No. 20 WSU football battled the University of Houston Cougars Friday night at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, resulting in a 31-24 win for WSU.

In the Cougars vs. Cougars game, the scoring did not start until the second quarter on a 13-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback D’Eriq King to junior wide receiver Marquez Stevenson for Houston (1-2).

WSU (3-0) quickly responded with a 39-yard touchdown pass from redshirt senior Anthony Gordon to redshirt senior Easop Winston Jr. with 5:36 left in the second quarter. Gordon finished the game completing 36 of 48 passes for 440 yards with three passing touchdowns and an interception coming right before halftime.

Winston ended the night with five receptions for 70 yards and a touchdown. Graduate student wide receiver Brandon Arconado finished with nine receptions on 115 yards, now averaging almost 103 receiving yards a game so far.

About three minutes later, King drove up the field, ending with a 1-yard touchdown run to give Houston a 14-7 lead over WSU heading into the half.

To open up the second half, sophomore running back Max Borghi had a 1-yard touchdown run to even up the game at 14-14 with 10:24 left in the third quarter. Borghi finished with 97 all-purpose yards, including a game-sealing 10-yard run with 1:25 left in the game.

Later, Gordon aired out another 39-yard touchdown pass, this time to senior wide receiver Dezmon Patmon to give WSU their first lead of the game at a score of 21-14 with 7:30 left in the third.

Heading into the fourth quarter, WSU retained their seven-point lead against Houston with defensive stops on third down and penalties against the Houston Cougars to move them back.

Houston made the game closer with a field goal by junior kicker Dalton Witherspoon with 10:45 left in the game to make the WSU lead 21-17.

WSU came back down the field and finished with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Gordon to Travell Harris, redshirt sophomore wide receiver, to extend the WSU lead to 28-17.

A turnover by Stevenson, with 6:43 left in the game, gave WSU back the football and inside Houston’s territory. That turnover led to a 22-yard field goal by redshirt sophomore Blake Mazza to give WSU a 31-17 lead with 3:55 left in the game. 

Houston drove up the field and ended with a 12-yard touchdown run by King to shorten the lead to 31-24 with 2:27 left. Houston attempted an onside kick, which WSU recovered. 

For WSU, the next game is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Martin Stadium against the UCLA Bruins. The game can be seen live on ESPN.