Nov. 2, 2009

For the second straight week, two Houston players earn Conference USA Player of the Week honors and they are joined by a UCF standout. Junior QB Case Keenum was named Offensive Player of the Week for the fourth time in eight games after passing for 559 yards and five touchdowns in a victory over Southern Miss. The Defensive Player of the Week honor went to UCF senior DE Bruce Miller, who was instrumental in the Knights win over Marshall on Sunday night. Special Teams recognition went to UH senior TE Fendi Onubon, who blocked two kicks in the Cougars win.

For the third time this season, Keenum rallied the Cougars to victory late in the fourth quarter, moving Houston 77 yards on five plays and hitting Patrick Edwards from 28 yards out with 21 seconds left, giving then-No. 15 Houston a wild 50-43 win over Southern Miss on Saturday. Keenum passed for a career-high 559 yards and five touchdowns while completing 44-of-54 of his attempts with just one interception. He also rushed for 10 yards on five attempts for a career-best 569 yards of total offense. This is the seventh time in his career that Keenum has been named Player of the Week, tying the league record for most Offensive Player of the Week awards in a career, set by Tulane's Shaun King (1995-98) and matched by DeAngelo Williams of Memphis (2002-05).

Miller led UCF with 10 tackles, including three TFLs and 2.5 sacks in the win over Marshall. He made one of the game's pivotal plays by stripping the ball from Marshall with 2:12 left to play, setting up UCF's game-winning drive. Miller also broke up a pass and had two forced hurries while serving as part of UCF defense that held MU's Darius Marshall to a season-low 80 rushing yards on 28 carries (2.9 avg.). With his 2.5 sacks, Miller moved into fifth place in UCF history with 23. The 2.5 sacks and three TFLs allowed him to take over the C-USA lead in both categories from teammate Jarvis Geathers.

Playing in just the sixth game of football since middle school, Onobun stepped up at key times in foiling the Southern Miss PAT game. Onobun blocked two extra-points, one in which Nick Saenz returned 100 yards for a two-point defensive conversion, giving UH two points and taking two points away from the Golden Eagles. If Onobun's blocks didn't occur, Southern Miss would have needed just a field goal late in the game to force overtime with Houston. Instead, down by seven, 50-43, USM was forced to go into the end zone on its final three snaps.