Houston quarterback Greg Ward carried the Cougars to a 42-7 win over Tulane with four touchdowns Friday night.

The junior set a single-season rushing record for quarterbacks in just the sixth game of the season and accounted for four touchdowns, including three rushing scores.

Ward had 14 carries for 77 yards and completed 17 of 22 passes. His defense did the rest.

The Cougars' front seven lived in the backfield and limited Tulane to 262 total yards.

Wide receiver DeMarcus Ayers, who had 197 all-purpose yards in the first half, scored a 15-yard touchdown to stretch the Cougars' lead to 28-7 and Houston just missed tacking on more points when Ward threw his first interception in 103 attempts just before halftime.

Ward helped Houston to a 14-0 lead with a 12-yard touchdown run eight seconds into the second quarter and added another, from five yards, at the 8:20 mark in that frame to keep the lead at 14. It was Ward's fifth game this season with multiple touchdown runs.

In between those Cougars' scores, Tulane's Dontrell Hilliard plowed for a 3-yard touchdown run at the end of a 12-play, 75-yard drive that included a 43-yard run on 4th-and-11 by senior running back Rob Kelley on a fake punt.