ANNAPOLIS, Md.--Houston quarterback Clayton Tune completed 24 of his 34 pass attempts for 316 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Cougars (2-1, 2-0 in the American Athletic Conference) to a 37-21 victory over Navy (3-3, 3-1) in front of 3,600 members of the Brigade of Midshipmen.

"Our defense gave us a chance to win, but you have to be able to move the ball and possess the ball and we didn't do that,": said Niumatalolo.  "We had some big plays, but we couldn't string together enough plays on offense.  You have to give Houston credit."

The game was a back-and-forth affair in the first half with the Navy defense holding Houston to three field goals over the first 28 minutes despite being faced with a short field each time (33, 39 and 22 yard drives). 

Navy took a 7-3 lead with eight seconds left in the first quarter on a six-yard touchdown run by Dalen Morris and went up 13-9 with 4:02 left in the second quarter on a 60-yard touchdown pass from Morris to Ryan Mitchell.

Navy had a chance to go up two scores after the Mitchell touchdown as Houston wide receiver Tre'Von Bradley fumbled at his own 44 after a 19-yard reception and the Mids John Marshall recovered at the Houston 46.

The Navy offense could not take advantage of the opportunity and had to punt it back to Houston and the Cougars made the Mids pay as Tune hit Marquez Stevenson with a 51-yard touchdown pass to put the Cougars up 16-13.

The second half was all Houston as Kyle Porter scored on a one-yard touchdown run and a 33-yard pass from Tune and Stevenson caught his second TD pass of the day from Tune to make it 37-13.

CJ Williams would tack on a late touchdown for the MIds, catching a 5-yard pass from Morris with 1:07 left to make the final 37-21.

The Houston defense held Navy to 166 yards rushing on 50 carries (3.3 yards per carry), with 78 yards of that coming in the fourth quarter.

Houston will take on UCF next Saturday at TDECU Stadium, while Navy travels to SMU.