<p>DALLAS -- Air Force built a seemingly comfortable lead and then had to hang on to defeat Houston, 31-28, on Saturday at Southern Methodist University's Gerald J. Ford Stadium.</p>
<p>After falling behind, 7-0, early in the first quarter, Air Force scored 31 straight points. And when quarterback Shea Smith capped an 80-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown run to make it 31-7 with 4:25 left in the third quarter, the Falcons seemed to be in complete command.</p>
<p>But the Cougars' offense came alive, its defense stiffened and Houston scored three straight touchdowns, the last with 3:38 left, to pull within three.</p>
<p>"It got scary," Falcons defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter said.</p>
<p>Spencer Armstrong, however, covered an onsides kick, and the offense came up with two first downs to kill the clock and seal the victory. Air Force is 3-0 for the second year in a row and has won nine of its last 10 regular season games.</p>
<p>Originally scheduled to be played at Houston, the game was moved to Dallas earlier in the week because of Hurricane Ike. Then, on Friday, kickoff was moved up to 9 a.m. MDT, to attempt to get the game in before Ike's worst hit Dallas.</p>
<p>The game was played in steady winds and on-and-off rain, but the weather was not quite as bad as expected. The atmosphere was eerie, however, with only a sprinkling of fans. The announced attendance of 2,546 seemed generous, and Air Force center Andrew Pipes compared it to a crowd for a middle school game.</p>
<p>Air Force rolled up 380 yards on the ground and zero through the air as Smith completed none of his seven pass attempts. It marked the fifth time in school history the Falcons did not complete a pass in a game, but the previous four times Air Force did not even attempt one.</p>