Local Teams

Houston will be one of three remaining unbeaten teams in American Athletic Conference play following a convincing 37-21 victory over host Navy on Saturday.

A week after the Cougars (2-1, 2-0) blew a 12-point second half lead in a loss to BYU, they scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to put away the Midshipmen (3-3, 3-1).

Navy's first conference defeat of the season also snapped its nine-game winning streak against AAC opponents.

Houston junior quarterback Clayton Tune threw for 316 yards, three touchdown and no interceptions on 24-of-34 attempts.

Tune, who missed a series early in the third quarter and returned after taking a hit to the head from Navy linebacker Tama Tuitele, threw two of those touchdowns to senior receiver Marquez Stevenson. Tuitele was ejected for his hit on Tune.

The Cougars were looking to get Stevenson more involved this week and succeeded as he led all receivers with nine catches for 129 yards.

Senior running back Kyle Porter finished with 79 yards receiving and a touchdown on five catches and ran for 52 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. His receiving score on a 33-yard catch-and-run from Tune broke the game open with 14:06 left in the fourth.

Navy struggled to find production from its triple-option running game, averaging 3.3 yards per carry (50 rushes for 166 yards). The Midshipmen entered averaging 190.4 rushing yards per game a year after they led the nation with 360.5 per game.

Navy did, however, make plays in the passing game as senior quarterback Dalen Morris was 10 of 18 for 206 yards. Morris completed three passes of 20-plus yards, including a 60-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Ryan Mitchell, and a 41-yard pass to junior Mychal Cooper that set up their first score.

But Navy kicker Bijan Nichols missed two field goals wide left in the second half from 41 and 35 yards to derail the comeback hopes.

--Field Level Media