POSTGAME NOTES: Houston 24, Temple 13
12/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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BY THE NUMBERS
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Houston hosted the inaugural American Athletic Conference Championship game.
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William Jackson III broke the Houston single-game record with seven pass breakups
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The Cougars are 8-0 this season when playing at home
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The Cougars have now scored eight touchdowns on the opening drives this season
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Steven Taylor leads the American Athletic Conference with 9.0 sacks this season
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Houston captured its 11th conference championship with the win
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First 12-win season since 2011 for Houston Football
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Houston's national ranking in the latest Associated Press poll
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Greg Ward Jr. has 18 wins as the Cougars' starting quarterback
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Houston's national ranking in the latest College Football Playoff poll
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Greg Ward extended his school record of single-season rushing TDs
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William Jackson III broke the Houston single-season record with 21 pass breakups
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Cougars have forced multiple turnovers in 37 of the last 47 games
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Houston's defense has allowed only 38 points in the third quarter all season
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Cougar Defense has recorded 103 turnovers since the 2013 season
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Greg Ward Jr. became the first quarterback in school history to have a 1,000-yard season
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Saturday's attendance inside TDECU Stadium
GAME NOTES
• Houston defeated Temple, 24-13, to improve to 416-352-15 all-time.
• With the win, Houston improved to 12-1 on the year and 8-1 in American Athletic Conference play.
• The Cougars' hosted and claimed the inaugural American Athletic Conference Championship with the 24-13 win on Saturday. It marks the 11th conference championship in school history.
• Houston is now 12-1 marking the second 12-win season in program history since 2011 and the first since the 2006 Conference USA Championship.
• Houston stayed undefeated when playing at home this season. The Cougars' last home loss was Nov. 8, 2014 when Tulane defeated UH 31-24 on Homecoming.
• Houston won the toss and deferred to the second half. Senior running back Kenneth Farrow, offensive tackle Alex Cooper, safety Adrian McDonald and linebacker Elandon Roberts were captains.
IN THE RANKINGS
• Houston is 104-34-3 all-time as a nationally ranked team in the Associated Press poll.
• Houston is 7-1 in 2015 as a ranked team. That is the most weeks Houston has played since being ranked in eight games in 2011.
• Houston is 8-0 when competing as the No. 17 team in the AP poll.
• Saturday game is the first time Houston has competed as the No. 17 (AP) team since a 38-15 win over SMU on Oct. 24, 2009, inside Robertson Stadium.
HOUSTON vs. RANKED OPPONENTS
• Houston is 34-9-5-5 all-time when facing teams ranked nationally in the Associated Press Poll.
• Houston is 3-0 in 2015 against ranked teams.
• This marks only the ninth time in school history that Houston has defeated multiple ranked teams in a single season.
• Houston has defeated four ranked opponents in a season only two times (1979 and 1976)
• Houston is 5-4 all-time against the 20th-ranked team in the AP poll.
• Saturday's game marks the first time Houston has played the No. 20 team in the AP poll since a 56-49 win in overtime against Southern Miss at Robertson Stadium on Nov. 9, 1996.
• Saturday's game marked the third time this season that Houston has played a game in which both teams were ranked. No. 16/16/24 Houston enjoyed a 35-34 win over No. 25/25/21 Memphis on Nov. 14, 2015, inside TDECU Stadium. No. 21/21 Houston closed out the regular season with a 52-31 win over No. 16/15/15 Navy on Nov. 27, 2015.
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
• Saturday's game marked Houston's first appearance in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game.
• Saturday's game marks Houston's fourth appearance in a conference championship game. The Cougars competed in three Conference USA Championship Games (2006, 2008, 2011).
• Houston is 2-2 all-time in conference championship games (four in Conference USA).
• Houston won its first appearance in a conference championship game with a 34-20 win over Southern Miss on Dec. 1, 2006, inside Robertson Stadium. The Cougars dropped a 38-32 decision at East Carolina on Dev. 5, 2009, in the 2009 Conference USA Championship Game and lost 49-28 to No. 24/23 Southern Miss on Dec. 3, 2011, in the 2011 C-USA Championship Game.
OFFENSE
• The Cougars have now scored in 198 consecutive games. Houston has not been shut out since a 48-0 loss to Texas on Sept. 23, 2000.
• Javin Webb's 1-yard TD rush in the Cougars' opening drive is now the eighth TD during the opening drive this season and in the second straight game.
• Sparked by a Tyus Bowser interception to end Temple's first drive, Houston jumped out to a 7-0 lead with a 10-play, 36-yard drive that was capped by a Javin Webb 1-yard rush into the endzone.
• Junior kicker Ty Cummings drilled a 24-yard field goal to extend Houston's lead 10-0 capping a 9-play 42-yard drive.
• Greg Ward Jr. scrambled for a season-long 47-yard touchdown rush to put Houston up 17-0 during the first half. Ward scored again on a 10-yard quarterback keeper to push Houston's lead to 24-3 in the third quarter.
• Entering Saturday's game, the Temple defense ranked 12th nationally in allowing 117.3 rushing yards per game. Houston rushed for 233 yards on 40 carries in Saturday's win.
DEFENSE
• The Cougar Defense held Temple to just three points in the first half, the lowest score by the Owls this season and the lowest since Temple kicked a field goal in the first half against Tulane in 2014.
• With two turnovers in Saturday's game (1 Interception, 1 Fumble), Houston's defense has forced 103 turnovers dating back to the 2013 season.
• The Cougars have now forced multiple turnovers in 37 of the last 47 games.
• Houston's defense has allowed only 38 points in the third quarter all season, outscoring its opponents 127-38.
Greg Ward Jr.
• Junior quarterback Greg Ward, Jr. improved to 18-2 as Houston's starting quarterback. Ward takes sole possession of fifth place in school history with 18 wins. He jumps D.C. Nobles (1972-73) with 17 wins. Up next in the Houston records book is Danny Davis (1976-78) who posted 20 wins as the Cougars' starter.
• Ward has won his last 13 starts overall and his last nine home starts. Ward is 10-1 as the Cougars' starting quarterback at home with only a 31-24 loss to Tulane in the annual Homecoming game on Nov. 8, 2014, on his record.
• Ward leads the Cougars with a .900 (18-2) winning percentage as starting quarterback. He passed Gary Mullins who posted a .833 (25-5) percentage. They are the only quarterbacks in school history with 10+ starts and a winning percentage over .800.
• Ward led the Cougars as he went 11-for-21 with 88 passing yards and 148 rushing yards. Ward recorded his fourth career 100-yard game, all coming this season.
• With his 148 rushing yards today, Ward becomes the 25th Cougar in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season and is the first Cougar quarterback to do so.
• Ward scrambled for a season-long 47-yard touchdown rush to put Houston up 17-0 during the first half and a 10-yard quarterback keeper into the endzone marking his 18th and 19th rushing TD of the season. Ward extended his single-season school record with the scores.
• Ward's two rushing TDs Saturday marked his 26th and 27th of his career. He moves into a tie for sixth most career rushing TDs in school history with Chuck Weatherspoon (1987-90) who had 27.
• With his 88 yards on Saturday, Ward has totaled 4,910 career passing yards for the ninth most in school history. Next up on the list is Jimmy Klingler (1991-93) who threw for 5,243 career yards.
• With his 236 yards of total offense, Ward ranks seventh in school history with 6,699 of total career offense. Up next on the list is Chuck Clements (1993-96) with 6,893 yards of total offense in his career.
Elandon Roberts
• Senior linebacker Elandon Roberts forced a fumble marking the second of his career and the season during Temple's second drive of the game.
Tyus Bowser
• Junior linebacker Tyus Bowser intercepted Temple's P.J. Walker on the Owls' first drive and returned it for eight yards. The INT is the first of the season for Bowser and second of his career.
Javin Webb
• Sophomore running back Javin Webb scored his fourth rushing touchdown of the season with a 1-yard carry in the Cougars' opening drive. He now has five rushing TDs in his career.
Trevon Stewart
• Senior safety Trevon Stewart led the Cougars with eight tackles and a fumble recovery.
• Stewart recovered the fumble forced by Elandon Roberts for the ninth of his career. He is now in sole possession of the school record for career fumble recoveries.
Steven Taylor
• Junior linebacker Steven Taylor recorded his ninth sack of the season and 16th of his career. He is the American Athletic Conference leader with 9.0 sacks this season.
Ty Cummings
• Junior kicker Ty Cummings drilled a 24-yard field goal to extend Houston's lead 10-0 capping a 9-play 42-yard drive. Cummings is perfect on the year, hitting all seven field goal attempts and all 46 extra points.
William Jackson III
• Senior defensive back William Jackson recorded a career-high seven pass breakups against the Owl offense, breaking his previous best of four at Tulane on Oct. 16, 2015. His seven breakups is a Houston single-game record.
• With 21 breakups on the season, Jackson broke the Houston single-season record - a 16-year record - previously held by Will Pettis who recorded 20 breakups during the 1999 season.
• With 38 career pass breakups, he moves to third all time jumping Kenneth Fontenette (2005-08) with 33 breakups, and Jason Parker (1998-2001) who had 32 breakups.
