2006 Week 1

[b]Houston, TX (AP)[/b] - Thanks to a stout defensive effort combined with the offensive playcalling, the Houston Cougars went ahead and turned a rivalry game into a complete washout.

Quarterback Kevin Kolb accounted for five touchdowns, including four through the air as the Cougars roughed up #116 ranked Rice 51-14. The game, which was close after a quarter turned into a 37-7 laugher the rest of the way.

"Obviously we weren't looking to give up 14 points," head coach Art Briles said. "The way we were hitting, you'd think there wouldn't be any points on the opposing side of the ball."

True enough there were enough hits to run around with. The Owls fumbled the ball four times and only recovered once. The Coogs also produced six sacks, but were outdone by Rice's eight. If Rice didn't have those eight sacks, the UH offensive stat line would look even worse than it acutally did. The Owls gave up 473 yards on offense including 152 on the ground. Both Jackie Battle and backup Harold Taylor had huge days as well as wide receiver Vincent Marshall.

"You can't say enough about that little fella, because he comes up with so many grabs, it's scary. I wouldn't think he could pull off half of the things he did today, but he did." Briles said.

Marshall's second catch, a one handed cup in open field would give way to Kolb's first touchdown run of the year to put Houston up 7-0. Marshall wouldn't be denied his own access to the endzone as he would grab 9 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns, not to mention a 76-yard punt return that put the Cougars up 37-7 early in the third quarter.

Briles would insert the backups after the Cougars took possession for the final time in the fourth quarter and maybe the only miscue of the day that went against the Cougars was a missed field goal by Ben Bell that sailed straight instead of hooking the way he wanted it to.

On the defensive side, nobody looked more at home than UH senior linebacker Wade Koehl. Recently given impact status, he paved the way for the Coogs defense with 11 tackles, 2 for loss, 2 sacks and a fumble recovery.

"It was like we were playing against a team on +5 momentum all game," Graham said. "Especially to lose like that a home puts us in a real position to make some plays and get some breaks next week."

Up next for the Cougars is their first home game of the season against the Tulane Green Wave.