Saturday, October 24
Annapolis, Md.
2:30 PM
University of Houston
37
at
21
Navy
Tune, Stevenson Lead Houston in Win at Navy
10/24/2020 6:04:00 PM | Football
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Cougars move to 2-1 overall, 2-0 in American play
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Junior quarterback Clayton Tune threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns, and senior wide receiver Marquez Stevenson hauled in nine passes for 129 yards and a pair of scores to lead the University of Houston Football team to a 37-21 win over Navy inside Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Cougars used an all-around effort from each facet of the game. Houston's defense limited the Midshipmen to 166 rushing yards and only one touchdown on the ground as the Cougars rallied from a 13-9 deficit late in the second quarter.
Senior defensive lineman Payton Turner finished with eight tackles, including 2.5 tackles for a loss, and blocked a Navy PAT, while junior linebacker Donavan Mutin eight tackles, including six solo stops, with a sack.
Senior kicker Dalton Witherspoon drilled all three of his field goal attempts, including a school-record-tying 53-yard effort to move the Cougars to within 7-6 in the first quarter, and all four PAT tries.
With the win, Houston improved to 2-1 overall and 2-0 in American Athletic Conference play. Navy fell to 3-3 overall and 3-1 in league action.
After the two teams traded punts on their opening drives, Witherspoon nailed a 33-yard field goal with 6:04 left in the opening quarter to give the Cougars a 3-0 lead.
Navy took advantage of a 41-yard pass to Mychal Cooper to move deep into Houston territory on its next possession and grabbed a 7-3 lead on quarterback Dalen Morris' 6-yard run into the end zone with eight seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Witherspoon moved the Cougars to within 7-6 on the next drive with his 53-yard field goal. He joined Dustin Bell (at Southern Miss, Oct. 7, 2004) and Roman Anderson (at Texas A&M, Oct. 26, 1991) as the only Houston kickers to boot 53-yard field goals.
Navy regained the lead at 13-9 when Morris connected with Ryan Mitchell on a 60-yard touchdown with 4:02 left in the first half. Turner burst through the Midshipmen line to knock down the ensuing PAT try.
Forcing Navy to punt, Tune and the Cougars took over with 2:37 left in the first half and grabbed the lead for good on a 51-yard touchdown strike to Stevenson with 1:53 left.
Stevenson recorded the 20th receiving touchdown of his career, becoming only the 10th player in school history to reach that milestone. Tune recorded his fourth straight 300-yard passing game, the first Cougar signal-caller to accomplish that feat since All-American Case Keenum hit that total in all 14 games during the 2011 season.
The Cougar defense forced Navy into a missed field goal on its opening possession of the second half and set up a short field for the offense when junior safety Thabo Mwaniki intercepted a Morris pass at the Navy 20 with just under nine minutes left in the third quarter.
Working to the Navy 1, senior running back Kyle Porter plunged into the end zone with 6:32 left to give Houston a 23-13 lead.
After another Navy punt, Tune led the Cougars on a 10-play, 77-yard drive that was capped when Porter hauled in a pass and weaved his way through defenders for a 33-yard touchdown and a 30-13 Houston lead with 14:06 left in the game.
Porter became the latest Cougar with a rushing and receiving touchdown in a game and the first since Stevenson did it at Rice on Sept. 1, 2018.
Following a missed Navy field goal, Tune connected with Stevenson on a 24-yard touchdown with 5:24 remaining to cap Houston's scoring for the day.
Navy added a touchdown with 67 seconds remaining to move to within 16 points, but the Cougars recovered the onsides kick and knelt to end the game.
UP NEXT
Houston continues its American Athletic Conference schedule when it plays host to UCF at 1 p.m., Saturday, inside TDECU Stadium.
The Cougars used an all-around effort from each facet of the game. Houston's defense limited the Midshipmen to 166 rushing yards and only one touchdown on the ground as the Cougars rallied from a 13-9 deficit late in the second quarter.
Senior defensive lineman Payton Turner finished with eight tackles, including 2.5 tackles for a loss, and blocked a Navy PAT, while junior linebacker Donavan Mutin eight tackles, including six solo stops, with a sack.
Senior kicker Dalton Witherspoon drilled all three of his field goal attempts, including a school-record-tying 53-yard effort to move the Cougars to within 7-6 in the first quarter, and all four PAT tries.
With the win, Houston improved to 2-1 overall and 2-0 in American Athletic Conference play. Navy fell to 3-3 overall and 3-1 in league action.
After the two teams traded punts on their opening drives, Witherspoon nailed a 33-yard field goal with 6:04 left in the opening quarter to give the Cougars a 3-0 lead.
Navy took advantage of a 41-yard pass to Mychal Cooper to move deep into Houston territory on its next possession and grabbed a 7-3 lead on quarterback Dalen Morris' 6-yard run into the end zone with eight seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Witherspoon moved the Cougars to within 7-6 on the next drive with his 53-yard field goal. He joined Dustin Bell (at Southern Miss, Oct. 7, 2004) and Roman Anderson (at Texas A&M, Oct. 26, 1991) as the only Houston kickers to boot 53-yard field goals.
Navy regained the lead at 13-9 when Morris connected with Ryan Mitchell on a 60-yard touchdown with 4:02 left in the first half. Turner burst through the Midshipmen line to knock down the ensuing PAT try.
Forcing Navy to punt, Tune and the Cougars took over with 2:37 left in the first half and grabbed the lead for good on a 51-yard touchdown strike to Stevenson with 1:53 left.
Stevenson recorded the 20th receiving touchdown of his career, becoming only the 10th player in school history to reach that milestone. Tune recorded his fourth straight 300-yard passing game, the first Cougar signal-caller to accomplish that feat since All-American Case Keenum hit that total in all 14 games during the 2011 season.
The Cougar defense forced Navy into a missed field goal on its opening possession of the second half and set up a short field for the offense when junior safety Thabo Mwaniki intercepted a Morris pass at the Navy 20 with just under nine minutes left in the third quarter.
Working to the Navy 1, senior running back Kyle Porter plunged into the end zone with 6:32 left to give Houston a 23-13 lead.
After another Navy punt, Tune led the Cougars on a 10-play, 77-yard drive that was capped when Porter hauled in a pass and weaved his way through defenders for a 33-yard touchdown and a 30-13 Houston lead with 14:06 left in the game.
Porter became the latest Cougar with a rushing and receiving touchdown in a game and the first since Stevenson did it at Rice on Sept. 1, 2018.
Following a missed Navy field goal, Tune connected with Stevenson on a 24-yard touchdown with 5:24 remaining to cap Houston's scoring for the day.
Navy added a touchdown with 67 seconds remaining to move to within 16 points, but the Cougars recovered the onsides kick and knelt to end the game.
UP NEXT
Houston continues its American Athletic Conference schedule when it plays host to UCF at 1 p.m., Saturday, inside TDECU Stadium.