Oklahoma vs. Houston: Score and Twitter Reaction

No. 15 Houston helped kick off the 2016 college football season with a bang by pulling off a 33-23 upset of No. 3 Oklahoma on Saturday at NRG Stadium.

Quarterback Greg Ward Jr. led the way for the Cougars with 321 passing yards and two touchdowns. While he paced an efficient offensive attack, the team's defense and special teams were equally important, as the Cougars won every phase of the game to pull away in the second half. 

Baker Mayfield put up 323 yards through the air for Oklahoma, but the offense simply couldn't put together any sustained drives after the break until it was too late.

Here's a look at the quarter-by-quarter scoring recap from Houston:

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
Sooners	10	7	0	6	23
Cougars	3	16	14	0	33

Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops understood starting the season away from home against an opponent like Houston represented a serious challenge. Brian Stultz of Campus Insiders passed along the longtime coach's comments from earlier in the week about the matchup.

"The attitude is that we've known all along that Houston is an excellent football team," he said. "[They are] extremely well coached, [have] a lot of great players running around making plays. We've known all year that we've got to be at our best when we go into the stadium there Saturday morning and we need to play our best."

The Sooners looked poised to make a major statement after going 79 yards in just over three minutes for a touchdown on the game's opening drive. Joe Mixon capped things off with a 32-yard run for the score.

Cayden McFarland of KJRH TV provided a field-level view of the quick TD:

Houston quickly erased any thought Oklahoma was going to roll, though. The Cougars responded by scoring 13 of the next 16 points, including a pair of field goals by Ty Cummings. He ended up connecting on all four of his attempts in the first half as the Houston offense struggled to find the end zone.

ESPN Stats & Info provided further details about the kicker's strong start:

Houston's only touchdown of the opening 30 minutes was a 15-yard connection between Ward and Duke Catalon. The running back put together an impressive dual-threat debut for the Cougars with 117 total yards to go along with the score.

Eric Galko of Optimum Scouting is bullish on the rusher's outlook for 2016:

The Cougars defense, which looked overmatched on the first drive, rebounded in a major way. Houston shut out the Sooners in the third quarter, forcing a long field-goal attempt that missed and getting a turnover.

In addition, the missed field goal turned to gold for Houston's special teams. Austin Seibert's effort came up short from 53 yards out, and Brandon Wilson returned it all the way from deep in his own end zone for a Cougars touchdown.

ESPN Radio showcased how close Wilson was to stepping on the end line:

Oklahoma tried to put together a late comeback, as Mayfield found Mark Andrews from 25 yards out for the wide receiver's second touchdown of the game with just over two minutes left. The ensuing two-point-conversion attempt failed, however.

Houston recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock for the victory.

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant gave his assessment of the contest:

Rich Eisen of the NFL Network also came away impressed with the Cougars:

ESPN Stats & Info showcased how rare these type of wins are for Houston:

Houston should push into the Associated Press Top 10 next week after the marquee win. The Cougars' schedule is also promising moving forward, as they only have one other currently ranked team on their slate, No. 19 Louisville, and that game isn't until mid-November.    

So the door is open for Houston to remain undefeated and push itself into College Football Playoff contention by the time that matchup with the Cardinals arrives. The team will also hope Oklahoma is able to bounce back and have a strong season to keep the quality of the victory intact.

Meanwhile, the Sooners' season isn't a lost cause because of a single defeat—remember, defending champion Alabama lost in Week 3 to Ole Miss in 2015—but the margin for error is now thin. After next week's contest against Louisiana-Monroe, Oklahoma has games against No. 6 Ohio State and No. 13 TCU. It's a golden opportunity to get back on track.

Postgame Reaction

ESPN passed along remarks from Houston head coach Tom Herman after the triumph:

Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News noted Stoops provided an update on running back Samaje Perine, who was in and out of the game:

He gave full credit to the Cougars by echoing his pregame comments, per Mark Berman of KRIV.

"We knew they were an excellent team and they played like it," Stoops said.