Houston 31, Sam Houston St. 10

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Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	14	29
Total Yards	315	499
Passing	179	206
Rushing	136	293
Penalties	7-38	8-74
3rd Down Conversions	2-12	11-18
4th Down Conversions	1-1	2-3
Turnovers	1	3
Possession	25:48	34:12

Individual Leaders

Sam Houston State Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Allen 10/24 86 0 1 Daughert... 2/9 21 0 0	Houston Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Kolb 19/31 206 2 1
Sam Houston State Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Godfrey 10 59 0 25 Smith 3 53 0 52 Allen 5 17 1 8	Houston Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Gilbert 17 127 2 24 Kolb 11 56 0 19 Battle 18 54 0 8
Sam Houston State Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Malone 4 38 0 28 Martin 3 21 0 13 Perry 2 50 0 39 Roberts 2 16 0 10	Houston Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Marshall 6 52 0 28 Briles 4 28 0 9 Avery 3 35 0 21 McDaniel 2 25 1 16

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				SHSU	HOU
	TD	11:10	PERRY MCDANIEL 9 YD PASS FROM KEVIN KOLB (BEN BELL KICK) Drive info: 12 plays, 69 yards.	0	7
SECOND QUARTER				SHSU	HOU
	TD	4:55	NOAH ALLEN 5 YD RUN (LANCE GARNER KICK) Drive info: 11 plays, 80 yards.	7	7
	TD	2:30	RYAN GILBERT 12 YD RUN (BEN BELL KICK) Drive info: 7 plays, 52 yards.	7	14
	TD	0:13	JOSH CARETHERS 15 YD PASS FROM KEVIN KOLB (BEN BELL KICK) Drive info: 8 plays, 67 yards.	7	21
THIRD QUARTER				SHSU	HOU
	FG	12:12	LANCE GARNER 38 YD FG Drive info: 9 plays, 45 yards.	10	21
FOURTH QUARTER				SHSU	HOU
	FG	14:45	T.J. LAWRENCE 43 YD FG Drive info: 11 plays, 68 yards.	10	24
	TD	7:34	RYAN GILBERT 4 YD RUN (BEN BELL KICK) Drive info: 10 plays, 81 yards.	10	31

HOUSTON (AP) -- Houston scored two touchdowns in the last three minutes of the first half to take control in a 31-10 victory against Sam Houston State on Saturday.

After the Bearkats drove 80 yards to tie the score at 7, the Cougars answered with a 12-yard touchdown run by Ryan Gilbert with 2:30 left in the second quarter and a 15-yard scoring pass to Josh Carethers with 13 seconds remaining to give Houston a 21-7 halftime lead.

Kevin Kolb completed 19 of 31 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns to lead Houston (1-1). Gilbert had his first career 100-yard rushing game with 17 carries for 127 yards and two scores.

Houston, which lost to Oregon 38-24 in its opener last week, overcame two lost fumbles and a bad snap to the punter in the second half.

Sam Houston (1-1), of the Division I-AA Southland Conference, is 2-18 against Division I-A teams since 1987.

Houston took the opening kickoff and drove 69 yards in 12 plays. Kolb hit Perry McDaniel for a 9-yard touchdown and 7-0 lead with 11:10 to play in the first quarter.

But Sam Houston's defense stopped the Cougars the next three possessions, intercepting one Kolb pass and forcing punts the other two times.

In the second quarter, the Bearkats drove 80 yards in 11 plays, with quarterback Noah Allen going 3-of-3 passes for 26 yards and running 5 yards for the touchdown. That tied the score 7-7 with 4:55 left in the half before Houston responded with the quick touchdowns by Gilbert and Carethers.

Sam Houston got a 38-yard field goal from Lance Garner in the third quarter, and T.J. Lawrence kicked a 43-yarder for Houston early in the fourth to make it 24-10.

Gilbert ran 4 yards for his second touchdown with 7:34 to play in the game.