HOUSTON – The American Athletic Conference Football Championship game was a showcase of Houston's five-foot-11, 185 pound junior dual-threat quarterback Greg Ward Jr.
Ward rushed for 148 yards on 17 carries, scoring two touchdowns for the sixth time this season the as the surging 17th-ranked Cougars (12-1) defeated Temple, 24-13, on a cool, sunny day before a crowd of 35,721 at TDECU Stadium here and a national ABC TV audience to win the league's first ever championship game. He also threw for 88 yards.
Ward’s performance helped the Cougars lock up a likely bid to represent The American in a New Year's Bowl. Houston most likely will receive a bid to play in either the Chick-fl-A Peach Bowl or the Fiesta Bowl when the bowl matchups are announced Sunday.
It was a triumphant finish for first-year coach Tom Herman, the former Ohio State offensive coordinator and the conference’s coach of the year who just signed a new contract amendment Friday that will keep him in Houston. The confetti popped and jubilant UH fans flooded the field and mobbed the stage in celebration. This should be Houston's first trip to a major bowl since 1985 when the Cougars played against Doug Flutie and Boston College in the Cotton Bowl, before any of these current players were alive.
“It got a little crazy out there,” Herman said of the wild scene on the field after the game. “I lost my wife for a second. I’ll have to check with security.'
Herman has taken Houston to the top of the class in this football-crazed state in a hurry. The Cougars should be the only team from Texas to play in a New Year's Bowl. “If you want to go somewhere and win a whole bunch of games and win trophies and get rings, the University of Houston is certainly a place to do that,” Herman said.
Ward, who was selected Most Outstanding Player of the game, is a true believer.
“This program had gone through a lot before Coach Herman came in,” Ward said. “When Coach Herman first came in we knew he had a plan. We are just happy and fortunate that we have those guys with us. We're all getting on the train.”
Herman, the former Ohio State quarterbacks coach who won the Broyles' Award last year as best assistant in the country, did wonders with three quarterbacks when the fourth seeded Big Ten champion Buckeyes defeated Ohio State and Oregon to win the first College Football Playoff. He has transformed his latest pupil, Ward, a former wide receiver who shifted positions the fifth game of the 2014 season, into the exciting catalyst for a high-scoring, no-huddle offense which averaged 42 points in the regular season, scored 52 points against Navy here the previous Friday and has scored 26 touchdowns on drives of less than two minutes.
“He's a playmaker,” Herman said. “He's still got some polishing to do in terms of his quarterback play. But when the ball is in his hands you know usually good things are going to happen.”
Ward, who is 18-2 as a starter, has 1,041 yards rushing on the season. He found a way to savage the best defense UH has faced with his versatility and speed in much the same way as quarterbacks Quinton Flowers of USF and DeShone Kizer of Notre Dame did to the Owls earlier this season. He exploded down the sidelines for a 47-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter -- his ninth rushing attempt of at least 30 yards-- to give the Cougars a commanding 17--0 lead, then scored on a 10-yard run to increase the lead to 24-3 with 6:40 left in the third quarter.
Ward was shaken up on the play after being knocked to the turf. He walked off after a couple of minutes and was attended to by medical staff on the sideline, but didn't miss a snap.
Temple tried its best to recover, holding the Cougars scoreless the rest of the way.
Quarterback PJ Walker threw for 287 yards. But aside from a 13-yard TD pass from Walker to Robby Anderson that cut the lead to 24-10, the Owls struggled to figure out the riddle of the Houston defense, which leads the country in turnover margin.
Cornerback William Jackson III complicated things for Walker with seven pass breakups.
Temple committed turnovers on their first two possessions, squandered three of four opportunities in the Houston red zone and was never able to establish a power running game against Houston's blitzing defense, which limited the Owls to 98 yards rushing.
“Their fans were so loud, we couldn't hear our signals,” Temple coach Matt Rhule said. “We got a little rattled early.”
The Owls had a chance to get within a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, but Jeremy Winchester knocked down a pass in the end zone and the Temple had to settle for a field goal that made it 24-13. The Owls had two more chances to cut the deficit, but were stopped on fourth down both times.
The Cougars-- who have victories over Louisville, Vanderbilt, Memphis, Navy and Temple-- is the best team in this rapidly improving conference and might have been undefeated if Ward had been healthy when the Cougars played UConn, a result which might have put them in the discussion for a spot in the national playoff.
Given the fact UCF defeated Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl two years ago and Houston's consistent play in a league with four quality teams, it would be nice to see The American get an anchor spot in a New Year's Bowl someday.
“Houston has been to bowl games last year, the year before,” Rhule said. “This was our first time in a game like this.
“This isn't deflating. This is one of the most positive days in Temple football history. I wish we would have won, but we got down, and our kids fought back. Disappointed, yes, but we are going to play in a bowl game.”'