Houston Cougars Beat Texas Tech
Keenum Runs for TD in Final Minute to Give Team 29-28 Football Win
Quarterback Case Keenum's 4-yard touchdown run with 49 seconds left capped a 17-play drive and No. 17-ranked Houston nipped Texas Tech 29-28 in a non-conference college football game Saturday night at Houston.
Coach Kevin Sumlin's Cougars, playing as a ranked team for the first time since 1991, had to start the decisive march from their own 5-yard line after a Ryan Erxleben punt. They converted two third downs and one fourth down to reach their destination.
Keenum found Patrick Edwards for an 8-yard pass on a third-and-four early in the drive, and later ran for 10-yards on a third-and-10. The biggest conversion was a seven-yard pass to Edwards on a fourth-and-three from the Texas Tech 49 with 2:25 left.
Bryce Beall ran for 12 yards, and Keenum followed with a 23 yards pass to Tyron Carrier. After a 3-yard run by Beall to the Tech 4, Houston called timeout with 53 seconds remaining. On the next play, Keenum lowered his head and knifed into the end zone on a draw.
But his 2-point conversion pass was picked off by Jamar Wall, leaving Texas Tech a chance to win the game with a field goal. The Red Raiders (2-2) started from their own 30 with 46 seconds left, and Taylor Potts completed three passes to move Tech to the Houston 43.
But an illegal procedure penalty pushed Tech back five yards, and Potts' final desperation heave was broken up. That ended a shootout in which the teams combined for 102 passes and 1,063 yards of offense.
Houston improved to 3-0. Texas Tech dropped to 2-2.
Keenum Passes for 435 Yards
Potts entered the game leading the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision with 427 yards passing yards per game and Keenum was third at 362.5. On Saturday, Keenum came out on top statistically, as well as in the game.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound junior completed 38 of 58 passes for 435 yards with one touchdown and one interception. On the final drive, he was 4-for-7 for 44 yards and had three rushes for 22 yards.
Houston had four receivers collect 80 or more yards, with Charles Sims nabbing a game-high 10 receptions for 122 yards. Carrier had eight catches for 99 yards, and James Cleveland added eight receptions for 85, including a 6-yard TD to give Houston an early 7-0 lead. Edwards made seven catches for 92 yards.
Beall rushed 19 times for 85 yards and a touchdown as Houston finished with 579 yards of total offense.
Ground Game Comes to Life for Red Raiders
Potts was 30-for-45 for 321 yards and threw one touchdown pass to raise his FBS-high season total to 13. He fired to 10 different receivers, with Alex Torres recording a team-high six catches for 90 yards. Detron Lewis had five receptions for 51 yards.
Yet Potts' numbers were lower than usual, because the Red Raiders got a boost from their running game.
The Red Raiders had just 86 yards rushing in their three previous games, and their season high was 52. But Baron Batch, who had been sidelined during fall camp with an elbow injury, emerged to rush 19 times for 114 yards and two touchdowns. Harrison Jeffers added four carries for 57 yards and a TD as Tech managed 163 yards on the ground.
Batch scored on runs of 6 and 11 yards, and Jeffers ran for a 13-yard TD as Texas Tech built a 21-13 halftime advantage.
Coach Mike Leach's Raiders finished with 484 yards of total offense, yet had three turnovers to Houston's one.
Defenses Make Big Stops in 4th Quarter
Despite all the yardage, and considering all the firepower of the offenses, the defensive units did not perform poorly.
The Raiders scored just one TD in the second half were one yard away from tacking on another, but Kris Johnston and David Hunter stopped Potts for no gain on a fourth-and-goal with 10:46 left in the game.
Houston marched to the Tech 44, only to have Keenum intercepted by Will Ford. But the Red Raiders to punt after four plays, setting the stage for the final scoring drive.
Although the Tech defense was shoved around, it for the most part tightened up in its own territory. The Cougars were forced into five Jordan Mannisto field goal attempts. He hit three, including a career-long 50-yarder on the last play of the first half.
The Cougars closed within 21-20 on a 1-yard TD run by Beall in the third quarter, but Tech went up 28-20 on a 24-yard pass from Potts to Tramain Swindall less than three minutes later. Mannisto made it 28-23 with a 21-yard field with 12 seconds left in the period.
Houston Sophomore McGraw Makes 19 Tackles
Sophomore linebacker Marcus McGraw registered a game-high 19 tackles for Houston, including one of his team's two sacks. Linebacker C.J. Cavness added 14 tackles, and his fumble recovery set up Mannisto's final field goal.
Freshman safety Nick Saenz had 12 tackles, and cornerback Brandon Brinkley made six tackles, broke up three passes and forced a fumble. Defensive tackle Hunter forced a fumble, recovered one, and had sack among his four tackles.
Texas Tech got 15 tackles apiece from linebacker Brian Duncan and redshirt freshman safety Cody Davis. Defensive linemen Daniel Howard and Richard Jones had 11 apiece. Duncan broke up two passes, and Howard was credited with 1.5 of Tech's two sacks.
Another weapon for Tech was Erxleben, who averaged 46.4 yards per punt. The freshman son of former Texas Longhorns kicking great Russell Erxleben, placed four punts inside the 20 and booted a 54-yarder.
Cougars Improve to 2-0 vs. Big 12
Houston notched its second victory over a Big 12 Conference team this season, following a 45-35 upset of then-No. 5 Oklahoma State on Sept. 12. The Cougars open Conference USA play on Saturday, Oct. 3 at UTEP.
Texas Tech suffered another heartbreaking defeat, one week after losing 34-24 to No. 2 Texas. The Red Raiders are at home vs. New Mexico next week.
The Cougars lead their series with Houston, 18-10-1.
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