Saturday, January 4, 2014 01:00 PM (ET)

Recap: Vanderbilt 41, Houston 24

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Jan 4, 2014

Vanderbilt 41, Houston 24:
Jerron Seymour and Brian Kimbrow combined for 164 rushing yards and a pair of late touchdowns as the Commodores held off the Cougars in the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Ala.

Seymour rushed for 89 yards on 20 carries and Kimbrow added 75 yards on 13 carries as Vanderbilt (9-4) scored 17 straight points in the fourth quarter and recorded back-to-back nine-win seasons for the first time in school history. Jordan Matthews had five catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns - all in the first half - for the first multi-touchdown game of his career.

John O'Korn went 20-of-47 for 228 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions for Houston (8-5), which scored on four straight third-quarter possessions to tie game at 24. Markeith Ambles had six catches for 105 yards and a touchdown and Deontay Greenberry added six catches for 96 yards and a score.

Matthews had a pair of 50-yard touchdown catches in the first half and quarterback Patton Robinette scored on an 8-yard run four plays after a Houston fumble as Vanderbilt jumped to a 24-0 halftime lead. Houston's third-quarter scoring spree started with Robinette's fumble at the Vanderbilt 14, setting up Kenneth Farrow's 6-yard TD run on the next play.

O'Korn added a 6-yard TD pass to Ambles and a 67-yard scoring pass to a wide-open Greenberry to tie the game with 19 seconds left in the third quarter, in which Houston outgained Vanderbilt 309-47. Kimbrow broke the tie with a 21-yard touchdown run with 9:28 left and interceptions by Jahmel McIntosh and Andre Hal led to 10 more Commodore points to seal the win.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Vanderbilt outgained Houston 232-22 in the first half and held the Cougars to one first down. ... Houston forced three turnovers to finish the year with 43 takeaways and a plus-25 turnover margin. ... Robinette finished 6-of-19 for 154 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions and didn't complete a pass after the second Matthews' touchdown, finishing the game missing seven straight attempts.

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