University of Houston Athletics
Cougar Duo Grabs Conference Accolades
12/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 1, 2003
Houston, Texas - University of Houston sophomore running back Anthony Evans (Pearland, Texas) and junior kicker Dustin Bell (Houston, Texas) today were named Conference USA Players of the Week for their performances in the Cougars' 56-28 win over UAB last Saturday night.
Evans picked up the offensive award after he rushed for a career-high 165 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries in leading the Cougars to a 56-28 win over UAB on Saturday, securing Houston's first bowl appearance in seven years. Evans joins offensive teammates Kevin Kolb (twice) and Brandon Middleton as winners this season.
The 100-yard out put was Evans' fourth straight and fifth this season, and he finished the 2003 regular season with 1,083 yards rushing, becoming the 20th player in UH history to top 1,000 yards on the ground. Evans was a big part of the Cougar rushing attack that generated 375 rushing yards against an UAB defense that was allowing just 160.0 a contest prior to Saturday night. As a matter of fact, the Cougars had just four yards lost on the evening.
Bell grabbed the special teams hardware after a perfect eight-for-eight on his conversion attempts and while blasting four of his six kickoffs for touchbacks. Bell finished the year a perfect 50-of-50 on his conversion attempts this season, becoming the first Cougar since Sebastian Villarreal in 1997 (20 of 20) to finish the year perfect. He also becomes the first Cougar since Roman Anderson (58-58) in 1990 to convert at least 50 PATs and the first to be perfect over 50.
For Bell, this is the third time that the former Lou Groza Award candidate has received the league honor, after receiving it twice in 2002. Bell is the first UH special teams player to win the Conference USA award in 2003.
Overall, the Cougars have received seven C-USA Players of the Week this season, which ties the Houston record of seven POWs set during the 1996 campaign.
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