A candidate for virtually every major national quarterback award. Case Keenum has thrown 19 touchdown passes and just four interceptions in six games (photo by SSMG).

The SMU Mustangs face one of their most explosive opponents of the season Saturday night when they take on the No. 17 Houston Cougars at 6:30 p.m. at UH’s Robertson Stadium. The game can be seen nationally on CBS College Sports, and can be heard in the Dallas-Fort Worth area on KLIF (570 AM).

Second-year head coach Kevin Sumlin’s team enters Saturday’s game with a 5-1 record, including a 1-1 mark in Conference USA games. UH has knocked off then-No. 5 Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, with its only loss coming at UTEP.

Houston has outscored its opponents this season by an average of 40.8-28.0, and has gained more than 100 yards per game (560.3-448.2) more than its opposition. Those numbers are skewed a little by UH’s 55-7 obliteration of Northwestern (La.) State in the season opener, but the Cougar offense has scored more than 40 points in four of the Cougars’ first six games, including 45 at Oklahoma State.

OFFENSE

Any discussions about the 2009 Cougars starts with junior quarterback Case Keenum, the preseason C-USA Offensive Player of the Year who is racing up the charts in the UH record book and is up for just about every national award for which he is eligible. Some of the more notable accolades: ranks fourth in the country in career passer efficiency rating (155.91), third in the country in career completion percentage (68.29) and first in the country in career yards per game (304.5); just halfway through his junior season, he ranks second in UH history with 800 completions, second with 9,780 career passing yards, third with 77 touchdown passes and second in career total offense with 10,489 yards.

The 2008 C-USA Freshman of the Year, Bryce Beall became the first running back in UH history to rush for more than 1,000 yards (photo by SSMG).

In Houston’s lone loss of the 2009 season (at UTEP), Keenum’s statistical line looked like a misprint: 79 total plays, 76 pass attempts, 51 completions, 536 passing yards and 544 yards of total offense. Each is the highest total by any player in the entire nation for a single game this season.

SMU nickel back Robert Mojica agreed with defensive coordinator Tom Mason’s assessment that Keenum has probably the strongest arm in Conference USA, but said what really makes the UH junior effective is his deadly accuracy.

“Every throw he makes is on the money,” Mojica said. “If he needs to put it on the back shoulder, it’s on the back shoulder. If he needs to be up and in, it’s up and in. It just seems like he doesn’t give you a shot to pick off the ball, because he puts it right in the smallest spot, where only his player can catch it.

“Just watching him on film, there are certain throws that make you think, ‘why would you ever make that throw?’ But he gets them there — it’s just ridiculous. There can be two (defensive) guys in tight double coverage, and he still finds a way to get it in there.”

Keenum’s gaudy average of 416.8 passing yards per game understandably is what draws the most attention to the postseason award candidate, but Mojica said that those who think Keenum is a pass-only rocket launcher are not realizing the full extent of Keenum’s arsenal.

“So there’s that aspect to his game, where he’s making perfect throws,” Mojica said, “(but) then there’s the aspect (that) he can actually move and make people miss when he scrambles. So he’s really a double-threat type of guy. When I watch him on film, I kind of thought he was a (Tim) Tebow type — not as powerful, but he can run, and he’s got a better arm than Tebow.”

Tyron Carrier leads Houston with 483 receiving yards, 66 punt return yards and 371 kickoff return yards (photo by SSMG).

Part of what makes Keenum so effective is the stable of fleet receivers to whom he throws. Four receivers already have more than 30 receptions this season, including James Cleveland (the younger brother of former SMU receiver Jay’Mond Cleveland), who leads the team with 45 receptions and six receiving touchdowns. Tyron Carrier is second on the team with 40 receptions and four touchdown catches, and his 483 receiving yards give him a nine-yard cushion over Cleveland for the team lead.

The UH offense benefits not only from Keenum’s extraordinary ability, but also from a wrinkle in its scheme that is designed to wear out opposing defenses.

“They do this thing where they’ll all run streaks up the field, and then the receivers will just hop off the field, and they’ll have new receivers already waiting to go in,” Mojica said. “So we’ve got to run, haul back to the line of scrimmage to be ready for that. It’s very quick-paced. They’ll quick-snap you and get you in all kinds of bad situations.”

One common misperception about the Houston offense is that Keenum’s arm is the only weapon, when in fact, the Cougars run the ball 36.4 percent of the time (SMU runs the ball on 36.7 percent of its offensive plays). An offensive line that averages 298 pounds per man leads the way for an rushing attack that averages a quiet 128.8 yards per game, led by sophomore Bryce Beall, who has rushed 91 times for 437 yards (72.8 yards per game) and five touchdowns.

The Houston running game “looks pretty jumbled,” sophomore nose tackle Torlan Pittman said. “They take the D-line wherever they want to go, and then the running back goes the opposite away — a lot of misdirection stuff. (Beall) does a really good job of cutting back. He’s not that big (5-11, 209), but he’s a hard runner who can break some tackles.”

DEFENSE

Former Arkansas transfer Tyrell Graham leads the Houston defense with 4.5 tackles-for-loss and 2.5 quarterback sacks (photo by SSMG).

The Cougar defense starts five players who are freshmen and sophomores, but has created 14 takeaways (intercepting four passes and recovering 10 of 14 forced fumbles). Houston runs a 3-4 defense that really amounts to a 4-3 formation, as senior linebacker/defensive end Tyrell Graham plays almost exclusively as a stand-up pass-rushing defensive end. Through six games, Graham is tied for fifth on the team with 30 tackles, but leads the team with 4.5 tackles-for-loss and 2.5 sacks. Defensive tackle David Hunter and defensive end Jake Riser lead the Cougars with three and two fumble recoveries, respectively.

“Their pressure isn’t like we’ve seen from teams like East Carolina — they’re big, but not as big as ECU, and they’re fast, but not as fast as a team like TCU,” running back Zach Line said. “They like to bring that three-front (three down linemen) with that stand-up defensive end (Graham), so that brings a little confusion, but we’ve just got to learn who’s coming from the back side, and they don’t bring a lot of linebackers.”

Line said Graham will flip from one side to the other to create optimal pass-rushing matchups, and relies more on speed than brawn in getting into opposing backfields.

MLB Marcus McGraw leads the UH defense with 70 tackles through six games, including a career-high 19 in the Cougars' upset over Texas Tech (photo by SSMG).

“We’re trying to figure out what they’re going to give us, because last year they gave us the four-front,” Line said. “This year they’ve been playing a lot of three-front and bringing that stand-up end to bring pressure. So we’ve got to adjust to that stand-up, and that’s a four-front instead of a three.”

Line and Shawnbrey McNeal might be able to find success running Saturday against a UH defense that has allowed nearly as many rushing yards per game (222.7) as passing yards (225.5). More importantly, opponents are averaging 5.4 yards per carry against the Cougars.

The Cougar linebackers are led by middle linebacker Marcus McGraw, who leads the team with 70 tackles through six games, and weakside linebacker C.J. Cavness, who is second on the team with 54.

The secondary is led by free safety Nick Saenz, who is third on the team with 52 tackles, and cornerback Brandon Brinkley, who leads the team with seven passes broken up and is tied (with fellow cornerback Jamal Robinson) with two interceptions.