Houston football picked up its eighth win of the season to stay alive in the American title race after a 48-17 win over Tulane at TDECU Stadium.

The Cougars dominated Tulane in every aspect of the game, holding the Green Wave to just 17 points and 349 total yards. Houston posted 6.2 yards per rush in the win, despite turning to their backup quarterback for the entire second half.

Here are three things to know about the Cougars’ conference win on Thursday night

Fallen King

Houston quarterback D’Eriq King has put up a tremendous season in Houston, and led the nation in total touchdowns. With only minutes remaining in the first half, King came up hobbling and had to be carted off the field. Houston confirmed that King suffered a noncontact knee injury.

In his place, true freshman quarterback Clayton Tune came into the game and played well. He completed 6-of-15 passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns. However, the Houston offense is just different without King’s elite playmaking ability under center.

Strong running game

The Cougars have been relatively inconsistent running the ball with their running backs in 2018. Patrick Carr leads the team with 594 rushing yards, but his season high was just 91 yards against lowly Tulsa. Against Tulane, the rushing game came to life.

Carr posted his first 100-yard game of the season with 18 carries for 139 yards and two touchdowns. King added 82 rushing yards and a score on just 10 carries in the win. As a team, Houston rushed for 295 yards and three touchdowns, which helped make up for what was lost in the passing game.

Off-field altercation

Houston’s star defensive tackle Ed Oliver missed his fourth consecutive game after suffering a knee injury against Navy. In the first half, Houston coach Major Applewhite confronted Oliver about wearing a heating jacket that is reserved for active players. Oliver confronted Applewhite heading into the tunnel and did not return to the field after the half.

Oliver told the ESPN broadcast pregame that he plans to play in a week against Memphis. However, it’s unclear whether this incident will have any influence on whether he dons a Houston uniform again. Thursday night was his last chance to play at TDECU Stadium in front of a home crowd.