Nov. 17, 2008

Following a 70-30 victory over then-No. 24 Tulsa that moved Houston into a tie for first place in the West Division, the Cougars have swept all three Conference USA player of the week awards. Sophomore QB Case Keenum, sophomore CB Loyce Means and freshman KR Tyron Carrier won the honors following their performances that led to the Cougars being named the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week. Houston is the second team to sweep the weekly awards this season, joining East Carolina which did it on September 15.

Keenum, who was named the Walter Camp Foundation National Offensive Player of the Week on Sunday, completed 24-of-37 passes for 402 with no interceptions while rushing for 43 yards and a touchdown. He became the first UH quarterback in 16 years (Jimmy Klingler, 7 TDs vs. Rice, 1992) to throw for at least six scores in one game, and he extended his streak of 300-yard games to 11, which is a school record. It was also the third 400-yard game of his career. Keenum led the Cougars to 14 points in the first quarter, 28 in the second, 21 in the third and then concluded the night with the seven points in the fourth on his six-yard touchdown run.

Playing against the nation's number-one offense in both scoring and total offense, Means intercepted three Golden Hurricane passes, returning one for a 69-yard touchdown in the third quarter. He became just the sixth player in C-USA history to intercept three passes in a game. The Cougar defense held Tulsa to 22 points under its scoring average and 92 yards below its total offense average. Means also had six tackles and two pass breakups. Means first interception came in the first quarter off a Tulsa fake punt and the Cougars scored off the turnover for a 7-0 lead. Means' touchdown pushed the UH lead to 63-24, and his final pick came late in the game to end a Golden Hurricane drive.

Carrier returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown with just nine seconds left in the first half, giving Houston a 42-17 lead at the break, while countering the Tulsa touchdown just seconds earlier. He totaled four kickoff return yards for 142 yards. Carrier also had 127 yards and two touchdowns receiving, and finished the day with 292 all-purpose yards.