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It took Houston a while to get going Saturday, but once the Cougars got it together late in the first half, they quickly put away winless Central Florida.
Kenneth Farrow ran for career-high 167 yards and three touchdowns and No. 21 Houston remained undefeated with a 59-10 victory.
The Cougars (7-0, 4-0 AAC) ran up 600 yards and scored 24 points in a mid-game span of 3 1/2 minutes, winning for the fifth time by 21 points or more.
Brandon Wilson scored for the Cougars on an 85-yard return of a fumble just 74 seconds into the game. Wilson stripped Cam Stewart of the ball after a third straight UCF completion and ran down the sideline to an easy touchdown, Houston's only score in the first 27 minutes of the game.
UCF, which entered the game ranked last offensively among 127 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, gained 175 yards in the first quarter, 94 of them on a seven-play touchdown drive. When Matthew Wright kicked a 48-yard field to put the Golden Knights up 10-7 with 4:38 left in the first half, they had outgunned Houston by 216 yards to 74.
But Houston responded with a six-play, 72-yard drive to regain the lead on Farrow's 26-yard touchdown run with 2:27 left in the first half, and the rest of the game was all Cougars. They scored three touchdowns and a field goal over the next 3 1/2 minutes and put the game away with a 28-point third quarter.
Interceptions by William Jackson III and Donald Gage set up another touchdown and a field goal in the final 50 seconds of the half. Houston quarterback Greg Ward Jr. scored on a three-yard run to make it 21-10, and after Gage's interception, a 34-yard field goal by Ty Cummings gave Houston a 24-10 lead on the final play of the half.
Tristan Payton scored UCF's touchdown on a 46-yard pass from Justin Holman, but the Golden Knights (0-8, 0-4) had four turnovers and gained only 105 yards after the first quarter.
Farrow, who moved into seventh place on Houston's career rushing list with 2,686 yards, left the game after running 24 yards to his third touchdown of the game with 1:57 left in the third quarter.
Ward also sat out the fourth quarter after completing 16 of 23 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown and also rushing for 46 yards and a touchdown, his 15th rushing TD of the season. Ward's 67-yard touchdown pass to Demarcus Ayers put Houston up 45-10 with 4:10 left in the third quarter.
It was only Houston's second win in seven games against UCF.
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AP college football website: collegefootball.ap.org
Kenneth Farrow ran for 167 yards and three touchdowns and No. 21 Houston remained undefeated with a 59-10 victory over winless Central Florida on Saturday.
The Cougars (7-0, 4-0 AAC) scored 24 points in a mid-game span of 3 1/2 minutes and won for the fifth time by 21 points or more.
Houston cornerback Brandon Wilson scored on an 85-yard return of a fumble on the third play of the game, but the Cougars fell behind 10-7 before rallying late in the first half and turning the game into a rout in the third quarter.
Farrow's 26-yard touchdown run gave Houston the lead with 2:26 left in the half, and interceptions by William Jackson III and Donald Gage set up a TD and a field goal in the final 50 seconds.
Tristan Payton scored UCF's touchdown on a 46-yard pass from Justin Holman, but the Golden Knights (0-8, 0-4) had four turnovers and gained only 105 yards after the first quarter
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