DALLAS — Houston, we have a touchdown. And another one. And another one.
It took the Houston Cougars just 112 seconds to score its first TD in the TicketCity Bowl against Penn State on Monday in the Cotton Bowl.
Later in the first quarter, they drove half the field in 69 seconds for another TD.
And they added a 75-yard TD pass in the second quarter on a two-play drive that took just 24 seconds.
Three TDs passes, three drives lasting 205 seconds. Total.
What else do you expect from a team that scored 86 touchdowns overall and averaged 50.8 points per game in 2011?
By the time the first quarter was over, Houston quarterback Case Keenum had thrown for 227 yards and two touchdowns on 21 of 29 passing. That’s a record in the history of all postseason bowl games, surpassing the 223 yards by Louisville’s Browning Nagle against Alabama in the 1991 Fiesta Bowl.
And by halftime, Keenum numbers read like they were straight from EA’s NCAA Football 12:
In the first 30 minutes, Keenum threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns on 30 of 46 passing. The passes and completions are 2011 season-highs against Penn State’s defense. Houston’s Patrick Edwards was the happy recipient of many of those throws, grabbing seven receptions for 200 yards and a reception.
Houston led 24-7 at halftime.
The Cougars took the opening kickoff and went 76 yards in just six plays, all passes, for the game’s first points. The score came on a 40-yard strike from Keenum along the left sideline to Patrick Edwards, who beat PSU safety Malcolm Willis on the play.
On the drive, Keenum completed 4 of 6 passes for 81 yards — the Cougars had a five-yard penalty, hence the official drive of 76 yards — that included a 28-yarder to Justin Johnson. Matt Hogan kicked the PAT for a 7-0 lead.
Later in the quarter, Houston added a 35-yard field goal by Hogan and an 8-yard touchdown toss from Keenum to Johnson to take a 17-0 lead. The touchdown drive covered 50 yards in just 1:09.
Their final TD of the half came on a 75-pass from Keenum to Edwards in the second quarter. Counting a nine-yarder from Keenum to Ronnie Williams on the preceding play, Houston went 84 yards in two plays in 24 seconds.
Quarterback Rob Bolden started the game for Penn State, and was 2 of 10 for 55 yards for the Nittany Lions.
He was the Nittany Lions’ starting quarterback for the first seven games of 2011, then gave way to Matt McGloin. McGloin suffered a concussion in a fight with wideout Curtis Drake during a locker room fight during bowl preparations in University Park and was unable to play.
The game is Penn State’s fourth since Joe Paterno was fired as head coach on Nov. 9 in the wake of the Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal. He was replaced by interim coach Tom Bradley. Since then, Penn State lost two of its final three regular season games to enter the bowl game with a 9-3 record, and 6-2 in the Big Ten, tied for first with Wisconsin in the Leaders Division.
The TicketCity Bowl is likely the final Penn State game for Bradley, in his 33rd season as a PSU coach, as well as most — if not all — of the Penn State coaching staff. Under the direction of acting athletic director Dave Joyner, a six-person Penn State committee has been conducting a search for a permanent head coach. The search, which began Nov. 28, is in Day 36. It has been 55 days since Paterno was fired.
In the second quarter, Penn State pulled to within 17-7 on an six-yard run by tailback Stephfon Green. On the play, the Nittany Lions faked a high snap to Bolden and the ball went straight to Green, who powered up the middle for the score. Anthony Fera made the PAT. Green, playing his final game for PSU, carried the ball fove times for 26 yards on the drive. The big play was a 43-yarder to a diving wideout Devon Smith.
Earlier in the quarter, Houston drive to the Penn State 20, but Hogan’s 37-yard field goal struck the goal post and bounced back in the end zone. He also missed a 50-yarder attyhe end of the first half.
In the first half, Houston outagined Penn State 398 yards to 115. The Cougars ran 49 plays, while Penn State had 32.
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