Houston at SMU

Houston is one of those teams that plays to the level of competition. Last week they were down at home 20-3 to a bad UAB team and had to pour it on in the second half to win. They did the same on the road at Colorado State where they fell behind 21-3 at the half. In that one, on the road, they didn't have enough to come back and win. They did the same thing at home vs Air Force, falling behind 31-7. Again, their comeback fell short. They just don't play 60 minutes of football. That could present a problem vs. an SMU team that is on the improve. SMU gave undefeated Tulsa all they could handle and nearly pulled off the upset at home. Bo Levi Mitchell is finally coming around. Not counting the Texas State game, Mitchell threw for just 617 yards in his first three games with four TDs and ten INTs. The last three he has thrown for 925 with eight TDs and six picks (four TD and one INT last week vs. Tulsa). Suddenly SMU is covering pointspreads. They actually have a better yards-per-lay (6.6) at home than does Houston on the road (6.4). The Mustangs are coming off five straight losses, resulting in this line. But, they have only lost two of those games ATS and those games were against better teams than Houston. I like SMU to hang tight here.