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The Houston Cougars watched the action from their couches last weekend, but are set to take to the field. They and the Auburn Tigers will compete for holiday cheer in the Birmingham Bowl on Tuesday at Protective Stadium at noon ET. Given that both teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.
Three weeks ago, the Cougars lost to the Cincinnati Bearcats on the road by a decisive 35-20 margin. Houston was down 35-13 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from. The losing side was boosted by WR Nathaniel Dell, who caught nine passes for one TD and 152 yards.
Meanwhile, Auburn fought the good fight in their overtime game against the Alabama Crimson Tide four weeks ago but wound up with a less-than-desirable result, falling 24-22. QB T.J. Finley had a memorable game, but not in the way you want to be remembered: despite two touchdowns, he threw one interception with only 5.27 yards per passing attempt.
The Auburn defensive unit accumulated seven sacks for a loss of 37 yards. Leading the way was LB Derick Hall and his three sacks. Hall now has eight sacks through 12 games.
A pair of defensive numbers to keep in mind before kickoff: Houston is 161st worst in the nation in passing touchdowns allowed, with 17 on the season. Auburn has experienced some passing struggles of their own as they are stumbling into the matchup with the 194th most passing touchdowns allowed in the nation, having given up 21 on the season. It's possible one of these Achilles' heels will wind up tripping the losing team up.
