HOUSTON -- The sixth-ranked Houston Cougars were determined to take care of business this year after Connecticut detailed their perfect season a year ago.Greg Ward Jr. made sure they did just that.Ward Jr. threw for a career-high 389 yards and accounted for five touchdowns in just more than three quarters to help Houston beat Connecticut 42-14 on Thursday night.Houstons only blemish last season came in the 20-17 loss to the Huskies when they were 10-0.We never use the word revenge, coach Tom Herman said. The word we used was atonement -- to make a wrong a right. We had a chance to atone for the transgressions of last years team.Ward didnt start that game because of an ankle injury, and there was a scary moment early in the second quarter when he took a hard hit in the midsection by Junior Joseph on a flea-flicker and had to leave the game.But he missed just one play before returning and showed no ill effects from the blow, leading the Cougars (5-0, 2-0 American) on three more touchdown drives in the half to leave Houston up 28-7 at halftime.Herman didnt think missing last years game against UConn made this one more important to Ward.I think Wards got a chip on his shoulder every week, I dont know that it was any bigger this week, Herman said. I think the whole team had a juice and a pep in their step knowing what this opponent did to last years team and they wanted to make sure it didnt happen again.Ward and Joseph got in each others faces after another hit by the linebacker on a touchdown throw by Ward later in the second quarter, and it earned Joseph an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.Joseph said the run-in was totally my fault before raving about the quarterback.Hes probably the best player I played against, Joseph said. Hes very electric. Thats why hes in the race for the Heisman. Just a great player.Ward had touchdown runs of 30 and 10 yards and threw scoring passes of 3, 15 and 4 yards. He was replaced by Kyle Postma with 12 minutes remaining.Ward doesnt like talking about himself and deflected questions about his big game.The stats, I dont think about that at all, he said. The only stat that I worry about is win-loss.Noel Thomas had a career-high 135 yards receiving and a touchdown for Connecticut (2-3, 0-2), and Bryant Shirreffs threw for 239 yards and ran for a TD.Losing is terrible, Bob Diaco said. We obviously wanted to finish phase one of our season better than 2-3. A play here and a play there, and that would have been the case.THE TAKEAWAYCONNECTICUT: The Huskies didnt commit any turnovers after being plagued by them in recent weeks, but they were simply overmatched by the Cougars on both sides of the ball.HOUSTON: The Cougars continued the dominance theyve shown all season, having no trouble putting away the Huskies after last years misstep. With Ward leading the offense and a swarming defense which finished with four sacks, its hard to imagine that anyone has much of a chance to beat the Cougars before their Nov. 17 showdown with No. 3 Louisville.POLL IMPLICATIONSThe Cougars should maintain their spot in the poll after cruising past an opponent they were expected to beat. But they could jump a spot or two if any of the teams above them lose on Saturday.INJURY REPORTThe Cougars werent slowed by playing without three starters on Thursday. Running back Duke Catalon missed the game with a concussion and linebackers Tyus Bowser and Matthew Adams both sat out after a fight on Wednesday during games meant for team building.The two got over competitive, Herman said. Things briefly got out of hand during one of the games and resulted in a scuffle between Tyus and Matt ... it was a freak accident and the result of the scuffle was a broken bone for Tyus.Bowser will be out for a few weeks with the head injury and Adams was suspended for Thursdays game but will return next week.BONNER IMITATES IDOLLinell Bonner had a highlight-reel play when he stretched out to grab a reception with one hand for a touchdown that pushed Houstons lead to 42-7 in the third quarter. He finished with 12 receptions for 159 yards -- both career highs. The one-handed catch was reminiscent of some of the grabs DeAndre Hopkins often makes for the Houston Texans.Bonner was asked if that catch was a Hopkins impression.Thats my favorite NFL receiver right now. I really look up to him so I could say yeah, Bonner said before flashing a huge smile.UP NEXTCONNECTICUT: The Huskies host Cincinnati on Oct. 8.HOUSTON: The Cougars visit Navy on Oct. 8.---Online: AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.orgAuthentic Custom Jerseys . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. Custom Jerseys China . Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon. https://www.cheapcustomjerseysonline.com/ . The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africas Allan Versfeld and Portugals Ricardo Santos. Fake Custom Jerseys . Ancelotti says Ronaldo has recovered from a hamstring injury but "but he doesnt feel comfortable yet so we wont risk him." Madrid is third in the Spanish league, six points behind leader Barcelona, going into Saturdays game against Valladolid. Custom Jerseys Nike . LOUIS -- St.BCB president Nazmul Hassan has asked the national selectors to consider including some of the top performers from this seasons BPL in Bangladeshs preparatory squad for the New Zealand tour next month. The 22-man squad had been announced on November 4, four days before the BPL re-started.Hassan made special mention of Shahriar Nafees, who last played for Bangladesh in 2013, and the uncapped Mehedi Maruf.His statement is incongruous with his earlier stance of letting the revamped selection committee to work independently, before submitting the team to him.Nafees, who was named among the reserves for the squads camp in Australia in mid-December, has made three fifties so far for Barisal Bulls. Maruf, also an opening batsman, went past Nafees as the top-scorer in this seasons BPL with a 20-ball 33 for Dhaka Dynamites against Chittagong Vikings on Thursday. He now has 203 runs in five matches at an average and strike rate of 50.75 and 156.15 respectively.The biggest achievement for us is that the local players are playing well, Nazmul said in Chittagong on Thursday. Mushfiqur [Rahim] is scoring runs again, Tamim [Iqbal] is doing well too. Among the older players, Shahriar Nafees and Mehedi Maruf are playing well. Having seen this I have already conveyed my message to our coach and the selectors, and I have also spoken to Akram Khan from cricket operations.I have told them that we will send additional players if required. I have spoken to them and asked them to think about how the good performers from the BPL can be included in the squad. Therre may be changes in the squad, or some additional players may go.dddddddddddd Nothing has been confirmed as yet. My understanding is that one or two players may be included. They [team management] havent confirmed anything with me yet.The new selection process includes a separate committee, which includes the Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, team manager and BCB director Khaled Mahmud and cricket operations chairman Akram Khan, on top of the three-member selection panel that has Minhajul Abedin as chief selector and Habibul Bashar and Sajjad Ahmed as the other senior selectors.This isnt the first time Hassan has spoken about selection matters: he had earlier talked about selection choices during the Afghanistan and England series. This means that the president has spoken about his choices three times during or ahead of Bangladeshs international fixtures.In June this year, Faruque Ahmed had resigned as chief selector, hours after the BCB ratified significant changes to the way Bangladesh squads would be chosen.Bangladeshs preparatory squad for New Zealand tour: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Mosaddek Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Shuvagata Hom, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Taijul Islam, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Shafiul Islam, Subashis Roy, Mohammad Shahid, Ebadat Hossain, Tanveer Haider. ' ' '