. In other words, they'll have to treat UH like they did against LSU and Kansas State. Ivan Delgado will need to step to give Derek Thompson many chances to capitalize on drives. Also it will help Brandin Byrd and Antoinne Jimmerson establish the run game.

Conclusion: Houston's bye week came at the right time. They needed to win against Rice to have a shot of confidence. North Texas will be looking to avenge last year's loss (48-23) at Apogee Stadium. While there may be a new coach in Tony Levine and a new quarterback in Piland, that doesn't mean there could be a repeat in Houston. Just as long as UNT can improve on their performance from last week, we could be seeing a shootout.

Prediction: Houston by 13.

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