Now that the winner of the East Division has been settled the Houston Cougars will play host to the Conference USA Championship Game against the Golden Eagles of Southern Mississippi. The game will take place at Robertson Stadium at 7 pm on Friday, Dec. 1 on ESPN2. Houston has not captured a league title in 10 years, last hoisting up the trophy in 1996, when the Cougars won the inaugural Conference USA crown. Southern Miss vies for its fifth Conference title in 11 years.
Houston and Southern Miss will square off on Friday for the second time this season. On Oct. 14, the Cougars fell to the Golden Eagles, 31-27, in Hattiesburg, Miss., which was their third loss in a row. It also was the last loss that the Cougars suffered, as UH has won five straight heading into the rematch.
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Junior quarterback Jeremy Young makes his 13th career start for the Golden Eagles, as he has thrown for 1,423 yards this season on 130-of-227 passing, for a 57.3 percentage. His numbers include 11 touchdown passes with only five interceptions thrown. On the ground, Young has rushed for 221 yards on 70 carries and three touchdowns.
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Freshman running back Damion Fletcher leads Southern Miss in rushing with 1,240 yards on 241 carries, an average of 5.1 yards per rush and has scored nine touchdowns.
The Cougars, led by four-year Head Coach Art Briles, enter the game with a week's rest after clinching home field for the game in a 23-20 overtime victory at Memphis, Nov. 18. UH is led by senior quarterback Kevin Kolb, who has thrown for 3,165 yards this season on 247-for-362 passing, for a 68.2 percentage. His numbers include 25 touchdowns and only three interceptions. On the ground, Kolb has rushed for 102 yards, including three touchdowns.
Leading Houston's receiving unit are senior wide receiver Vincent Marshall and redshirt junior wide receiver Donnie Avery. Marshall has recorded 678 yards this season on 63 catches for six touchdowns, while Avery has accounted for 767 yards on 48 attempts with five touchdowns.
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Houston is favored by a -4 ½ point chalk ATS with the TOTAL set at 54. Houston is 2-1 ATS versus Southern Miss over the last three seasons while USM is 2-1 SU versus the Cougars in that time span. The OVER has been the winner in 2 of 3 games over the last three seasons.
