Lamar Beats Houston Christian 35-10 as Andrew Huff's Two Forced Fumbles Swing Homecoming

Houston Christian came to Beaumont as one of the best stories in the Southland Conference. Lamar's defense spent Saturday afternoon making sure the story got a rough chapter.

Lamar beat Houston Christian 35-10 on Homecoming at Provost Umphrey Stadium, and the scoreboard actually flatters the visitors. The Huskies' offense produced three points and 195 total yards. Their only touchdown came from their defense. After the break, they produced nothing at all.

The nationally ranked Cardinals improved to 6-2 and 4-1 in the Southland. Houston Christian fell to 4-4 and 3-2. The two teams entered the day tied for second place in the league, so this was not just a bounce-back win for Lamar. It was a separation game.

A slow burn, then a fast answer

Lamar coach Pete Rossomando said afterward that his staff expected the offense to be "a slow burn early," and the first quarter delivered exactly that. Both teams punted on their opening drives. Lamar then moved 50 yards into the red zone, only for a penalty and an eight-yard loss to shove it back to the 30, where Andres Sandoval pulled a 47-yard field goal attempt wide left.

Houston Christian took advantage. The Huskies drove from their own 30 to the Lamar 8, and Lukasz Smolen hit a 26-yard field goal late in the first quarter for a 3-0 lead. For a team that came in riding a 43-24 win over East Texas A&M, it was a confident start.

It did not last. Lamar answered with a seven-play, 75-yard drive that took 4:03, and quarterback Aiden McCown found tight end Davin Driskell alone in the back of the end zone from 4 yards out. Then the defense took over.

Andrew Huff's afternoon

On third-and-14 in the second quarter, senior Andrew Huff got to HCU quarterback Cutter Stewart, stripped the ball and fell on it himself. That turnover handed Lamar the ball at the Houston Christian 11, and four plays later Jojo Uga plunged in from 2 yards out for a 14-3 lead.

Houston Christian had one big swing left in the first half, and it came from a familiar source. With 27 seconds remaining before the break, safety Javon Bejarano jumped a McCown pass at the HCU 45 and took it 55 yards to the house. It was his third pick-six in as many games, which is the kind of streak that makes offensive coordinators lose sleep. A game that had looked like it was getting away from the Huskies was suddenly very much alive. It was 14-10 at halftime, and the Huskies had the ball to start the third quarter.

Huff made sure the momentum died in the tunnel. On the third play of the second half, Stewart completed a 13-yard pass to Keith Wheeler, and Huff forced another fumble. Lamar recovered at the HCU 32, and Uga carried five straight times to cover all 32 yards, scoring from 6 out. That sequence was the ballgame. Huff finished with five tackles, a sack, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery, and both of his forced fumbles turned directly into Lamar touchdowns.

The turning point

Rossomando put his finger on it. "In the second half, the defense comes out and gets the ball back for our offense in great position and we manage to take it down and score," he said. "I think that wound up being the difference in the game. The defense got us a couple of turnovers and that always helps."

That opening sequence of the third quarter is the whole case. Houston Christian walked out of the locker room with a pick-six in its pocket, a four-point deficit and the ball. A handful of plays later it was down 11 and never threatened again.

Driskell and the second-half pull-away

Once Lamar had the lead back, it went for the throat. McCown hit Driskell on a 41-yard touchdown in the third quarter, and the senior tight end did most of the work himself, running through two would-be tacklers on the way to the end zone. Cam Patterson added a 15-yard touchdown run up the middle in the fourth to close the scoring. Those were three straight second-half touchdowns, and Houston Christian answered none of them.

Driskell finished with five catches for 86 yards and two scores. He was named a second-team Phil Steele Mid-Season All-American at tight end earlier this month, and afternoons like this are why. McCown completed 15 of 23 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns, spreading the ball to seven different receivers. The lone blemish was the Bejarano interception, and that was HCU's only touchdown of the day.

The stats that matter

Lamar rolled up 454 total yards against a defense that had been playing well, including a 16-2 win over Nicholls earlier this month. Seven different Cardinals carried the ball, and the team ran for 196 yards on 45 attempts at 4.4 yards per carry with three rushing touchdowns. Uga led the way with 83 yards and two scores on 16 carries.

The defensive numbers are even louder. T.J. Nelson led Lamar with 10 tackles, including 1.5 sacks. Houston Christian's offense managed 195 yards and three points, and the Huskies did not score in the second half. Stewart, the Southland's Offensive Player of the Week after the East Texas A&M win, finished 14 of 25 for 116 yards with an interception.

For Houston Christian, the bright spots were mostly on defense. Bejarano had six tackles to go with the pick-six, and he now leads the team with three interceptions and ranks third on the roster with 56 tackles. Jeremiah Queen and Trent Zappe tied for the team lead with nine tackles each, and Jayven Anderson recorded the Huskies' only sack, his 3.5th of the season. Champ Dozier was the most productive piece of the offense with 100 all-purpose yards. The full numbers are in the official box score (opens in a new tab).

What it means

For Lamar, this was the bounce-back it needed. The Cardinals had been ranked as high as No. 8 and riding a four-game winning streak before a 34-31 loss at Southeastern Louisiana the week before. They responded by handling the team they were tied with in the standings, and the polls noticed. Lamar moved up to No. 13 in the AFCA coaches poll and No. 15 in the Stats Perform Top 25. Stephen F. Austin, No. 2 in the nation, is still the standard in this league, and a 4-1 Lamar team that does not beat itself is very much in that chase. It also helps that the defense now has a calling card. Next on the schedule was a Halloween night trip to UT Rio Grande Valley, Lamar's first-ever game in Edinburg.

For Houston Christian, the reality check is real, but so is the season. The Huskies are 3-2 in league play after their best Southland start in program history. The schedule did not get easier. Next was a Halloween trip to Nacogdoches to face No. 2 Stephen F. Austin, their second straight road game against a ranked Southland opponent. Both schools have the details in their recaps, from Lamar (opens in a new tab) and from Houston Christian (opens in a new tab).

The last word

"I think at this point, every game we play is going to be like a championship game not just because of who we are, but where we are in the standings," Rossomando said. "Every team is trying to climb the ladder."

Lamar climbed a rung on Saturday, and it did it the hard way, with a defense that took the ball away twice and gave back nothing after halftime. In a Southland race this crowded, that is the kind of identity that travels.

Sources: Lamar Athletics and Houston Christian Athletics recaps and the official box score. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Lamar Athletics/Jeff Kellum.