FORT WORTH — With the potent offensive one-two punch of quarterback Case Keenum and freshman running back Bryce Beall, Houston had just enough to get past Air Force, 34-28, in Wednesday’s Armed Forces Bowl.
The combination of Keenum’s 252 passing yards and Beall’s 135 yards and a touchdown on the ground lifted the Cougars before 41,127 fans.
Though the Cougars never trailed, Air Force made it interesting at the end with a chance to win it late but was stopped on downs in its own territory with 2:34 left.
“There were little things like overthrowing a receiver who was open by a yard or two that held us back,” Air Force freshman quarterback Tim Jefferson said. “That takes points off the board.”
Thoughts of Air Force’s last series could keep Jefferson awake well into the new year. After Air Force’s defense made a clutch stand, holding the Cougars to Jordan Mannisto’s 37-yard field goal for a six-point lead, the Falcons got one last chance, starting at their 36.
But a 2-yard rush by fullback Jared Tew and Jefferson’s three incomplete passes — including one drop — sent Air Force’s offense off the field. Houston ran out the clock. Both teams finished 8-5.
“I thought we had a chance to make some big plays in our passing game,” Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said. “The ball has to be placed in a place where they are home runs.”
Jefferson also missed some deep routes that were open early in the game.
Houston was much more opportunistic. The Cougars pounced on a fumble by Spencer Armstrong on the opening kickoff, as well as a fumble by halfback Asher Clark later in the quarter, converting the turnovers into 10 points.
Armstrong’s fumble led to Beall’s touchdown and a 7-0 Houston lead 1:33 into the game.
“I thought our special teams were a factor the whole game, especially our kickoff cover team,” Houston coach Kevin Sumlin said. “That quick turnover was a factor.”
Calhoun said: “Right out of the gate, you have to be excellent. What you absolutely have to do is make them earn every inch. We didn’t do that when we fumbled the kickoff return. It was a big play.”
But the Falcons were just as upset with their poor execution on offense. They finished with 20 more offensive plays and an advantage in possession time of 16 minutes but could not parlay the statistics into enough points.
“We knew they wouldn’t expect us to run the ball as well as we did,” Beall said. “That was a big advantage for me. The first time we played them, we didn’t have a solid running game.”
Air Force beat Houston 31-28 in the third game of the season on a neutral field in Dallas, when Houston was in the path of Hurricane Ike.
Air Force’s defense played well enough to keep the game close.
The Falcons sacked Keenum once, forced a Beall fumble that was recovered in the Houston end zone by Chris Thomas and got an interception from Aaron Kirchoff, setting up a score that made it 31-28 with just over 6 minutes left.
Thomas led the defense with 16 tackles.
“We only play well enough if we hold them to less points than our offense scores,” defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter said. “We needed to hold them to 27 points to be happy.”
Tew led the Falcons with 149 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
Key stat
63: Even with 16 minutes’ less possession time, Houston built up a 63-yard advantage in total offense and never trailed after scoring less than two minutes into the game.
Key play
On third-and-6 at the Houston 39 in the first quarter, quarterback Case Keenum and running back Bryce Beall teamed on a 40-yard pass play, leading to Houston’s second touchdown.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
