EL PASO -It was as adventurous as their last trip to the Sun Bowl. Only this time, the Houston Cougars came away victorious.

The Cougars and the UTEP Miners battled for three hours and 36 minutes, but when the dust settled, the Cougars came away with a win by outlasting the Miners 49-42 before 24,111 to remain undefeated.

It wasn't perfect and it wasn't for the faint of heart. Both teams combined for 91 points and 1,248 offensive yards. All that mattered at the conclusion of the evening was the goose eggs in the loss column for the Cougars (5-0, 1-0 Conference USA).

"I don't ever want to come back here again as a player," Keenum said jokingly. "I don't have to and I'm glad I'm done playing these guys because they play hard and they're a good football team."

The effort required 710 offensive yards by the Cougars, who fell 58-41 to UTEP in their last trip to the Sun Bowl on Oct. 3, 2009. Despite falling into a 14-0 hole in the first quarter, the Cougars were determined to prevent history from repeating.

Their quick-strike offense erased that deficit in a span of 2:31 in the second quarter on a pair of Charles Sims touchdowns --- a 40-yard run and a 4-yard run --- and a 34-yard fumble return by senior linebacker Marcus McGraw. UTEP would knot the score at 21 before the half and the race was officially on.

The Cougars scored on every meaningful drive of the second half except their final one, which gave the Miners a chance to drive for the tying score with just more than three minutes to go. After the Miners (2-3, 0-2) drove from their 22 all the way down to the UH 19, the defense came up with a stand and the Miners turned the ball over on downs, allowing UH to escape with the win.

"It feels good to get the win," senior linebacker Marcus McGraw said. "I remember two years ago...it just feels good to walk away with the win."

Rudy Gutierrez/Associated Press

The Cougars got stellar offensive efforts from several players: Keenum (30-of-46 passing, 471 yards), running backs Charles Sims (111 rushing yards, 90 receiving) and Michael Hayes (100 rushing yards, 36 receiving yards) and receivers Patrick Edwards (144 receiving yards), Tyron Carrier (77), Justin Johnson (69) and E.J. Smith (55) all made significant contributions.

And defensively, they got enough critical plays to stay a step ahead of the Miners from several players including Phillip Steward (two tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks), Sammy Brown (two tackles for loss, one sack) and McGraw, who had two tackles for loss and a sack in addition to his fumble recovery.

Despite allowing 538 yards (including 240 rushing to UTEP's Joe Banyard), the defense --- which was without injured cornerback D.J. Hayden and also lost safeties Chevy Bennett and Colton Valencia along the way --- survived.

"When people go down, other people are going to have to step up to keep this season going," McGraw said.

While coach Kevin Sumlin acknowledges that the Cougars have some things to fix, the Cougars get the comfort of knowing their next three games are at home at Robertson Stadium and they still have a perfect record intact.

"We're honest with ourselves," Sumlin said. "We didn't play very well and we've got to play better as the season moves on. The good news is we did win those games and we'll be back home at the Rob."

QUICK HITS

--UH senior linebacker Marcus McGraw's 34-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the second quarter was his first career touchdown.

--UH sophomore running back Charles Sims' 40-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was a career long.

--UH quarterback Case Keenum recorded the 30th 300-yard passing game of his career.

--UH senior receiver Tyron Carrier has caught a pass in 44 consecutive games.

--UH is 5-0 for only the fourth time in school history and the first time since 1990

sam.khan@chron.com

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