Nov 17, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Cougars defensive tackle Ed Oliver (10) celebrates after a play during the third quarter against the Louisville Cardinals at TDECU Stadium. Photo Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
by a plethora of mistakes and Houston’s swarming defense Thursday night, No. 5 Louisville played itself out of the national championship picture.
The Cougars sacked Heisman Trophy favorite Lamar Jackson 11 times and held him to a season-low 244 total yards in a 36-10 non-conference beating at TDECU Stadium in Houston.
Jackson entered the game having accounted for 46 touchdowns, more than 15 of the nation’s top 25 teams. But he completed just 20 of 43 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown — a 12-yard strike to Cole Hikutini with 10:02 left in the third quarter — while gaining just 33 yards on 25 rushes.
Jackson also committed one of the Cardinals’ three turnovers, losing a fumble at the Cougars’ 9-yard line late in the third quarter when they had a chance to cut into a 31-7 deficit. Louisville (9-2) also committed 15 penalties, mostly on pre-snap fouls due to crowd noise, for 114 yards.
Houston quarterback Greg Ward wasn’t spectacular, hitting on 25 of 44 passes for 233 yards and a pair of scores, but played a clean game that rubbed off on his teammates. The Cougars (9-2) didn’t turn the ball over and were flagged only once for five yards.
Houston capped the shocking rout in fitting fashion, with Tyus Bowser forcing Jackson into an intentional grounding call in the end zone for a safety with 3:55 left in the game.
Houston started the scoring 11 seconds into the game after recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff at the Louisville 13. Ward found Duke Catalon in the flat on the first play from scrimmage for the first of three touchdowns by Catalon in the first half.
After a field goal by Ty Cummings made it 10-0 with 49 seconds left in the quarter, the Cougars upped the advantage to 17-0 with 12:18 remaining in the first half when Ward connected on another 13-yard scoring strike with Catalon.
It became 24-0 with Catalon’s 2-yard run at the 6:53 mark that polished off a 12-play, 73-yard drive. Houston extended the lead to 31-0 with 5:13 remaining on a trick play, when running back Linell Bonner pulled up on an apparent run play and found Chance Allen several yards behind the defense for a 50-yard touchdown pass.
But the real story was what the Cougars’ defense did to the nation’s top scoring offense. The Cardinals managed 138 yards and seven first downs in the first half as nose tackle Ed Oliver took the offensive line apart with four tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and a spate of holding calls when they couldn’t block him.
NOTES: Louisville TE Cole Hikutini was selected Monday as one of eight semifinalists for the 2016 John Mackey Award, given to the nation’s top tight end. … Both the Cardinals and Houston came into the game ranked in the top 10 nationally in rushing defense and total defense. … The Cougars entered as an underdog for the fourth time in coach Tom Herman’s two seasons. They won the first three times — last year at Louisville and in the Chick-fil-A Bowl against Florida State, and in this year’s season opener against Oklahoma.
