University of Houston Athletics
Cougars wrap up preparations for Mississippi State
10/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 20, 2005
Houston - The University of Houston football team focused on getting into "right kind of groove" in its final practice before playing at Mississippi State Saturday afternoon in Starkville, Miss.
"We made sure that our offense, defense and special teams were on the same page with the same mission and goal," Houston head coach Art Briles said.
The Cougars return to the road for the third time in four weeks and can clinch a winning road record for the second time in three seasons Saturday.
"We are just fighting hard to win, whether we are playing at home, on the road or a neutral field," Briles added. "We are just trying to get a win and get some respect back for the University. We are going to try and play hard for 60 minutes and be a better team than we were a week before."
In addition to facing a road game against a school from the Southeastern Conference, the Cougars must try and contain one of the nation's best running backs for the second week in a row. Mississippi State's Jerious Norwood has averaged 5.2 yards per carry this season, rushing for 424 yards and two touchdowns on 81 carries.
"When you play against a great running back you try to keep them from popping a big run," Briles said. "You try to keep them contained and make them earn their yardage. Our defense has played well all year. We just have to focus on every play and not let a play slip by without our best effort, mentally and physically."
Following the Mississippi State game, the Cougars return to Conference USA play with a road game at UCF on November 5 before closing out the regular season with three straight home games.
Houston begins the three-game homestand on November 13 at 4:00 p.m. when the Cougars celebrate its Homecoming Game against Southern Miss. UH also plays SMU on November 19 at 5:00 p.m., and close out the regular season against Rice on November 26 at 3:00 p.m. The Southern Miss and SMU games were rescheduled due to Hurricane Rita. Those fans wishing to attend either or both games should note the following ticket exchange policy.
Fans who purchased tickets for either the Southern Miss or SMU games may do one of the following: 1. Keep the current tickets, as they will be valid for the new rescheduled games. 2. Exchange your tickets for one of the remaining home football games. The homecoming game.
Fans, who purchased only Homecoming game tickets, and still want to attend the Homecoming weekend, MUST exchange their SMU tickets for tickets to the Southern Miss game before the game date. The SMU game tickets WILL NOT BE VALID for the Southern Miss game.
Tickets can be exchanged at the UH Athletic Ticket Office located in the Athletics/Alumni Center or by mailing to: University of Houston Athletic Ticket Office 3100 Cullen Blvd., Suite 1003 Houston, TX 77204 For more information, please call the ticket office at 713-GO-COOGS.
