HOUSTON — Duke Catalon scored three touchdowns, and Houston’s defense hurried and harassed Heisman favorite Lamar Jackson all night to propel the Cougars to a stunning 36-10 victory Thursday night that dashed No. 3 Louisville’s playoff hopes.
Louisville (9-2) entered the game ranked fifth in the College Football Playoff rankings, but was outdone by a Houston team that saw its own playoff hopes foiled by two losses to unranked teams after a 5-0 start.
Things went wrong quickly for the mistake-prone Cardinals when they fumbled the opening kickoff to Houston (9-2). Greg Ward threw his first touchdown pass on the next play to make it 7-0. Brandon Radcliff lost a fumble later in the first and Houston added a field goal on the ensuing drive to make it 10-0.
Jackson threw for 211 yards and a touchdown, but it didn’t come until the second half.
Houston then scored touchdowns on three straight possessions in the second quarter to push the lead to 31-0 at halftime. Catalon caught a touchdown pass, ran for another score and Houston got the third score in that span on a 50-yard pass by receiver Linell Bonner after a lateral.
Louisville opened the second half with a 12-yard touchdown pass by Jackson, but he fumbled in the red zone on the next possession to ruin a chance to close the gap.
The Cougars were in Jackson’s face constantly, sacking him a season-high 11 times and keeping him from hurting them with his feet. He ran for a season-low 33 yards after piling up 338 yards rushing combined in the last two games.
After Jackson was sacked for the 10th time he threw up his hands and two of his lineman looked to be yelling at each other about who was to blame for his latest takedown.
But the Cougars weren’t done getting after him just yet. On the next penalty he threw the ball away while under heavy pressure from Tyus Bowser and was flagged for intentional grounding, giving the Cougars a safety.
The Cardinals set a season high with 15 penalties, punted a season-high six times by halftime and the 11 sacks they allowed were more than double their previous season high. It’s the fewest points they’ve scored since a loss at North Carolina in 2011.
YALE: The university introduced its new mascot just in time for Saturday’s rivalry game with Harvard.
Handsome Dan XVIII, an Olde English bulldog, succeeds Handsome Dan XVII, who died in August after serving as mascot for nine seasons.The newest Handsome Dan was born on Sept. 23 in Maine.
MEN’S HOCKEY
UNE 8, JOHNSON & WALES 1: Brady Fleurent had four goals and an assist, and the Nor’easters (2-2-1) scored six goals in the third period against the Wildcats (2-4) at Biddeford.
Ryan Bloom added two goals and two assists, and Dustin Walsh and Armand Uomoleale also scored for UNE. Dylan Bengston had four assists.
Joe Noonan made 22 saves for the win.
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