ORLANDO, Fla. -- Houston's offense was dormant for much of the first half, but when it woke, it woke in a fury.

The Cougars scored on seven straight possessions and racked up 600 yards of offense in a 59-10 rout of Central Florida on Saturday.

Houston running back Kenneth Farrow had 13 carries for 167 yards and three touchdowns. The 21st-ranked Cougars (7-0, 4-0 American Athletic Conference) are 7-0 for just the fourth time in school history.

"Great team win," Houston coach Tom Herman said. "I thought both sides of the ball came out really sluggish, which is very uncharacteristic us. Our defense gave up a bunch of yards and that was disappointing, and our offense didn't handle the pressure as well as we planned, but we responded to the adversity. We reacted and played with a much more razor-like performance in the second half."

This was the Knights' (0-8, 0-4) worst home loss ever.

Cougars quarterback Greg Ward Jr., who is seventh in the nation in total offense, accounted for 256 yards and two touchdowns. Houston scored 45 unanswered points on seven possessions over a 15-minute stretch spanning the second and third quarters.

"We were terrible in the first half and I blame that on me," Ward said. "I didn't make good decisions and wasn't playing well. But the second half we came out running the ball and played very well."

UCF held a 10-7 lead late in the second quarter after a 48-yard field goal from Matthew Wright. Then the Houston offense got rolling. The Cougars put up 17 points in the final 2:27 of the first half and received the ball to start the second.

"It was a tale of two halves as far as the game-planning went," UCF coach George O'Leary said. "We didn't fulfill it the second half. ... It's a 60-minute game. You can't just play 30 of it."

Farrow, who had 55 yards in the first half, got 79 more on the first three plays of the second half. The last run was for 30 yards, straight up the middle and he scored untouched to make it 31-10, less than a minute into the second half.

"Momentum is a tough thing to sustain," Herman said. "We grabbed the momentum at the end of the second quarter and then had to sit around for 15 minutes. It was important for us to come out swing and throw the first punch of the second half and we did. We knew we could run the ball and it showed on those first few drives."

Farrow's touchdown capped a 3:17 spurt at the end of the first half and start of the second half in which Houston outscored UCF 24-0. The Cougars intercepted UCF quarterback Justin Holman twice during the span and scored 10 points off the turnovers.

"When you win the turnover battle 4-0, you always have a chance to win the game," Herman said. "Our defense is really good at getting those turnovers, and the offense has done a nice job of converting those into points."

Houston's offense was ineffective until the final 2:37 of the first half when Farrow ran through the Knights' defense for a 26-yard touchdown. Ward followed that up with a 3-yard rushing touchdown and Ty Cummings kicked a 34-yard field goal on the final play of the half to make it 24-10.

UCF did not have any trouble moving the ball early in the game, but turnovers cost the Knights.

Holman completed his first three passes of the game to get UCF inside Houston's 20-yard line, but Cougars linebacker Brandon Wilson stripped Cam Stewart and returned the fumble 85 yards for a touchdown.

"They had seven points before our defense was even on the field," O'Leary said. "Those are the things you just can't do; give away points to teams that are undefeated."

NOTES: Houston's offense, which has scored at least 34 points in every game this season, is fifth nationally in scoring (45.7 points per game ) and total offense (554.7 yards per game). The Cougars were 57th in scoring and 55th in total offense last season. ... Houston QB Greg Ward Jr. was tied with LSU's RB Leonard Fournette for most rushing touchdowns with 14. Ward upped his total to 15 with a 3-yard run in the second quarter. On the possession before that, he had a 16-yard touchdown run nullified by a holding call. ... UCF's offense (254 yards per game) is last in the country. The Knights troubles this season can be partially blamed on injuries and inexperience. UCF is the only team in the country without a senior at an offensive skill position, and its starters have missed a combined 38 games, most in the nation. ... UCF (0-8) was one of only four winless teams in FBS starting the day. North Texas (0-6), New Mexico State (0-6) and Kansas (0-6) were also looking for their first win.