The Cougars picked up a huge road win over the SMU Mustangs Friday afternoon as the team’s 433 offensive yards and five rushing touchdowns lead them to a 35-9 victory.
Junior running back Kenneth Farrow has been a huge part of the Cougars’ offense as of late, and he has totaled 226 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns in the last two games. | File Photo/The Cougar
The Cougars took a while to warm up and fell 9-7 to the Mustangs in the first half of the game, but came out as strong as ever after halftime, outscoring the Mustangs 28-0 in the game’s final two quarters.
Junior running back Kenneth Farrow continued his dominating play — the win marked his second straight game with over 100 rushing yards and multiple touchdowns, and Farrow lead the Houston offense with 110 rushing yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns.
Sophomore quarterback Greg Ward Jr. rounded out the Cougars’ offense and tallied 93 rushing yards on 14 carries for a career-best three rushing touchdowns. Ward’s earned his first career game with a performance that included multiple rushing touchdowns.
Freshman linebacker Matthew Adams forced a fumble after a sack in the third quarter and extended Houston’s turnover streak to 34 consecutive games with a forced turnover. Senior defensive end Gavin Stansbury recovered the loose ball to put Houston in a tie for longest active streak with Ole Miss.
Stansbury was also notable in Friday’s win — he was responsible for the Cougars’ first blocked kick of the season. Stansbury blocked an SMU field goal to prevent the Mustangs from scoring late in the second quarter, proving to win the game as the Mustangs failed to score again.
The Cougars now travel to Cincinnati on Dec. 6 to take on the Bearcats for their regular season finale. The matchup will be televised on ESPN with an 11 a.m. kickoff, as announced by ESPN and the American Athletic Conference.
With one final game to go, the Cougars await the announcement of their bowl destination. Currently UH faces one of five possibilities as the American Athletic Conference has established its potential bowl partners.
The Cougars are eligible for the Dec. 22 Miami Beach Bowl in Miami, Fla., the Dec. 26 Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl in St. Petersburg, Fla., the Dec. 27 Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman in Annapolis, Md., the Jan. 2 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, and the Jan. 3 Birmingham Bowl in Birmingham, Ala.
Please Tony, don’t embarrass us in the bowl game. I am, without reservation, expecting a loss (that’s your fault); but, I just don’t want to be embarrassed like you’ve embarrassed us three times already this year……………………………
…………….that is, if you’re still the HC.
Five meaningless bowl games! Big whoop!