Houston 5 field goals defeats Temple 22-13

Published Sep. 7, 2013 5:01 p.m. ET

foxsports

Houston's Richie Leone booted five field goals and Ryan Jackson's 8-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown spelled the difference in the Cougars' 22-13 victory over Temple in the American Athletic Conference football debut for both teams on Saturday.

Houston (2-0 overall, 1-0 AAC) had its troubles in the red zone, going 1-for-8 without scoring a touchdown, but the Cougar defense staved off a Temple (0-2, 0-1) drive when Adrian McDonald intercepted a pass in the closing minutes to preserve the victory.

Temple had its red-zone problems, too. Paul Layton missed a 25-yard field goal attempt wide left in the final minute of the third quarter that could have put Temple ahead 16-15.

Houston was called for four personal fouls, with one Cougar ejected.

Jackson finished with a game-high 109 yards on 22 carries, and Cougars' true freshman quarterback John O'Korn completed 22 of 31 passes for 228 yards.