Case Keenum threw five touchdown passes,
including a 28-yarder to Patrick Edwards with 21 seconds left in the fourth
quarter, as 15th-ranked Houston earned a wild 50-43 win over Southern
Mississippi in a Conference USA battle at Robertson Stadium.
With 3:36 to play and Houston ahead 43-36, Southern Miss went 78 yards in
eight plays to tie the game as Martevious Young connected with Gerald
Baptiste for a 13-yard score with 57 seconds left.
However, the Cougars (7-1, 3-1 C-USA) would respond in a big way. Keenum
quickly guided the offense just past midfield in four plays before hitting
Edwards in stride for the 28-yard scoring strike. Edwards was then flagged for
a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and Houston had to kick off from its
own 15-yard line.
Southern Miss (5-4, 3-2) got the ball on its own 45 and after Young threw two
straight incompletions, the Golden Eagles used their remaining timeouts to
draw up a play with four seconds left. Young's desperation heave, though,
fell incomplete in the end zone as time expired.
Keenum completed 43-of-53 throws for a career-best 559 yards, while James
Cleveland had 13 catches for 190 yards and a pair of scores for Houston, which
has won four straight since dropping a 58-41 decision to UTEP on October 3.
Charles Sims rushed 14 times for 95 yards and a score, and Tim Monroe and A.J.
Dugat each had a TD grab for Cougars, who racked up 750 yards of offense
compared to 608 for Southern Miss. Edwards had seven receptions for 79 yards.
Young passed for 334 yards and three scores on 20-of-34 efficiency, and also
rushed for 70 yards on 10 carries with a TD for Southern Miss, which had a
two-game winning streak snapped.
Baptiste hauled in eight passes for 186 yards and three TDs, while Damion
Fletcher led the Golden Eagles' ground attack with 136 yards on 26 carries
with a score.
Southern Miss recovered a Bryce Beall fumble on Houston's first play from
scrimmage at the Cougars' 21 and turned it into a quick six points. Fletcher's
six-yard run up the middle capped the brief four-play drive, but Justin Estes'
extra point attempt was blocked.
Sims' 31-yard TD run with a shade under 6 1/2 minutes left in the quarter put
Houston in front 7-6. Young's 70-yard hookup with Baptiste with a minute to
play gave the Eagles a 13-7 lead.
The back-and-forth battle continued when a Keenum-to-Dugat connection went for
a 33-yard score. After Southern Miss went three-and-out, Keenum went back
to work and threw a 55-yard TD strike to Monroe for a 21-13 Cougars lead.
Young's one-yard run with 7:49 left in the second got the Eagles to within
two, but Danny Hrapmann had his point after attempt blocked and it was
returned for a two-point conversion for Houston. The visitors then made it a
one-point game when Hrapmann drilled a 29-yard field goal at the 2 1/2 minute
mark.
Houston then took a 30-22 lead on Keenum's 14-yard strike to Cleveland with 37
seconds to play in the half.
Matt Hogan's 34-yard field goal with 4:03 left in the third upped the Cougars'
lead to double digits and a Keenun-to-Cleveland 17-yard connection increased
the advantage to 40-22 early in the fourth.
Tory Harrison answered with a one-yard TD run with nearly nine minutes left
for Southern Miss, but Hogan nailed a 23-yarder with 6:41 to go. A Young-to-
Baptiste five-yard TD drew the Golden Eagles to within seven at 43-36 with
nearly 5 1/2 minutes to play. With Houston driving on its ensuing possession,
Beall coughed up the ball again and Southern Miss recovered at its own 22,
leading to the game-tying drive.
Game Notes
Houston will visit Tulsa on November 7, while Southern Mississippi plays at
Marshall on November 14...The Cougars and Eagles clashed for the first time
since last year's C-USA championship game, a 34-20 Houston win...USM still
leads the series 7-5.
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