Orlando, FL (Sports Network) - Coming off another thrilling victory, the 13th- ranked Houston Cougars head to the Sunshine State, where they will face off against the UCF Knights in Conference USA action at Bright House Networks Stadium.

The Cougars have been one of the most entertaining teams this season, scoring points in the bunches, pulling off major upsets and winning games in the final moments. Last weekend, Houston added another chapter to its magical run, as Matt Hogan kicked a 51-yard field goal as time expired to give Houston a 46-45 win over Tulsa.

"Obviously we've had a couple of exciting weeks in a row," said head coach Kevin Sumlin, whose club needed a last-minute score to defeat Southern Miss the prior week. "Some things happened, and we had some fortunate bounces, but our guys played extremely hard. They made some things happen too. It is credited to our team and coaching staff. We didn't panic at all."

Hogan's career-best kick was only part of a series of crazy events that kept Houston in control of its own destiny in the West Division at 4-1. Houston trailed late in the game, but scored in the closing moments, setting up a crucial two-point try. The Cougars failed on that game-tying attempt with 21 seconds left, but were able to recover the onside kick. A few plays later, Hogan's kick lifted Houston to its fifth win in a row. At 8-1 overall, Houston off to its best start since beginning the 1990 season with the same mark.

For the Knights, they were involved in a far less dramatic game last weekend, as they were dominated from start-to-finish in a 35-3 loss at second-ranked Texas.

"We played well in spurts, but we gave up too many big plays," stated head coach George O'Leary. "At the end of the game, we had just been on the field too long."

It was only the team's second loss in the past five games, with both coming against teams ranked in the Top 15. The good news though, is that UCF now returns back to C-USA play, where it has won three straight games.

UCF and Houston are meeting for just the third time on the gridiron, with the series being knotted at 1-1. The Knights won the first meeting, 31-29, in 2005, while the Cougars returned the favor the next season, 51-31.

After quarterback Case Keenum was sacked on a game-tying two-point conversion attempt with 21 seconds remaining, the game appeared all but over for the Cougars. However, an onside kick recovery gave the team new life and Keenum certainly made the most of the little time he had to work with. The star quarterback hit back-to-back passes to set up Hogan, whose fourth field goal of the game gave Houston a dramatic 46-45 win over Tulsa.

"We never give up," said Keenum. "In good seasons you have to have a couple of good bounces, which go your way. It's about momentum and when that gets going it is hard to stop it."

Keenum, who led the team on a game-winning drive against USM the prior week, completed 40-of-60 pass attempts for 522 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions in the win. The Heisman Trophy candidate continues to come up big, while pumping out incredible numbers, completing 71.0 percent of his pass attempts for 3,815 yards and 28 touchdowns against just five picks. Those are some of the best numbers around and he is a huge reason why the Cougars are averaging an eye-popping 577.9 total ypg as a team this season.

James Cleveland has emerged from a talented group of receivers to become Keenum's most dependable target and he was terrific last weekend, pulling in 12 balls for 167 yards and three scores. He now leads the team with 74 catches, 853 yards and 11 touchdowns. Patrick Edwards ranks second to him with 62 receptions and 740 yards, and he too was stout against Tulsa, reeling in 11 passes for 176 yards.

In the backfield, Charles Sims and Bryce Beall share the workload and they have combined for 1,005 yards and 11 touchdowns, providing a nice complement to the electric passing attack of the Cougars.

Last weekend's thrilling win helped overshadow yet another poor performance by Houston's defense, which was shredded by Tulsa for 534 total yards, including 200 on the ground. The defense did force four turnovers, to go with three sacks, but the unit offered little resistance and gave up six touchdowns.

"We gave up big plays on defense, which will create a close football game," stated coach Sumlin.

The Cougars have been giving up big plays on defense all season long and are now allowing 469.8 total ypg. The unit has really had issues against the run, permitting 220.1 ypg and 20 touchdowns on the ground.

Despite the unit's struggles, the Cougars have three of the top tacklers in the league in Marcus McGraw (95 stops), C.J. Cavness (89) and Nick Saenz (81). Tyrell Graham has provided the pass rush, with six sacks and eight TFLs, and that includes 2.5 sacks last weekend.

The Knights played last weekend's game shorthanded, as starting quarterback Brett Hodges and starting tailback Brynn Harvey both sat out due to injury. Without its top two offensive threats and facing one of the stingiest defenses around, UCF was limited to just one field goal and a measly 151 total yards in a loss to Texas.

"Offensively, we were very sporadic, and didn't do our jobs to get anything going," said coach O'Leary.

Jonathan Davis got the start at tailback and rushed for 71 yards, while Rob Calabrese got the nod at quarterback and passed for only 76 yards.

The speculation was that O'Leary held starters, Hodges and Harvey, out against Texas as precautionary measure. They are both listed as questionable with undisclosed injuries for this weekend, but should play.

Harvey heads the ground attack, which is averaging only 115.7 ypg, with 679 yards and seven scores, while Hodges has pumped some life into this once dismal offense by throwing for 1,558 yards and 10 scores.

Defensively, the Knights had all their key players in the lineup against Texas, but that didn't matter, as the Longhorns torched the unit for 537 total yards. UCF was shredded for 470 yards through the air on 33-of-42 attempts, helping Texas to convert 10-of-14 third down chances.

"We'll have to work on our passing game a whole bunch, that's our weakness right now," stated linebacker Cory Hogue.

The Knights certainly better tighten things up in the back with Houston coming to town, as UCF is allowing 267.6 ypg through the air, compared to just 85.4 ypg on the ground.

If UCF's defense is to have success slowing down Houston's pass attack, Jarvis Geathers and Bruce Miller will have to be factors. The duo have provided UCF with a consistent pass rush and they each have recorded nine sacks and 11.5 TFLs this season.