University of Houston Athletics
Football Daily Practice Report
10/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 4, 2005
HOUSTON - For the first time since Sept. 21, the University of Houston football team practiced on its own home field with a two-hour workout Tuesday at the UH Athletics Complex.
The Cougars were forced to evacuate the city of Houston on Sept. 23 as Hurricane Rita threatened the Gulf Coast. The team traveled to Tulsa, Okla., where it practiced all week in preparations for last weekend's Conference USA showdown.
Following Tuesday's practice, head coach Art Briles said it was nice for him and his team to return home.
"It feels good. It's a little warmer, but it feels good," Briles said. "We're just glad to be back in normal surroundings on a normal schedule. They're going to classes, taking care of their business as a college student and getting to play football."
As the players returned to their regular class and workout schedules, Briles said he and his assistant coaches could see a little rust from the excitement the of the previous week. However, he wasn't worried about that and looked for better things from his team during the remaining practices this week.
"We could tell there was little bit of a learning curve with the different things that Tulane does. We had a little more time against Tulsa," Briles said. "We have to speed up the learning process a little bit, but once we get through the next couple of days, we will be ready to go Saturday.
UH continues its C-USA slate as it meets Tulane at 5 p.m., Saturday, at Cajun Field in Lafayette, La. That game was originally scheduled to be played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, but the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina forced the Green Wave to abandon their home city.
The game will to air on ESPN 790 AM. Tom Franklin will handle play-by-play duties with Tony Fitzpatrick providing color analysis, while former All-Southwest Conference center Chuck Brown serves as the roving sideline reporter.
In addition, the game will be televised live on the i Network (formerly known as PAX) on DirecTV channel 255. Carter Blackburn will call the play-by-play action, while Ray Lucas will provide color analysis.
The Cougars (2-2, 1-1 C-USA) come into the game on the heels of an impressive 30-23 win at Tulsa last weekend after falling behind by 10 points after the first quarter. It was the first road win outside the city of Houston in a game in which they trailed by double-digit points since the 1981 season. But as impressive as that victory was, Briles said his team needs to play well this weekend against Tulane to continue to build momentum.
"It was a nice win the other night at Tulsa," said Briles, now in his third season at UH. "It was one that solidified us for the time being as a strong football team. Now, what we have to do is keep that fact a reality by continuing to play at a high level sides of the ball and in special teams to keep putting Ws on the board."
