ExScoop
10-22-2011, 09:12 PM
While he has long downplayed the personal significance of NCAA records, Houston quarterback Case Keenum admitted that he thought about the first one he was approaching in the early moments of Saturday night's game.
He wanted to wipe it out in a hurry — not for personal accomplishment, but instead so he could quit thinking about it and focus on football.
Not only did he put the Football Bowl Subdivision career record for total offense to bed in short order, the Cougars were able to do the same to Marshall.
Before the fourth-largest crowd for a UH game in Robertson Stadium history, the No. 21 Cougars dismantled the Thundering Herd 63-28 to remain undefeated while Keenum moved to the top of the total offense list in the NCAA record books.
The sixth-year senior now has 17,173 offensive yards to his credit, moving him ahead of Hawaii's Timmy Chang (16,910) who held the record since 2004.
"It's awesome," said Keenum, who was honored at midfield after the game. "It's an incredible honor for one but to be there with the guys that I had around me, all the guys there, it was very special. To be in a place like this in front of the home crowd at Robertson Stadium...it's very special."
Keenum wasted no time eclipsing Chang, doing so in the first quarter, and the UH offense followed that script throughout the day. Each of the Cougars' nine scoring drives took fewer than three minutes and none took more than seven plays.
UH (7-0, 3-0 Conference USA) only possessed the ball for 17 minutes and 45 seconds, but the Cougars made the most of the time they had, racking up 621 offensive yards and averaging 10.9 yards per play for the night. Three of the scores came on plays of 35 yards or more.
Marshall (3-5, 2-2) tied the game on two occasions, but after knotting the score at 14 just seven seconds into the second quarter, the Cougars would take control and not let go. Running backs Michael Hayes (90 rushing yards, 20 rushing) and Charles Sims (75 rushing yards, 40 receiving) answered by combining for three unanswered touchdowns while the Cougar defense closed out the first half with a defensive goal-line stand as defensive lineman David Hunter tackled Marshall's Tron Martinez for a loss on fourth-and-goal from the 1 as time expired.
"I think it gave us some momentum and gave our defense some confidence," Sumlin said. "For them to leave with 14 points instead of possibly 21 was a big deal and it just shows what we're capable of."
Marshall started the second half with a score but UH reeled off four more touchdowns, including two with heavy defensive contributions. True freshman linebacker Derrick Mathews returned an interception of A.J. Graham 20 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter and defensive end Kelvin King returned an interception 69 yards to set up a 3-yard Keenum-to-E.J. Smith pass to give the Cougars a 56-21 lead fewer than three minutes into the final period.
The Cougars also neutralized Marshall defensive end Vinny Curry, the nation's leader in tackles for loss coming into the game. The Thundering Herd did not record a sack.
"You could see from the beginning that they wanted to pressure the quarterback," Sumlin said. "I thought our offensive staff did an excellent job adjusting during the football game giving our team things that we could execute against."
He wanted to wipe it out in a hurry — not for personal accomplishment, but instead so he could quit thinking about it and focus on football.
Not only did he put the Football Bowl Subdivision career record for total offense to bed in short order, the Cougars were able to do the same to Marshall.
Before the fourth-largest crowd for a UH game in Robertson Stadium history, the No. 21 Cougars dismantled the Thundering Herd 63-28 to remain undefeated while Keenum moved to the top of the total offense list in the NCAA record books.
The sixth-year senior now has 17,173 offensive yards to his credit, moving him ahead of Hawaii's Timmy Chang (16,910) who held the record since 2004.
"It's awesome," said Keenum, who was honored at midfield after the game. "It's an incredible honor for one but to be there with the guys that I had around me, all the guys there, it was very special. To be in a place like this in front of the home crowd at Robertson Stadium...it's very special."
Keenum wasted no time eclipsing Chang, doing so in the first quarter, and the UH offense followed that script throughout the day. Each of the Cougars' nine scoring drives took fewer than three minutes and none took more than seven plays.
UH (7-0, 3-0 Conference USA) only possessed the ball for 17 minutes and 45 seconds, but the Cougars made the most of the time they had, racking up 621 offensive yards and averaging 10.9 yards per play for the night. Three of the scores came on plays of 35 yards or more.
Marshall (3-5, 2-2) tied the game on two occasions, but after knotting the score at 14 just seven seconds into the second quarter, the Cougars would take control and not let go. Running backs Michael Hayes (90 rushing yards, 20 rushing) and Charles Sims (75 rushing yards, 40 receiving) answered by combining for three unanswered touchdowns while the Cougar defense closed out the first half with a defensive goal-line stand as defensive lineman David Hunter tackled Marshall's Tron Martinez for a loss on fourth-and-goal from the 1 as time expired.
"I think it gave us some momentum and gave our defense some confidence," Sumlin said. "For them to leave with 14 points instead of possibly 21 was a big deal and it just shows what we're capable of."
Marshall started the second half with a score but UH reeled off four more touchdowns, including two with heavy defensive contributions. True freshman linebacker Derrick Mathews returned an interception of A.J. Graham 20 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter and defensive end Kelvin King returned an interception 69 yards to set up a 3-yard Keenum-to-E.J. Smith pass to give the Cougars a 56-21 lead fewer than three minutes into the final period.
The Cougars also neutralized Marshall defensive end Vinny Curry, the nation's leader in tackles for loss coming into the game. The Thundering Herd did not record a sack.
"You could see from the beginning that they wanted to pressure the quarterback," Sumlin said. "I thought our offensive staff did an excellent job adjusting during the football game giving our team things that we could execute against."