Houston's rout of Navy overshadows milestone day for Midshipmen QB

By foxsports
Published

While much of the talk regarding the non-Power 5 conferences over the past couple of weeks has centered on Navy and whether its schedule would force the final College Football Playoff rankings to be delayed, Houston rendered all that moot Friday.

The Cougars pulled away from the 15th-ranked Midshipmen for a 52-31 victory to clinch the American Athletic Conference's West Division and a spot in the conference title game. Houston will play either Temple or South Florida; Temple has a chance to clinch the East Division with a win Saturday against UConn, while a loss would send USF to the championship game.

If they win the AAC title, the Cougars (11-1) would clinch a spot in a New Year's Six bowl -- likely the Fiesta Bowl -- as the highest-ranked Group of 5 team. That moniker had belonged to Navy (9-2) prior to Friday, when Houston mostly had its way.

Cougars quarterback Greg Ward was 26 for 35 passing for 308 yards and three touchdowns and added 83 rushing yards and another score for the Cougars, who racked up 555 total yards and led by as many as 21 in the second half. Running back Brandon Wilson had 111 rushing yards and two scores, and wideout Demarcus Ayers had eight catches for 161 yards and a touchdown before throwing a 29-yard TD pass on a trick play in the fourth quarter.

That performance overshadowed the milestone achievement by Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds, who tied former Wisconsin running back Montee Ball's career records for most total touchdowns with 83 and most points scored with 500. Reynolds, who broke Ball's career record for most rushing scores last week, was 14 for 17 passing for 312 yards and a touchdown and added 84 rushing yards and a TD. Reynolds also set a Navy record with his 29th career TD pass.

The Midshipmen managed just 147 yards on the ground (after having put up more than 400 in each of their previous two outings) and had their five-game winning streak snapped.

The win added to the good news this weekend for Houston, which is in its first year under coach Tom Herman. After reports last week indicated that Herman was the front-runner for the open job at South Carolina, FOX Sports insider Bruce Feldman reported this week that Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart is now the Gamecocks' top choice, and other media reported that Herman has withdrawn his name from consideration.

This update came in the aftermath of the Cougars' reported offer of a contract extension that would pay Herman, believed to be one of the most sought-after coaching candidates in the country, $3 million annually.

--The Associated Press contributed to this report.