University of Houston Athletics
Football Daily Practice Report
11/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 1, 2005
HOUSTON - The University of Houston football team began preparations for this weekend's road showdown against new Conference USA rival UCF with a solid workout Tuesday afternoon at the UH Athletics Complex.
UH returns to action again at 5 p.m. (CST), Saturday, when it meets UCF for the first time in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla. That game will be broadcast on KTRH 740 AM with Tom Franklin handling play-by-play and Tony Fitzpatrick providing color analysis. Former All-Southwest Conference center Chuck Brown serves as the roving sideline reporter.
In addition, the game will air on iTV, formerly known as PAX, and can be seen locally on DirecTV channel 255 or Time-Warner channel 7. Carter Blackburn will call by the play-by-play action with Ray Lucas providing color and James Bates reporting from the sidelines.
This weekend's contest will be the Cougars' final road contest of the year. UH has been successful on the road with wins over Conference USA rivals Tulsa and Tulane and a non-conference win at Mississippi State on Oct. 22 in the Cougars' most recent contest.
"All we do when we get to the game is concentrate on playing between the lines. You have to block everything else out. Our guys are being mature about that," Briles said. "We have had people step up in practice which has made us better in games. It wouldn't matter whether we were playing at home or on the road. If you have guys that are focused and doing what they are supposed to be doing, then you have a chance to win."
The Cougars (4-3, 2-2 C-USA) come into this weekend after an impressive 28-16 win at Mississippi State on Oct. 22.
"It was probably as complete a game as we have played in the three years that we have been here," Briles said. "It was a really intelligent game, both sides of the ball and special teams, in a pretty good environment. It was a good win for us, a tough win for us by means of us playing the way that we feel like we can play."
While some coaches may be concerned about knocking off the rust after a bye weekend, Briles said the team's second open weekend of the year couldn't have come at a better time.
"We had a chance to freshen up on some things academically and strength-wise. We tried to place a little personal improvement on ourselves through that week, figuring out ways we could help ourselves to help our team get better," Briles said. "We will be fresh; we will be active and we will be anxious. It fell really nice for us this time of the year."
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With the changes in the Cougars' schedule during the month of November, fans also should note a ticket exchange policy. The Southern Miss game, originally scheduled at Robertson Stadium for Sept. 24 was rescheduled for 4 p.m., Nov. 13, due to Hurricane Rita. For the Southern Miss-Houston game to be played on Nov. 13, the Cougars' game against SMU, originally scheduled for Nov. 12, was postponed one week and will now be played in Houston on Nov. 19. Any fan that purchased a ticket for either of these games may do one of the following:
1. Keep the current tickets, as it will be valid for the new rescheduled game dates. 2. Exchange your tickets for one of the remaining 2005 home football games.
The Homecoming game against SMU originally scheduled for Nov. 12 has been changed to the Southern Miss game on Nov. 13 at 4 p.m. If fans had tickets for the Homecoming game and still want to attend Homecoming weekend, they MUST Exchange their SMU tickets for Southern Miss tickets. The SMU tickets WILL NOT BE VALID for the Southern Miss game. All tickets must be exchanged in advance of the game date. 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., Ste. 1003 Houston, TX 77204 For more information, please call the ticket office at 713-GO-COOGS.
