The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs have seen enough of David Klingler and the Houston Cougars.
Klingler made his collegiate debut against the Bulldogs in 1988. His first pass resulted in a 5-yard loss. But the Bulldogs faced a polished Klingler Saturday night in the Astrodome, and the results were staggering.Klingler threw nine touchdown passes, including an NCAA-record six in one quarter, leading No. 8 Houston to a 73-3 victory over the Bulldogs. The Cougars scored 73 unanswered points, 70 coming in the final three quarters.
Klingler, who finished fifth in balloting for the Heisman Trophy last year, completed 36 of 57 passes for 510 yards, with no interceptions and one sack in his first game of the season. He also rushed five times for 17 yards before leaving the game after the third quarter. He was replaced by his younger brother, Jimmy, who then alternated with Chandler Evans and Donald Douglas and produced another score.
"It was a lot of fun out there today," Klingler said. "We struggled early, but after awhile, it was just a matter of them getting rundown with their pass rush and coverage."
Klingler said he told Head Coach John Jenkins in the third quarter he was ready to come out.
"He said we needed to work with (receiver) Freddy (Gilbert) and the linemen," Klingler said. "You just can't walk out there and expect things to happen, especially against a team like Miami."
Houston travels to Miami Sept. 12.
Jenkins said the Bulldogs' defensive pressure faded.
"After the first quarter, the dam broke," Jenkins said. "They (Bulldogs) just expelled every ounce of energy and had nothing left."
Klingler, a 6-foot-3 senior, fired six scoring strikes in the second quarter, breaking the NCAA record of five set in 1989 by former Houston quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware and Florida State's Peter Tom Willis.
Klingler threw TD strikes of 15, 16 and 13 yards to John Brown III; 5, 6 and 2 yards to Tracy Good; 60 and 4 yards to Gilbert, a transfer from UCLA; and a 6-yarder to Verlond Brown.
Jimmy Klinger's first play in the fourth quarter was a 50-yard pass, which set up a 17-yard scoring pass from Douglas to Marcus Grant. The 10 TD passes tied an NCAA record for most touchdown passes against a Division I-A team. Houston threw 10 against SMU in 1989, and threw 11 - all by Klingler - against Eastern Washington last year, a Division I-AA school.
Louisiana Tech may not have seen the last of a Klingler, however, since Jimmy is a redshirt freshman and could likely be the starter when the Cougars play Louisiana Tech again in 1994.
"There is not really anything good to come out of this game," said Louisiana Tech Coach Joe Raymond Peace. "It's embarrassing to our kids, our fans and our university. It is just a miserable feeling."
Roman Anderson added a field goal for the Cougars, who won their 16th straight game inside a domed stadium.
The loss was the most points allowed by a Louisiana Tech team and the worst margin of defeat since a 71-0 setback to Louisiana State in 1930.
Gilbert caught 11 passes for 180 yards while Grant caught eight passes for 173 yards. In all, 10 Cougars had at least one reception.
Houston's defense also was impressive, holding the Bulldogs to a first-quarter field goal by Chris Boniol. Houston has not given up a touchdown in its last four season openers, and have outscored opponents 239-12 in those games. The first of those four opponents was Louisiana Tech in 1988, a 60-0 rout.
The Bulldogs, who never threatened to score after their first field goal, finished with 130 yards total offense. Houston had 702 total yards.
"We didn't execute and they had better personnel than we had," Peace said. "We've been through this before. We had some turnovers that really blew it away for us early. They played us man on the corners and said, 'We're not going to let you run the football,' and we just couldn't make the big plays."
Houston is eligible for the Southwest Conference title and postseason play for the first time since 1988 because of NCAA sanctions.
Louisiana Tech, which nearly upset Auburn last year, has played 15 of its last 23 games on the road, but had won seven of its last eight regular-season games. The Bulldogs tied Maryland in last year's Independence Bowl.
Houston's run-and-shoot offense showed its quick-strike capabilities. The Cougars' longest scoring drive lasted 2:49; the shortest was 4 seconds. They scored four touchdowns in the final 5:55 of the first half.
The teams exchanged first-quarter field goals and Louisiana Tech's defense was aggressive early, forcing Klingler out of the pocket while the secondary did an excellent job of coverage. Most of Klingler's passes were high and he finished the quarter completing 9 of 16 for 72 yards.
But Klingler and the Cougars erupted in the second quarter for 223 yards and six touchdowns to put the game out of reach.
Klingler got his chance to break the NCAA record for most TDs in a quarter after Boniol, in to punt, bobbled the ball and had to run. He was brought down by Zach Chatman at the Louisiana Tech 6. Two plays later, Klingler threw the record-setting pass to Good with 59 seconds left in the first half.
Houston, held to 82 yards offense in the first quarter, had 305 by halftime while Klingler, limited to 72 yards passing in the first quarter, had 275 by intermission.
Houston's defense also was sharp, holding the Bulldogs to four first downs, 84 yards offense. Louisiana Tech quarterback Gene Johnson completed just 5 of 26 passes for 49 yards, and drove his team into Houston territory just twice.
Klingler and the Houston defense did not let up in the second half. Klingler threw TD passes to John Brown, Gilbert and Good while the Cougars kept the Bulldogs out of the end zone.