Houston Cougars vs Texas State Bobcats Match Player Stats On Sep 24, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Sep 24, 2016

SAN MARCOS, Texas -- Greg Ward Jr. passed for 289 yards and two touchdowns in just over a half of play and freshman D'Eriq King accounted for three touchdowns -- receiving, passing and on a 99-yard kickoff return -- as No. 6 Houston roared past Texas State 64-3 on Saturday night before a school-record crowd of 33,133 at Bobcat Stadium.

Ward was 20-of-26 passing and had 39 yards on the ground and another score while guiding the Cougars (4-0) to a 43-3 lead at halftime. He played the first series of the third quarter and left with Houston well in command and with a 50-3 lead.

King opened the second half with a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown after hauling in 48-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and passing for a 15-yard score in the second. King amassed 234 all-purpose yards and added 15 passing.

It was Houston's largest margin of victory since a 73-3 win over Louisiana Tech on Aug. 31, 1991.

Tyler Jones was 17 of 30 passing for 100 yards for the Bobcats (1-2), who have managed just six total points the past two games against ranked teams after beating Ohio on the road 56-54 in triple overtime in their season opener.

Texas State's longest pass play was 20 yards and its longest rush went for nine yards.

The Cougars outgained Texas State 560-142, outrushed the Bobcats 240-33 and had 32 first downs to Texas State's eight. Houston also had no turnovers and committed no penalties.

Houston's run of successful possessions ended when it was forced to punt for the first time on its initial drive of the third quarter. Backup quarterback Kyle Postma turned in a spinning 21-yard TD run on his first possession behind center to move the Cougars' lead to 57-3 and a 1-yard scoring jaunt with 3:56 to end the scoring.

Houston scored on all seven of its first-half possessions -- six touchdowns and a field goal -- and led 43-3 at the break. The Cougars outgained Texas State 429-82 and had 22 first downs to the Bobcats' five.

Houston flexed its muscles on its first possession, marching 59 yards in 12 plays capped by Ward's 10-yard touchdown scamper with the Cougars converting two fourth downs on the drive. Ward connected with King on a 48-yard scoring pass to culminate the Cougars' next drive, which started at their own 5-yard line.

Ty Cummings, who missed an extra-point kick after the Cougars' first touchdown and had another blocked following Houston's third TD, booted a 31-yard field goal to push Houston's lead to 16-0 at the 2:06 mark of the first quarter.

King threw a scoring pass on an end-around, taking a handoff from Ward and hitting Steven Dunbar for a 15-yard score that expanded Houston's advantage to 22-0 with 13:25 to play in the second quarter. The Cougars' Duke Catalon rambled 13 yards for a score to expand the lead to 29-0 only 2:45 later.

Houston tried an onside kick that was recovered by the Bobcats and gave Texas State a short field. The Bobcats' ensuing 10-play, 42-yard drive ended in a 32-yard field goal by James Sherman and cut the Cougars' lead to 29-3.

There was no stopping the Houston offense as Ward marched the Cougars 69 yards in nine plays with Dillon Birden's 2-yard TD run making it 36-3.

Houston completed its near-perfect offensive half with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Ward to Linell Bonner with 29 seconds left.

NOTES: Texas State has been outscored 85-3 in the first half in the past two games. ... Houston's defense set a program record in holding Lamar to 73 total yards, besting the previous record of 74 yards from Mississippi State in 1969. ... Saturday's matchup was the seventh meeting between Houston and Texas State with the Bobcats winning four of those games. The Cougars' 59-14 victory in 2015 was its second victory in the last three meetings. ... Houston is one of three FBS programs with at least 13 victories on two occasions over the last five years, joining Alabama and Florida State. ... Since 2011, Houston owns the second-most wins in the state of Texas among FBS schools with 50, five behind Baylor and three ahead of third-place TCU entering Saturday. ... Houston is the highest-ranked FBS team that the Bobcats have faced. Texas State is the first Sun Belt Conference team in league history to host a Top 10 nationally ranked team.