The BYU Cougars cruised out to a 23-0 lead halfway through the second quarter and looked like they would crush Houston on Thursday night. Houston made it a game in the second quarter and second half, but BYU did enough to win 33-25.

The scoring was started when Houston's Ryan Jackson was stuffed in his own end zone to give BYU a 2-0 lead. BYU extended their lead after the costless kick with Jamaal Williams running in from 11 yards out to make it 9-0.

On BYU's next drive, Taysom Hill accounted for 51 of the 70 yards on the drive, including the 5 yard touchdown run that gave BYU a 16-0 lead. Houston had a chance to get on the board on their ensuing drive, but Kyle Bullard's 39 yard field goal was blocked. BYU went right down the field after the block and made it 23-0 with Hill's 6 yard touchdown pass to Mitch Mathews.

At this point, it was all BYU and there was little that Houston was doing to change that perception. However, Houston put together a good drive after falling behind 23-0. Quarterback John O'Korn settled down and got into a rhythm that led to Houston's first points of the game. Kyle Bullard made a 29 yard field, which capped a 17 play, 82 yard drive for Houston.

Things got even better for Houston when Joey Mbu intercepted Taysom Hill's pass to set up Houston at the BYU 28 yard line. Six plays later, O'Korn found Deontay Greenberry for the 7 yard strike, but Kyle Bullard missed the extra point and BYU led 23-9.

BYU had a great chance to stem Houston's momentum at the end of the second quarter. Taysom Hill hit Mitchell Juergens near the sideline, but Juergens fumbled as he fought for extra yards. Houston's Adrian McDonald forced and recovered the ball, bringing it to the BYU for a 28 yard return.

The next play saw O'Korn throw a Hail Mary into the end zone as the first half expired and Daniel Spencer came down the ball to make it 23-15. Bullard missed another extra point and the score remained 23-15 at the break.

Both defenses stiffened in the third quarter with the only points coming on Trevor Samson's 26 yard field goal. BYU drove down to the Houston three yard line, but a holding penalty pushed them back and BYU could not punch it in for a touchdown. Nevertheless, BYU led 26-15 going into the fourth quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, BYU's Devon Blackmon set up the offense with great field position at the BYU 44 yard line. Eight plays later, Jamaal Williams ran the ball in from 2 yards out and BYU led 33-15. Houston was not done, however. O'Korn came right back down the field and hit Greenberry for their second touchdown hookup of the game. Bullard made his kick and the score was 33-22 with over 9 minutes remaining.

On BYU's next drive, Houston's Trevon Stewart did quite well to rip the ball from BYU's Juergens and give Houston the ball back at BYU's 27 yard line. The BYU defense stood tall and forced a 36 yard field goal attempt from Bullard, which he converted to make it a one possession game at 33-25.

Houston had one last chance to tie the game, but a three-and-out was followed up by a heavy dose of Jamaal Williams. Taysom Hill's two yard run on third and one allowed BYU to run the clock out.

Taysom Hill had another good game. He went 21 of 34 for 200 yards and a touchdown. He did throw two interceptions, though the latter was an excellent defensive play by Trevon Stewart. Hill also ran for 160 yards and a touchdown.

Jamaal Williams had 28 carries for 139 yards and 2 touchdowns. BYU ran for 323 yards as a team against Houston on Thursday night. Jordan Leslie caught 6 passes for 79 yards to lead BYU. 11 different BYU players caught a pass.

Houston was led by John O'Korn who looked very comfortable after the first 21 minutes were played. He went 30 of 52 for 307 yards and 3 touchdowns. 

Daniel Spencer led Houston with 10 catches for 133 yards and the Hail Mary touchdown at the end of the first half. Deontay Greenberry had 6 catches for 74 yards and 2 scores.

Houston did not have a run game at all against BYU. They totaled 13 carries for a putrid 10 yards. Kenneth Farrow was the leading rusher with 3 carries for 7 yards. Houston will also need to clean up their kicking game after Kyle Bullard went 1 of 3 on his extra points and 2 of 3 on field goals. His missed field goal was blocked early in the second quarter.

Houston (1-2) will travel back home and face UNLV (1-1) next Saturday. UNLV faces Northern Illinois on Saturday.

BYU (3-0) will welcome Virginia (1-1) to Provo, Utah next Saturday. Virginia takes on Louisville at home on Saturday before their road trip next week.