Cougars' Keenum scorches Lions
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Penn State wide receiver Devon Smith reacts to a Houston touchdown Monday in the TicketCity Bowl in Dallas. Houston won the game, 30-14.
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DALLAS -- Case Keenum turned Penn State's secondary into his personal playground.
Houston's record-setting quarterback completed 45 of 69 passes for 532 yards and three touchdowns Monday as No. 20 Houston routed No. 24 Penn State, 30-14, in the TicketCity Bowl.
Keenum, named the game's MVP, broke the NCAA record for most passing yards in a quarter (227), and set Cotton Bowl Stadium records for most plays in a game (76), total yards (542), passing attempts and completions.
Penn State, which lost three of its final four games, couldn't slow down the Cougars' no-huddle offense due to Keenum's quick release.
"He has a good arm," said Penn State outside linebacker Nate Stupar, who had a team-high 12 tackles. "He can put the ball where he wants. He's very smart and an excellent quarterback. I would have to say as a pocket passer, NFL-style quarterback, he is the best I have ever faced."
Keenum, the NCAA career leader in passing yardage and touchdowns, tossed first-half scoring strikes of 40 and 75 yards to wide receiver Patrick Edwards and an 8-yarder to Justin Johnson.
It helped the Cougars (13-1) build a 24-7 halftime lead against Penn State (9-4) in front of 46,817 fans in the 92,000-seat stadium.
Keenum, the ninth player in NCAA history to throw for more than 500 yards in a bowl game, finished 30 of 46 for 380 yards in the first half.
His 227 passing yards in the first quarter eclipsed the previous NCAA mark of 223 yards set by Louisville's Browning Nagle in the 1991 Fiesta Bowl.
"Before the game, we knew we were going to throw the ball a bunch and talked about breaking records. During the game we didn't," Keenum said. "Honestly, we left a lot out there. There were some throws that I missed. I think we executed when we needed to."
Keenum's 45 completions and 69 attempts were the most against Penn State in a bowl game. BYU's Ty Detmer completed 42 passes in the 1989 Holiday Bowl and Oregon's Danny O'Neil attempted 61 passes in the '95 Rose Bowl.
Edwards finished with 10 catches for 228 yards and two touchdowns and Johnson had 12 receptions for 148 yards and a score. Matt Hogan also converted 3 of 5 field-goal attempts for the Cougars, hitting from 35, 38 and 22 yards.
First Published January 3, 2012 12:00 am
