Houston, TX -- (Sports Network) - Casey Keenum threw for 298 yards and two touchdowns as the Houston Cougars defeated the Marshall Thundering Herd, 35-28, in a Conference-USA tilt at Robertson Stadium.

Keenum also rushed for 44 yards and scored once on the ground for Houston (7-4, 6-2 C-USA), but it was Anthony Alridge that led the way for the Cougars, rushing for 103 yards and one touchdown. Mark Hafner was the main target down field, as the wide out grabbed six passes for 128 yards and one touchdown.

The Thundering Herd (2-9, 2-5) were led by Bernard Morris, who threw for 260 yards and one touchdown. Darius Marshall rushed for 66 yards and one touchdown in the loss, while Chubb Smith tallied 43 yards and one score.

The Cougars clawed their way onto the scoreboard first, thanks to a 32-yard field goal by T. J. Lawrence early in the first quarter.

In the final seconds of the opening frame Morris hit Emmanuel Spann with a 32- yard touchdown pass, giving Marshall a 7-3 lead.

The Cougars regained the lead with just over five minutes remaining in the half, as Alridge rumbled into the end zone from three yards out.

The Cougars pushed their lead to 13-7 when Lawrence spilt the uprights on a 24- yard field goal early in the second half.

Houston extended its advantage to 20-7 thanks to an 11-play, 75-yard drive that was capped off by a 26-yard touchdown pass from Keenum to Alridge.

The Thundering Herd cut their deficit to 20-14 when Chubb Small crossed the goal line on a 13-yard run in the final seconds of the third quarter.

A one-yard touchdown plunge by Keenum along with a successful two-point conversion gave the Cougars a 28-14 edge early in the final stanza.

The Herd continued to hang tough, as Marshall crossed the goal line on a one- yard run, bringing the score to 28-21.

Less than a minute later the Cougars went back up by 14 points when Keenum hit Hafner with a 62-yard scoring strike.

Kelvin Turner scored on a one-yard run late in the final frame, but it was too little, too late for Marshall as the team fell by seven-points.

Houston racked up 472 total yards of offense, while Marshall tallied just 396 yards.