Penn State Ticket City Bowl: 5 Keys to Beating Case Keenum and Houston Cougars

Whether or not Penn State deserves to have been picked for the Ticket City Bowl behind teams they beat—like Ohio State, Northwestern and Iowa—doesn't change the fact that they have to play in the game.

Most other years, the Ticket City Bowl would have produced a dud of a matchup like Texas Tech against Northwestern, but this year is different with the Houston Cougars and Penn State, so they should at least be thankful for that.  

The Ticket City Bowl features the 19th-ranked Houston Cougars and their high-flying, Case Keenum-led offense against one of the most storied programs in all of college football in the 21st-ranked Nittany Lions.

Stopping Keenum and the first-ranked Cougars scoring offense and passing offense will be one of the most difficult tasks Penn State's defense has faced all season, but they can undoubtedly do it.

Beating the Houston Cougars and winning the Ticket City Bowl won't be easy, but Penn state can do it, and here's how. 

Win the Turnover Margin Battle

This one is pretty much a no-brainer, but Penn State cannot win the Ticket City Bowl if they turn the ball over, especially not against a team like Houston, who has the nation's most high-powered passing offense.

In Penn State's two biggest losses of the season, against Alabama and Wisconsin, they lost the turnover margin battle by negative-three in each game. When Penn State turns the ball over they lose, and when they don't, they win—well, most of the time at least.

Aside from the statistical perspective of Penn State losing more often than not when they turn the ball over is the fact that Houston's offense will make you pay if you turn the ball over. When you have an immensely high powered offense, the last thing you want to do is make it easy for them to score.

Turning the ball over for Penn State is not an option if they plan on beating the Houston Cougars, because every turnover means another opportunity for Case Keenum to torch their secondary through the air.  

If Penn State wants to win its first Ticket City Bowl game, it must do so first by not turning the ball over to Houston's high-flying offense.  

Keep the Ball Away from Case Keenum and His Rocket Arms

Case Keenum has put up some absolutely absurd numbers in his bazillionth year of eligibility at Houston.

Coming into the Ticket City Bowl, Keenum will have already thrown for 5,099 yards, 45 touchdowns and only five interceptions. Oh, I forgot to mention he has a completion percentage of 71.7 percent.  

So how do you stop a guy who can put up those kind of numbers? You don't let him touch the ball, and that is what Penn State must do if they want to win. 

Penn State must control the time of possession in this game by running the ball if they want to win. There is no way that they will be able to consistently stop Case Keenum if their defense has to be on the field every two or three minutes. 

I know Keenum hasn't seen a defense like Penn State's this year, but if given the chance, he will find ways to tear it apart, and Penn State can't afford to give him opportunities to do that.

If Penn State can control the time of possession against Houston, they will ultimately win the game. If they don't control it, there is a high likelihood Penn State's season will end on a bad note.  

Blitz Early and Often with More Than the Front Four

When Case Keenum looks most human, which is not often, it is when opposing defenses are putting pressure on him. 

Penn State must bring pressure early and often to try and put Keenum in situations where he doesn't feel comfortable. Trying to pressure Keenum runs the risk of allowing him to pick the defense apart if the blitz is picked up by the offensive line.

The way I look at it is, Keenum is going to pick apart the secondary no matter what, so Penn State doesn't have a lot to lose by trying to force him into difficult situations.

Southern Mississippi was able to beat Houston because they forced Keenum to make bad decisions by putting pressure on him. The Southern Mississippi defense got in Keenum's face, forcing him to get rid of the ball before he wanted to, which resulted in two costly interceptions for the Cougars.

Penn State got trampled by Wisconsin in their last game of the season because they weren't able to pressure QB Russell Wilson, and the same will happen against Houston if they can't get to Keenum.

If Penn State wants to beat Houston, they have to do it by pressuring Case Keenum, and the only way they will do that is by bringing pressure from more than their front four.  

Don't Get into a Shootout with Case Keenum.

The last thing Penn State wants to do is to get into a shootout with Case Keenum and the Houston Cougars. 

There is absolutely no way that Penn State will win, with the sputtering offense they have, if they get stuck in a shootout against the Houston Cougars, who are ranked first nationally in both passing yards and points per game. Just to put that ranking into perspective, Penn State owns the 96th-ranked passing attack and ranks 110th in points per game. 

I will say it again, Penn State will not win in a shootout against Keenum and the Cougars. Penn State must control the tempo of the game and make Houston play to that same tempo that they establish.

Slowing down Houston's offense won't be easy, but it has to happen if Penn State has any chance of beating Houston in the Ticket City Bowl.  

There is absolutely no way that Penn State will be able to hang around offensively if Houston is firing on all cylinders, and for that reason alone, they can't afford to let the game turn into a shootout.   

Run the Ball with Silas Redd, Curtis Dukes and Stephfon Green at Least 33 Times

The one bright spot of the Penn State offense this season has been the production of sophomore RBs Silas Redd and Curtis Dukes.

Penn State has Redd to thank for much of its success this season, especially early on when it seemed like neither now-starter Matt McGloin or Robert Bolden wanted to win the starting QB job. 

Redd has amassed 11,188 yards on only 230 carries, averaging 5.2 yards per carry, with a total of seven touchdowns so far this year. While that production isn't out of this world, it is solid production especially for a team with little resemblance of a passing game. RB Stephfon Green has emerged as a dominant back throughout the last few games, producing 203 yards on 46 carries and four touchdowns in the last five games.  

The Houston Cougars allow on average 171.1 yards per game on the ground, and let me remind you the Cougars haven't seen a running back with the speed and toughness of Silas Redd the entire year.  

Expect the Nittany Lions to run the ball early and often, switching between RBs Redd, Dukes and Green to change the pace of the running game.  

If the Nittany Lions are going to beat the Cougars, it has to take place on the ground.  By running the ball and dominating the line of scrimmage, Penn State can put up points and control the time of possession, two things they must do to win. 

Prediction: Penn State 31-Houston 28