Houston 34, Louisville 31: Game Recap

Riding the arm and legs of quarterback Greg Ward Jr., the Houston Cougars made a national statement with a 34-31 win on the road over the Louisville Cardinals.

Ward, 23-33 passing for 236 yards and three touchdowns, made several important plays down the stretch with the game on the line in the win. Ward was especially dangerous on the ground in the game-winning drive in running for two separate third down conversions for a total of 41 yards.

Houston jumped out early to a 7-0 lead on a Steven Dunbar touchdown catch, and led 10-7 until giving up a late firth half touchdown to trail 14-10 at the break.

Despite a third quarter that included a missed field goal and an interception, the Cougars defense held Louisville to only three point, trailing 17-10 with 1:19 left in the quarter. Brandon Wilson then took matters into his own hands with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that tie the game at 17 heading into the fourth quarter.

With the game on the line and the Cougar defense exhausted, Ward led Houston on two fourth quarter touchdown drives to take a 34-31 lead with only 3:16 left in the game. Louisville, with one last chance to send the game to overtime, saw their 53-yard field goal blocked by Steven Taylor to preserve the 34-31 win for Houston.

Analysis and further breakdown of this statement win for Houston and the AAC game will be coming very soon.