On Saturday, September 30th at Lincoln Financial Field, the visiting Houston Cougars took a commanding 20-0 lead over American Athletic Conference foe, the Temple Owls, and then held on to win by a score of 20-13. The Cougars were ably led by QB Kyle Postma, who lead the visitors to their third win (3-1) of the season by throwing for 226 yards and a touchdown and adding a team-leading 81 yards rushing on 15 carries. The Houston defense contributed to the win with three interceptions, two by Garrett Davis and the other by Isiah Johnson.
The Cougars opened the scoring on a 13-yard run by D’Eriq King, on a nifty reverse, in the first quarter. Caden Novikoff tacked on the extra point to give Houston a 7-0 lead that it never relinquished. Early in the second quarter, Novikoff kicked a 25-yard field goal to boost Houston’s lead to 10-0. Novikoff would kick another field goal, a 35-yarder, to close out the scoring in the first half with the Cougars up by a score of 13-0.
Houston added to its lead when Postma passed to Linell Bonner for a 9-yard touchdown. Novikoff converted the extra point and the score stood at 20-0 at the 11:34 mark. At this point, it looked like Houston would run away with the game but the Owls finally got on the board with 8:56 remaining in the third quarter when Aaron Boumerhi booted a 41-yard field goal to make it a 20-3 game.
Temple continued its comeback in the fourth quarter when Logan Marchi tossed a one-yard touchdown pass to David Hood. Later in the quarter, Boumerhi added a 29-yard field goal to put Temple within reach of the Cougars, 20-13. Marchi’s last-second hail mary attempt for a touchdown was picked off by Davis to end the game. Marchi was 20 of 41 for 182-yards passing and the one touchdown.
With the victory, Houston improved its record to 3-1 overall, 1-0 in the American Athletic Conference. Temple’s record fell to 2-3, 0-2 in the conference. The Owls return to action next Saturday, October 7, when they go on the road, trying to break a two-game losing streak, to play East Carolina (12 p.m.). Houston will return home to play the 4-1 S.M.U. Mustangs in a 7 p.m. game.
[Photos by Rick Pettine]
[Article by Stephen Miller]
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