University of Houston
Texas
Cougars Fall To No. 3 Texas 41-11
9/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept 21, 2002
By JIM VERTUNO
AP Sports Writer
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Cedric Benson ran for 160 yards on 37 carries and Chris Simms passed for two touchdowns as third-ranked Texas defeated Houston 41-11 Saturday night.
Beau Trahan scored a touchdown on a fake field goal, and Michael Huff returned an interception for a TD for the Longhorns (3-0), who beat their old Southwest Conference rivals for the seventh straight time.
Texas has outscored the Cougars (2-2) 142-37 over the last three years. Although much improved over last season's 0-11 effort, Houston managed just 152 yards of total offense.
Simms was sharp for the third straight game, completing 20 of 30 passes for 233 yards even as his best receiver, Roy Williams, was on the sideline most of the night with a strained hamstring.
Simms also made the defensive play of the game with a touchdown-saving tackle after his first interception of the season.
Simms and Williams hooked up early for Texas' first touchdown. Williams grabbed a short pass on the sideline, made three defenders miss and used a burst of speed to get to the end zone.
Williams nearly scored again on the next drive but pulled up clutching his right hamstring after dropping a ball in the end zone.
Trahan capped the drive with his touchdown on the fake field goal. The holder for place kicks, Trahan took the snap and ran 24 yards through a hole in the middle of the line as kicker Dusty Mangum carried out the fake.
With Williams out, Texas simply turned to its workhorse, Benson, and wide receiver Sloan Thomas, who had only one catch in the first two games.
Benson, who had 208 yards the week before against North Carolina, had 97 by halftime against Houston. It was Benson's second straight game with more than 30 carries. Hodges Mitchell set the school record of 45 against Texas Tech in 2000.
Benson's 1-yard TD in the second quarter made it 21-3, and Texas increased the lead to 28-3 nine seconds later. Dakarai Pearson intercepted a tipped pass, returned it to the Houston 25, and Simms hit Thomas for the score the next play. Thomas finished with six catches for 87 yards.
With his team leading 14-0, Simms threw his first interception of the season.
Houston's Victor Malone snared a bobbled pass from Tony Jeffery deep in Cougar territory. Malone appeared to have a clear path to the end zone, but Simms took a good angle and cut him down at the knees on the Texas 19. The Cougars had to settle for a field goal and never grabbed the momentum.
The Cougars finally got into the end zone on Nick Eddy's 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter to make it 31-11. Huff's 27-yard interception return in the fourth capped the scoring.
