SAN MARCOS, Texas -- There was no doubt that No. 6 Houston was expected to beat Texas State when the two teams played Saturday but football is played on the field, not on paper. Instead of playing down to their opponent, the Cougars fashioned a nearly-perfect game and roared past Texas State 64-3 before a school-record crowd of 33,133 at Bobcat Stadium.

Greg Ward Jr. passed for 289 yards and two touchdowns in just over a half of play and freshman D'Eriq King accounted for three touchdowns -- receiving, passing and on a 99-yard kickoff return -- as Houston had its way with the underdog and undermanned Bobcats.

The Cougars had no turnovers and committed no penalties. Houston scored on all seven of its first-half possessions (six touchdowns and a field goal) and led 43-3 at halftime.

"I'm really proud of the offense," Houston coach Tom Herman said. "We did a great job of finishing drives. It can be tough to come in and take care of business and (the team) did. That's a testament to the leaders on this team for not allowing a letdown to happen."

Ward was 20-of-26 passing and had 39 yards on the ground and another score while guiding the Cougars (4-0) to a 43-3 lead at halftime. He played the first series of the third quarter and left with Houston well in command and with a 50-3 lead.

King opened the second half with a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown after hauling in 48-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and passing for a 15-yard score in the second.

King, who has earned a role as the Cougars' third-string quarterback, relishes his opportunity to contribute as a wide receiver.

"If I played quarterback, I might have redshirted," King said. "I really like what I'm doing now."

King amassed 234 all-purpose yards and is the first player in school history to score catch a touchdown, pass for a TD and record a kickoff return for a score in the same game.

"The second the clock hits double zero in our bowl game (King) is he going right back to the quarterback room," Herman said. "The kid has a chance to be a tremendous quarterback."

It was Houston's largest margin of victory since a 73-3 win over Louisiana Tech on Aug. 31, 1991.

Tyler Jones was 17 of 30 passing for 100 yards for the Bobcats (1-2), who have managed just six total points the past two games against ranked teams after beating Ohio on the road 56-54 in triple overtime in their season opener.

"Houston is a talented team that plays hard," Texas State coach Everett Withers said. "We don't have enough talent to beat (Houston). We've got a lot of work to do -- we took a step back tonight -- and we are not talented enough not to play smart."

Texas State's longest pass play was 20 yards and its longest rush went for nine yards.

The Cougars outgained Texas State 563-142 (429-82 in the first half), outrushed the Bobcats 243-33 and had 32 first downs to Texas State's eight.

Houston flexed its muscles on its first possession, marching 59 yards in 12 plays capped by Ward's 10-yard touchdown scamper with the Cougars converting two fourth downs on the drive. Ward connected with King on a 48-yard scoring pass to culminate the Cougars' next drive, which started at their own 5-yard line.

Ty Cummings, who missed an extra-point kick after the Cougars' first touchdown and had another blocked following Houston's third TD, booted a 31-yard field goal to push Houston's lead to 16-0 at the 2:06 mark of the first quarter.

King threw a scoring pass on an end-around, taking a handoff from Ward and hitting Steven Dunbar for a 15-yard score that expanded Houston's advantage to 22-0 with 13:25 to play in the second quarter. The Cougars' Duke Catalon rambled 13 yards for a score to expand the lead to 29-0 only 2:45 later.

Houston tried an onside kick that was recovered by the Bobcats and gave Texas State a short field. The Bobcats' ensuing 10-play, 42-yard drive ended in a 32-yard field goal by James Sherman and cut the Cougars' lead to 29-3.

There was no stopping the Houston offense as Ward marched the Cougars 69 yards in nine plays with Dillon Birden's 2-yard TD run making it 36-3.

Houston completed its near-perfect offensive half with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Ward to Linell Bonner with 29 seconds left.

The Cougars' run of successful possessions ended when it was forced to punt for the first time on its initial drive of the third quarter. Backup quarterback Kyle Postma later turned in a spinning 21-yard TD run on his first possession behind center to move the Cougars' lead to 57-3 and a 1-yard scoring jaunt with 3:56 to end the scoring.

"Things happen on the field and we have to live with the results.," Texas State linebacker Gabe Loyd said. "(Houston is) a great team and played well, but we made some mental mistakes. They have a lot of fast guys and spread the field a lot sideline to sideline and it was a test.

"We never gave up, and we just have to grow up and know the moment is not too big for us."

NOTES: Texas State has been outscored 78-3 in the first half in the past two games. ... Houston's defense set a program record in holding Lamar to 73 total yards, besting the previous record of 74 yards from Mississippi State in 1969. ... Saturday's matchup was the seventh meeting between Houston and Texas State with the Bobcats winning four of those games. The Cougars' 59-14 victory in 2015 was its second victory in the last three meetings. ... Houston is one of three FBS programs with at least 13 victories on two occasions over the last five years, joining Alabama and Florida State. ... Since 2011, Houston owns the second-most wins in the state of Texas among FBS schools with 50, five behind Baylor and three ahead of third-place TCU entering Saturday. ... Houston is the highest-ranked FBS team that the Bobcats have faced. Texas State is the first Sun Belt Conference team in league history to host a Top 10 nationally ranked team.