POSTGAME NOTES: Houston 42, UConn 14
9/29/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
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BY THE NUMBERS
4
With Greg Ward Jr.'s, 30-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Houston is now the only team in the nation with two quarterbacks having four rushing scores.
5
Houston scored touchdowns on all five of their trips to the red zone.
5
Greg Ward Jr., was responsible for five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing) for the second time in his career. Ward previously accomplished the feat on Sept. 26, 2015 when he had six (four passing, two rushing) against Texas State.
6
Houston forced UConn to punt on six straight drives to open the game.
7
Houston has held its last seven opponents to under 100 yards rushing dating back to the end of the 2015 season.
11
After throwing two touchdown passes in the first half, Greg Ward Jr., now has 11 career games with multiple touchdown passes.
11
With two shutout quarters tonight, Houston has held opponents scoreless in 11 of 20 quarters this season.
17
Greg Ward Jr., has now thrown for at least 200 yards or rushed for 100 yards in each of the last 17 games.
18
Quarterback Greg Ward Jr., has now won 18 consecutive starts, a number which leads the NCAA.
18
Head Coach Tom Herman is now 18-1 in his career with the Cougars.
34
With two rushing touchdowns in the contest, quarterback Greg Ward Jr., moved into a tie for second with Kenneth Farrow on the all-time rushing touchdown list at Houston.
60%
Houston has forced a three-and-out on an FBS-best 60 percent of opponents' oppening drives this season after accomplishing the feat tonight.
284
With his 159 yards receiving, Linell Bonner collected the 284th 100-yard receiving game in Houston history.
8,504
Senior quarterback Greg Ward Jr., now has 8,508 total career offensive yards, moving him past Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware (8,058; 1987-89) and Jason McKinley (8,277; 1997-00) for fourth all-time.
GAME NOTES
• Houston defeated UConn, 42-14, to improve to 422-352-15 all-time.
• With the win, Houston improved to 5-0 on the year.
• With the win, Houston moved to 5-0 for the second straight season. It is the first time in school history that the Cougars accomplished that feat.
• Houston returns to action at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, when they travel to American Athletic Conference foe Navy in Annapolis, Md.
• Houston won the toss and chose to defer. UConn chose to receive. Seniors Brandon Wilson, Cameron Malveaux, Tyler McCloskey and Greg Ward Jr., were captains.
• Houston has won 19 of its last 20 games with only a 20-17 loss at UConn on Nov. 21, 2015, preventing a perfect record.
• The announced attendance of 40,573 is the second largest crowd to ever see the Cougars play on campus. That number marks the largest crowd since the Cougars hosted Memphis on Nov. 14, 2015.
HOUSTON as a RANKED TEAM
• This marked the 189th week that Houston was ranked in the Associated Press poll.
• Houston is 110-38-3 all-time when ranked.
• This marked the fourth straight week in which Houston competed as the No. 6 (AP) team nationally.
• Houston is 25-14 when ranked among the Associated Press' top-10 teams.
• Houston is 10-0 when competing as the No. 6 team (AP).
HEAD COACH Tom Herman
• Herman is 1-1 against UConn. The Huskies are the only team to defeat Herman during his head coaching career.
• Thursday's game marked the first time Herman faced UConn in Houston.
• Herman is 4-0 when playing games on Thursday.
• Herman is 6-0 all-time when playing non-Saturday games.
SERIES vs. UCONN
• Houston and UConn are tied 1-1 in the all-time series with each team winning on their home field. The Huskies claimed a 20-17 win in East Hartford, Conn., on Nov. 21, 2015, in the Cougars' lone loss of the 2015 season.
• Thursday's game was the first time the Cougars faced the Huskies in Houston.
BY DAYS
• Houston is 14-15 all-time when playing on Thursday, including a 40-16 win at American Athletic Conference rival Cincinnati on Sept. 15.
• The Cougars have won their last four games on Thursday. Houston's last Thursday loss was a 17-12 setback to UCF on Oct. 2, 2014, inside TDECU Stadium.
BY MONTHS
• Houston is 104-95-3 all-time when playing in September.
• The Cougars have won their last nine games played in the month of September. Houston has not lost a game in September since dropping a 33-25 decision at #25/rv BYU on Sept. 11, 2014.
OFFENSE
• With quarterback Greg Ward Jr.'s, 30-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, Houston now has a pair of quarterbacks with four rushing touchdowns this season. Ward and Kyle Postma are the only quarterback duo in the FBS with four touchdowns each.
• With wide receiver Linell Bonner's 100-yard receiving game, the Cougars have now had a player with multiple 100-yard games in each season since 1997.
• Houston scored at least 40 points for the fourth straight game dating back to the contest against Lamar. The streak is the longest for the Cougars since seven straight from Sept. 24 to Nov. 10 in 2011.
• Houston's offense tallied 540 yards of total offense in the contest marking the fourth straight game of over 500 yards for the Cougars. The last time Houston had such a streak was in 2012 when they collected more than 500 yards in each contest from Sept. 29 through Oct. 18. The longest streak in program history came in 2011 when Houston had nine straight 500-yard games.
• Houston finished 8-of-16 on third down plays in the game. This season Houston is converting 52.4 percent on third down (55-of-105).
• Houston finished a perfect 5-of-5 in the red zone against UConn. Dating back to Texas State, the Cougars have come away with points on each of their last 12 trips to the red zone.
DEFENSE
• Houston's defense held the Huskies to 62 yards rushing in the contest, marking the seventh straight opponent the Cougars have held under 100 yards on the ground. Houston held Texas State to 33 yards rushing last week, Cincinnati to 30 yards the week before, Lamar to 15 yards in the home opener and Oklahoma to 70 yards in the season opener. To close out the 2015-16 season the Cougars held Temple to 98 yards in the American Championship Game while keeping Florida State at 16 in the Peach Bowl.
• Houston's defense entered the contest ranked No. 1 in the nation in rushing yards allowed, holding opponents to 37.0 yards per contest through the first four games.
• Houston has shut out opponents in 11 of 20 quarters this season.
• The Cougar defense forced the Huskies to punt in six straight drives to open the game.
DISCIPLINE
• After two quarters tonight and dating back to last Saturday's contest at Texas State, the Cougars went six consecutive quarters without commiting a penalty.
Greg Ward Jr.
• Senior Greg Ward Jr., is 23-2 as the Cougars' starting quarterback. He holds Houston's career record with a .920 winning percentage and is the only starting quarterback in school history with a perfect season after going 13-0 in 2015.
• Ward has won an NCAA-leading 18 consecutive starts with the Cougars. He has not lost since a 38-31 win at Cincinnati on Dec. 6, 2014.
• With 454 combined passing and rushing yards in the game, Ward now has 8,508 total career offensive yards, moving him past Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware (8,058; 1987-89) and Jason McKinley (8,277; 1997-00) for fourth all-time.
• Ward put the Cougars on the board early in the second quarter with a quarterback run for 30 yards and a score to make it 7-0 Houston. The 30-yard scamper was the longest of the season for Ward.
• On Houston's first drive of the second half, Ward found the end zone again on the ground, this time from 10 yards out. The score for Ward was the 34th of his career tying him for second all-time with Kenneth Farrow (2012-15).
• Ward now has 10 games with at least one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown dating back to the 2015 season. The feat ties him for second in the FBS with quarterback Lamar Jackson of Louisville in that span.
• Ward's 65 yards on the ground give him 2,035 for his career making him the first Houston quarterback to eclipse the 2,000 rushing yard mark in a career.
• Ward finished the contest 32-of-38 passing for 389 yards. He now has 527 for his career which ranks seventh all-time in school history.
• The 389 yards passing is a new career-high for Ward. His previous best came against Cincinnati on Dec. 6, 2014 when he had 360.
• The 300-yard passing game for Ward is the third of the season and sixth of his career. Ward also had 300 or more yards against Oklahoma and Cincinnati.
• For the second time in his career, Ward found the end zone at least twice through the air and on the ground. The last time Ward accomplished the feat was against Texas State on Sept. 26, 2015.
• While playing just three quarters, Ward was responsible for five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing) for the second time in his career. Ward previously accomplished the feat on Sept. 26, 2015 when he had six (four passing, two rushing) against Texas State.
Garrett Davis
• Fresh off a career-high seven tackles at Texas State, sophomore safety Garrett Davis continued his strong play registering the first sack of his career early in the second quarter. Davis finished the game with five tackles.
• Davis also set a new career-best for tackles for loss with 2.5.
Dillon Birden
• Junior running back Dillon Birden found the end zone from 1-yard out with 9:11 remaining in the first half. The rushing score was the second of the season for Birden in his first year as a Cougar.
Linell Bonner
• Junior wide receiver Linell Bonner had a career first-half against the Huskies setting new career bests in receptions and yards in the first 30 minutes of play. Bonner finished the half with 9 receptions and 124 yards, and went on to total 159 yards on 12 catches.
• The 159 yards through the air is tied for the 60th best receiving game in terms of yardage in Houston history.
• Bonner found the end zone on a 4-yard reception from quarterback Greg Ward Jr., with 4:58 remaining in the third quarter to make the score 42-7 Houston. The score for Bonner was his second this season and the seventh of his career.
• Bonner's 100-yard receiving game is the second of his career and the 284th in program history.
Tyler McCloskey
• With 5:36 remaining in the second quarter, senior tight end Tyler McCloskey caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Greg Ward Jr. The score was the second this season for McCloskey after a 2-yard score against Oklahoma and the third of his career.
• McCloskey's three career scoring receptions have risen in 1-yard increments. The Houston, Texas, native scored from 1-yard out against Cincinnati in 2015, followed by his 2-yard score against Oklahoma and his 3-yard reception tonight.
Steven Dunbar
• Junior wide receiver Steven Dunbar caught a 15-yard touchdown pass with 1:37 remaining in the half to make the score 28-0 Houston. Dunbar now has two touchdown receptions on the season and five in his career.
Chance Allen
• With his seven receptions, senior wide receiver Chance Allen set a new career-high for receptions in a game. Allen finished the contest with 85 reception yards.
Nomluis Fruge
• Midway through the third quarter, junior linebacker Nomluis Fruge registered his first career sack on a big third down to force a UConn punt.
Ed Oliver
• Freshman defensive lineman Ed Oliver registered a sack in the contest to move his total on the season to three after a two-sack game against Oklahoma.
Austin Robinson
• Junior safety Austin Robinson picked up his first career sack in a Houston uniform dropping UConn quarterback Garrett Anderson late in the fourth quarter.
