University of Houston Athletics
UHCOUGARS.com :: University of Houston Official Athletic Site :: Football
 | |
- Box Score
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP, Oct. 16) -- Houston coach Kim Helton thinks he has a pair of running backs who are capable of playing on Sunday.
He'll get no argument from North Carolina, which was defenseless against Ketric Sanford and Mike Green on Saturday.
The Cougars' two seniors combined for 287 yards rushing to lead Houston (4-2) to a 20-12 non-conference victory over North Carolina (1-5).
"We're confident we can run against anybody," said Helton. "We've got a couple of running backs who are pro runners, and they make people miss and break a lot of tackles. We wore them down."
Sanford carried 21 times for 158 yards, while Green had 24 rushes for 135 yards. Houston finished with 376 yards of total offense to 126 for North Carolina.
The Tar Heels, who have lost four straight, are off to their worst start since 1989 when they finished 1-10.
Despite Houston's dominance in total yardage, the outcome wasn't decided until the end. Cougar punter Jeff Patterson's mishandled a snap from center, his second of the day, forcing him to cover the ball at the Houston 42 with 13.7 seconds to play.
But two passes into the end zone fell incomplete, the second as the clock expired.
"We got a little careless at the end," said Helton. "Give them credit for not giving up. They played hard right to the end."
Houston's strong day offensively was equalled by its defense. The Cougars smothered the North Carolina running game and harassed redshirt freshman quarterback Luke Huard, who was making his first collegiate start.
Huard completed just 5 of 15 for 76 yards and was sacked four times. Nearly as ineffective was backup Antwon Black, a safety until starting quarterback Ronald Curry suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon last week against Georgia Tech. Black threw just twice, completing one, and fumbled at the Houston 43-yard line with 5:30 left in the game to end a Tar Heel drive.
"We've got a defense that does a lot of things well," said Helton. "I thought the quarterbacks that played for them did some nice things at times, but we have a tough blitz package for anybody, let alone a kid that's coming off the bench and not had a lot of reps."
One week after rushing for a season-high 276 yards in a 31-24 overtime loss at No. 8 Georgia Tech, North Carolina was held to a season-low 39 yards on the ground by Houston.
"No doubt, the two big keys in the ball game were their ability to rush the football and to control the clock and our inability to run the ball and convert in third-down situations," North Carolina head coach Carl Torbush said.
The Tar Heels pulled to 14-12 in the second quarter thanks to one big play and two Cougar mistakes.
The first mistake netted North Carolina a safety. Houston punter Jeff Patterson, set up on his own goal line, allowed the snap from center to go through his hands. He fell on the ball just as Tar Heel freshman DeFonte Coleman fell on him, resulting in two points.
Luke Huard's first career touchdown pass, a 39-yard strike to sophomore wide receiver Kory Bailey, closed the gap for North Carolina.
The Tar Heels benefitted from a short field, starting the drive on the Cougar 44 after an exchange of punts.
A fumbled punt by Houston's Kenny Hill led to North Carolina's final points of the half. North Carolina's Greg Harris recovered the fumble at the Cougar 25, leading to Josh McGee's 38-yard field goal three plays later.
The second-half scoring was limited to fourth-quarter field goals of 37 and 30 yards by Mike Clark.