University of Houston Athletics
Football Continues Preps for Louisville
11/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 19, 2003
HOUSTON - The University of Houston football team continued its preparations for this weekend's road finale at Louisville with a solid, two-hour workout on Wednesday at the Cougar practice fields.
The Cougars (6-4, 3-3 C-USA) meet Louisville at 2:05 p.m. (CST) Saturday at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Ky.
Following Wednesday's workout, first-year head coach Art Briles said his team looked ready to face the Cardinals this weekend.
"We have to understand that we must play with unwavering determination and effort," Briles said. "We have taken some steps but we need to take a few more. We certainly don't want to feel satisfied; we want to plow forward and create new territory."
UH enters this weekend's contest on the heels of a 34-14 thrashing of C-USA rival Army last weekend at West Point. With that win, the Cougars earned their sixth win of the season and became bowl-eligible. As his team moves so close to a preseason team goal, Briles said he and his coaching staff use that fact as a motivational tool.
"It's one of our team goals. We wanted to a bowl-eligible team. It's something that we are very aware of," Briles said. "We are proud that we have become bowl-eligible; now we just need to make that a reality."
With last weekend's win at Army, the Cougars earned their fourth straight road win, a feat that had not been accomplished by a UH squad since the end of the 1989 season and beginning of the 1990 season. Even Briles is at a loss as to why his team has played well in front of hostile fans.
"I don't know," Briles said. "We try to play well all the time. We have just been able to win on the road and we certainly hope we can continue that this week."
Although the Cardinals have won three of the last four games, the Cougars can boast of the most recent success after taking a 27-10 win during the 2002 season finale. Louisville leads the all-time series by a slim 7-5 margin.
