Razorbacks Take the Offensive Against Houston : Arkansas: Quarterback Quinn Grovey beats Cougars at their own game with deep passes.

Arkansas quarterback Quinn Grovey knew that Houston would give the Razorbacks the deep pass--and he took it.

Grovey completed touchdown passes of 65 and 51 yards on his way to 335 yards in total offense and five touchdowns Saturday night as the 13th-ranked Razorbacks, rolling up 647 yards, remained in the Southwest Conference race with a 45-39 victory over No. 12 Houston.

“Their free safety was playing us right,” said Grovey, who scored three touchdowns. “They gave us the deep route time and time again, and we took it.”

“Quinn Grovey keeps getting better and better,” Arkansas Coach Ken Hatfield said. “He threw the ball extremely well. He didn’t force anything. We knew we had to throw the ball against them.

“It was as big a game as I’ve been in because of the nature of the opponent and the fact our backs were to the wall in the conference race. Now we’re still in the fight for the conference championship.”

Arkansas is 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the SWC to Houston’s 5-2, 2-2. Texas leads the conference with a 3-0 record.

The teams combined for 1,228 yards, second most in SWC history. Houston and Southern Methodist set the record of 1,406 last week, with the Cougars rolling up a National Collegiate Athletic Assn. record of 1,021 yards in a 95-21 romp.

The Razorbacks also got 100-yard-plus rushing performances from James Rouse and Barry Foster and scored on six of their last seven possessions.

With Grovey at the controls, Arkansas had touchdown drives of 77, 69, 78, 81, 76 and 62 yards. Grovey’s two-yard run with 3:08 remaining put Arkansas up 45-31, the first time either time either team led by more than seven points.

The Cougars amassed 571 yards against the Razorbacks, and quarterback Andre Ware completed 34 of 46 passes for 352 yards and two touchdowns.

Houston led 28-24 after three periods but Grovey hit Derek Russell with a 51-yard scoring pass on the first play of the final period to put Arkansas ahead 31-28.

Houston’s Roman Anderson tied it with a 46-yard field goal and Rouse then capped a 76-yard scoring drive with a three-yard run that made it 38-31.

Grovey’s yardage total was the third best in Arkansas history. Bill Montgomery set the Arkansas total offense record of 360 yards in the 1970 Sugar Bowl. Grovey, who had never thrown for more than 174 yards, equaled that in the first half and wound up 11 of 14 for 256. He also rushed for 79 yards.

He produced Arkansas’ first touchdown on a 65-yard pass to Russell and scored three times on two-yard runs.