HOUSTON -- D'Eriq King accounted for four touchdowns, including three in the second half when Houston rallied to beat Rice 45-27 on Saturday.

Trailing 27-24 midway through the third quarter, King ran 4 yards for a touchdown then threw scoring passes of 57 yards to Marquez Stevenson and 18 yards to Courtney Lark. Patrick Carr added a 37-yard touchdown run late in the Cougars' season opener against their city rivals.

King connected with Lark for 40 yards and a score to tie the game at 17-all before Shawn Stankavage threw a 1-yard pass to Brendan Harmon with 15 seconds left in the half to give the Owls (1-1) a 24-17 lead.

King finished 17-of-24 passing for 320 yards and added 33 yards rushing. Stevenson, who missed last season with an injury, had 107 yards receiving and 60 yards rushing, 51 coming on an end-around for a score.

Stankavage was 20 of 31 for 207 yards with three TDs and an interception.

Junior defensive tackle Ed Oliver, who last year became the first underclassmen to win the Outland Trophy, led Houston with 13 tackles, including 3.5 for loss, giving him 43 for loss in his 26-game career. Isaiah Chambers added three sacks.