Rookie Fournette rambles for 100 yards

JAGUARS 29, TEXANS 7

HOUSTON» Leonard Fournette ran for 100 yards and a touchdown in his NFL debut, and Jacksonville had 10 sacks and forced four turnovers to help the Jaguars to a 29-7 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday.

Blake Bortles threw for 125 yards and a touchdown, former Denver South High School star Calais Campbell had four sacks and Dante Fowler returned a fumble 53 yards for a score as the Jaguars snapped a six-game skid against Houston.

But the win came with a cost. Jaguars receiver Allen Robinson is out for the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the season opener.

“I was feeling anxious and ready for Week 1 to start and write a new narrative and kind of change the script,” said Bortles, who was 0-6 against Houston entering the game. “I thought we did a great job up front, and we were able to run the ball well, so it made my job easy.”

Texans quarterback Tom Savage struggled behind a porous line and was benched in favor of rookie Deshaun Watson at halftime with Houston down 19-0.

Watson, the No. 12 overall pick in the draft, completed 12-of-23 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown.

Houston defensive end J.J. Watt returned after missing 13 games last season after back surgery but injured his finger in the first half and finished with just one tackle. He was asked about his play. “Terrible,” he said. “There’s only way to go from here and that’s up. Can’t play much worse.”

A 42-yard field goal by Jason Myers made it 3-0 in the first quarter and he added one from 25 yards early in the second.

The Texans punted on their first four possessions, and the fifth one ended when Savage fumbled on a sack by Yannick Ngakoue and the Jaguars recovered the ball.

Fournette, the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft out of LSU, added his 1-yard touchdown after that, but the kick failed, leaving Jacksonville up 12-0.

Savage was sacked six times in the first half, playing behind a line without veteran left tackle Duane Brown, who is holding out. The Texans were also without receivers Will Fuller, who has a broken collarbone, and Jaelen Strong, who served a one-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.

Ngakoue picked up the last sack of the half, stripping the ball as he pulled Savage down. Fowler scooped it up and dashed for the score to make it 19-0.

“It was a terrible day on offense, but it wasn’t that much better defensively,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said.