Houston vs. Cincinnati: Score and Twitter Reaction

The No. 6-ranked Houston Cougars survived a road test from the Cincinnati Bearcats, earning a 40-16 win at Nippert Stadium on Thursday night. 

The Bearcats appeared to be in good shape with a 16-12 fourth-quarter lead. However, the Cougars exploded in the final period, moving the ball offensively and forcing turnovers to pull away.

Houston quarterback Greg Ward Jr. ran for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to give his team the lead, while Steven Taylor and Howard Wilson ran back consecutive interceptions for scores to seal the victory.

Ward (shoulder) and running back Duke Catalon (ankle) were both coming off injuries that forced them to miss Saturday's win over Lamar, but they gutted through the night with solid performances.

While Catalon had 67 rushing yards, Ward was the star with 326 passing yards, 73 rushing yards and three total touchdowns. Though he threw two interceptions and was inefficient on the ground, he did enough to secure the win.

Bleacher Report's Sanjay Kirpalani summed up the Heisman Trophy contender's effort:

Cincinnati quarterback Hayden Moore looked good early and finished with 275 passing yards and two touchdowns, but he threw two fourth-quarter interceptions and didn't get much help from the running game (30 yards on 25 total attempts).

Although this was a closer contest than the final score indicated, the better team came through late.

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Houston started the game with a 39-yard touchdown pass from Ward to Chance Allen.

As Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle noted, Ward looked healthy at the time:

However, the rest of the first half was not as easy for the visitors. It took less than two minutes for Cincinnati to answer, as John Popovich of WCPO observed:

The fans then got behind the Bearcats defense, which was impressive throughout the half. After Houston punted just five times in its first two games combined, the Cougars had to bring out Dane Roy four times in the first half alone Thursday.

Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports joked about the defensive efforts from both sides:

The teams went into halftime tied at 10-10, with Yahoo Sports' Dr. Saturday noting that the No. 6-ranked squad was fortunate to avoid being behind:

On the other hand, Houston had almost 100 more yards of total offense than Cincinnati at intermission, and only two turnovers held it back.

Defense remained the theme in the second half. Houston broke the tie with a safety by stuffing running back Tion Green in the end zone. Ed Oliver, a 5-star recruit at defensive tackle, per 247Sports, helped clog the lane on the play.

Paul Myerberg of USA Today was impressed by the freshman's performance:

The Cougars had a chance to expand the 12-10 lead late in the third quarter, but Cincinnati's Alex Thomas picked off Ward in the end zone.

Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports described the action:

The Bearcats took advantage of the momentum swing with a five-play, 78-yard touchdown drive to go ahead 16-12. Moore found Nate Cole in the front of the end zone for the go-ahead play, although the squad failed on the two-point conversion.

However, Houston bounced back quickly, driving downfield on the next possession. Ward capped it off with a scramble into the end zone on 3rd-and-11 from the 12-yard line.

Nicole Auerbach of USA Today described the wild play:

Armed with plenty of confidence, the Cougars followed with an interception and another touchdown drive to create breathing room. Once again, Ward took the ball across the goal line to help his team increase its lead to 26-16.

All of a sudden, an offense that had been limited for much of the night had more than 500 yards from scrimmage.

Moore attempted to bring Cincinnati back but ended up throwing a pick-six. Backup Ross Trail came in on the ensuing drive and proceeded to throw another pick-six, turning the game into a rout.

Houston will try to keep its perfect season alive with a road tilt at Texas State on Sept. 24. The Sun Belt squad won its only game 56-54 over Ohio, so fans better be prepared for plenty of scoring.

Cincinnati will stay at home for a battle against Miami (Ohio), which has gotten off to an 0-2 start.

Postgame Reaction

Cincinnati head coach Tommy Tuberville summed up his perspective on the end of the game, per Tom Groeschen of the Cincinnati Enquirer:

From the other side, Houston's quarterback was prepared to stay in the game no matter what, per Auerbach:

Ward was not 100 percent but did what he could to help his team win.

Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter.