Wednesday Practice Notes
11/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 3, 2004
HOUSTON - Having been forced indoors on Tuesday due to the extreme amount of rain that fell on the practice fields, the Cougars welcomed the opportunity to get back outside for their regular Wednesday full-contact practice and are looking forward to the weekend.
"It was a good practice, we had a little cool weather and the guys really bounced around," said head coach Art Briles after the team's practice on Wednesday. "It was good to get back outdoors, we had to stay indoors yesterday, and we are anxious to get back on the field and do all that we can do to win two in a row."
Last weekend the Cougars got a chance to play in front of the home crowd for the first time in over a month, and the team did not disappoint as the team upended Tulane 24-3. However, the Cougars are not finished. Briles and the Cougars are determined to see this season through to the very end.
"We're excited about the next three weeks. I'm excited about our players and their attitude and their work ethic and the people that they are," said Briles. "Like I was saying three or four weeks ago - this is not a done-deal. We're not just going to roll it (the season) up and put it into the corner and look at it in six months; we're still preparing to be a better team each time we step out onto the field. We want to get to be 3-3 in conference, that is our first goal, East Carolina is going to come in here and play extremely hard. They had a good win last week over Army, but we are going to play hard also."
Against the Green Wave, Houston had a lot of success pressuring Tulane's quarterback, something perhaps the team might look to do against a young QB in the Pirates' starter.
"They threw it a bunch last week. Their quarterback is a first-year starter and is a good starter. They have some good-skilled people," said Briles of ECU. We'll have to see how the flow of the game goes to determine how much heat and stuff we bring. They (ECU) have played a tough schedule."
The Pirates, who are coming off of a strong performance against Army last week, hold the same 2-3 record the Cougars do at this point in the Conference USA season, but Briles is hoping the home crowd can get behind the team and help the Cougars to another win.
"We are happy about being at home again, we need a full house with everybody supporting us and we need to get out there and play well," said Briles.
As far as the health of the team, the Cougars don't seem to have much to worry about. "We have a lot of bumps and bruises just like everybody does," said Briles. "But when game time gets here our guys will set and ready to go,"