Arizona St. Falls to Avalanche of Houston Yardage

TEMPE, Ariz. —  It looked more like a track meet than a football game, and the records show the 17th-ranked Houston Cougars ran up so much yardage it didn’t matter that they gave away 236 yards in penalties.

Houston amassed 744 yards in total offense and had 1,046 yards in ball advancement in defeating Arizona State, 36-7, in a nonconference game late Saturday night.

The total offense figure was a Southwest Conference record and the most ever allowed in Arizona State’s 92-year football history.

It still was 49 yards shy of Houston’s school-record, single-game mark of 793 yards set against Idaho on Nov. 16, 1968, when Houston was an independent.

Houston won despite having seven turnovers and 23 penalties for 236 yards. The penalty totals were school records and only one penalty and two yards shy of tying the all-time National Collegiate Athletic Assn. marks.

The Cougars had more penalty yards than Arizona State had in total offense (145).

Houston junior quarterback Andre Ware completed 40 of 68 passes for 497 yards--all school records--and junior Chuck Weatherspoon rushed for 123 yards in 11 carries, returned eight punts for 152 yards including a 58-yard touchdown play and also scored on a 32-yard run.

However, Ware wasn’t happy with his four interceptions.

“I played like a freshman,” Ware said. “We really couldn’t get going at any time in the game. Turnovers and penalties stopped us.”

Houston had lost its last five games against the Sun Devils and had not won in Tempe since 1952.