With nine turnovers, everything went wrong for the Houston Cougars last Thursday night in a self-destruction that ended in a 72-42 score in favor of the SMU Mustangs. The 72 points scored by the Mustangs was the most allowed by the Cougars in the 66-year history of their football program and was "embarrassing" to see, Houston coach Tony Levine told the media after the loss:

"That was embarrassing. We've got to get that corrected. Some of it is technique, some of it is coaching and some of it is personnel. We'll figure it out when we get back to practice."

In the second quarter, the game was very close, as a Charles Sims' touchdown early in the quarter tied the game 14-14. The score remained tied until less than two minutes remained in the half and the Mustangs scored on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Garrett Gilbert to Jeremy Johnson.

In the five-minute span that followed, stretching into the beginning of the third quarter, the Mustangs scored on three Cougar turnovers to jump out to a 45-14 lead.