Keenum Sets School Record for Career Touchdown Passes

HOUSTON -- After suffering a setback against UCF last week, the Cougars remained in contention for the Conference USA West division title with their 55-14 victory over Memphis on Saturday.

Junior quarterback Case Keenum threw five touchdown passes and broke David Klinger’s school record of career touchdown passes (91). Keenum finished the day with 94 career touchdown passes and also broke Kevin Kolb’s school record of pass completions (964) bumping his career total up to 971.

After the Cougar defense forced Memphis to go three-and-out on its opening possession, freshman Charles Sims capped off a four-play, 70-yard scoring drive with a 13-yard touchdown run. The quick-strike offense needed just a minute to find the end zone as senior Tim Monroe and Sims added receptions of 27 and 31 yards on the drive.

Sims finished the day with 90 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns and also accounted for 55 yards on three receptions.

The Cougars took advantage of the Tigers’ defensive woes when Keenum found Monroe for his third career touchdown reception on the following drive.

Monroe finished the game with 7 catches for 92 yards and one touchdown.

“I thought Tim Monroe came in, and although he wasn't perfect today,” Coach Sumlin said, “he was pretty good, and when you are replacing the guy who leads the country in touchdown catches, those are some pretty big shoes to fill. It wasn't perfect, but he made plays for us today and did another great job on special teams.”

Memphis started gaining traction with a solid ground game to get points on the board on its subsequent possession. Senior running back Curtis Steele picked up two big third-down conversions and the touchdown score from the ‘Wildcat’ formation. On the drive, Steele rushed for 48 yards on six carries.

The Cougars answered when senior receiver Chaz Rodriguez caught a touchdown from Keenum to extend the score to 28-7.

Rodriguez had 6 catches for 98 yards and one touchdown on the afternoon.

Following a Memphis punt, Keenum and the offense took over on their own nine-yard line. Keenum hit sophomore receiver Patrick Edwards in stride on a deep post for a 57-yard touchdown pass.

The Tigers answered with another scoring drive of their own, with most of their damage coming via their ground attack. Steele had three carries for 51 yards on the drive and ended the possession with a 25-yard touchdown scamper to cap the nine-play, 76-yard scoring drive.

Steele’s touchdown scamper tightened the score at 35-14, but it would be as close as the Tigers would get the rest of the drizzling afternoon. The Cougars ended the game with 20 unanswered points.

The Cougars last possession of the half ended with Sims’ second rushing touchdown of the game and the seventh of his career. On the drive, Sims had four rushes and 28 yards.

The Cougar defense stuffed the Memphis offense to open the second half with their third three-and-out of the game. Keenum made quick work in getting the Cougars into the endzone, connecting with Castile for the second time on the afternoon on an 18-yard pass.

It was the third scoring drive of the day under two minutes, and the fifth under two minutes 30 seconds. Houston leads the nation with 26 touchdown drives for less than two minutes. That drive would end the afternoon for Houston’s Heisman Trophy candidate.

Sophomore quarterback Cotton Turner came in relief for Keenum with 9:24 remaining in the third quarter and connected with senior tight end Fendi Onobun for an 18-yard strike on his first drive.

Turner completed his first eight passes for 133 yards and one score, finishing 13-for-16 and 173 yards.

“Cotton came in the game and operated the way he did” said Coach Sumlin. “Basically for a couple series we ran our game plan and he completed third down balls, and made checks. That gives him confidence, our coaching staff confidence, and more importantly, it gives our team confidence in him.”

Memphis picked up their first first-down of the half on a fake punt from their own 29-yard line.

Memphis punted to Houston four plays later and downed the ball at the Houston one-yard line. Turner found sophomore receiver on a 47-yard post pattern but Houston was forced to punt for just the second time on the day.