1. Tulane Football (2-3, 1-1 American Athletic Conference) will take on Houston (5-0, 2-0 AAC) at 8:00 p.m. Friday in Yulman Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.

2. The Houston Cougars are coming off a 49-28 win against Southern Methodist, and are one of 16 remaining undefeated teams in the nation.

3. Houston is ranked No. 24 in the national Associated Press Top 25 Poll. Tulane has not been ranked since 1998.

4. The Cougars’ Heisman-hopeful junior quarterback Greg Ward Jr. leads a Houston offense that ranks No. 6 in the nation.

5. Last season, the Green Wave upset the Cougars 31-24 in Houston. Tulane opened as a 14-point underdog for this week’s game, according to VegasInsider. Last year, Tulane was a 17 point underdog.

6. Last Week vs Temple, Tulane gained 110 total offensive yards, while committing 9 penalties for 102 yards. That is not good. 

7. Tulane’s offense will need to see more production Friday, as Houston has allowed opponents an average of 343 yards of offense per game. Tulane has averaged 304 yards per game.

8. This production could be a struggle, as Tulane will be without redshirt sophomore quarterback Tanner Lee on Friday. Lee was diagnosed with a concussion after last week’s game vs. Temple. Junior quaterback Devin Powell will start for the Wave.

9. Powell is 2-1 as the starting quarterback for Tulane. The Wave fell 39-0 to Ole Miss under then-freshman Powell in 2012. Tulane beat Eastern Carolina 36-33 in triple overtime and downed Tulsa 14-7 in 2013.

10. Powell threw a combined 388 yards for 4 touchdowns vs ECU and Tulsa, as well as 223 yards as the backup in Tulane’s 24-21 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette in the 2013 New Orleans Bowl after Nick Montana was benched after two interceptions.

11. Since 2006, only Oregon, with 63,160, has totaled more offensive yards than Houston. The Cougars have totaled 61,576 yards in that time. That is the equivalent of walking from Bruff to the Boot over 87 times.

12. Tulane’s defense has forced 12 turnovers through the first four games of the season, which ranks No. 2 in the American. Tulane forced four turnovers in last season’s upset at Houston.

13. Capitalizing on turnovers will be crucial, as the Wave proved unable to score any points off their first 5 turnovers of the season. Tulane scored 10 points off of two turnovers last week vs Temple, the Wave’s only points of the game.

14. Follow @hullsports on Twitter for up-to-date news on Tulane Athletics.