University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Continue Preparations for SMU
11/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 17, 2005
Houston, Texas- - When the University of Houston takes on SMU this Saturday on John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium, both teams will be looking to win their second straight game.
The Cougars are coming off of last Sunday's thrilling 27-24 victory over Southern Miss in their annual Homecoming Game. The victory also improved Houston's record to 2-2 in home games overall, and gives the Cougars a 1-1 mark in C-USA home games this season. Houston's other win at home was against Sam Houston State on September 10, while its losses were against Oregon at Reliant Stadium and Memphis.
SMU enters the game having beaten Rice, 27-7, on November 5 to improve its overall record to 3-6 and its C-USA mark to 2-4. However, four of the six losses have been by seven points or less, and SMU is the only school in the nation to defeat TCU this season.
"They are a good football team," Houston head coach Art Briles said. "There is a fine line between being 3-6 and 6-3. They have beaten some good teams like TCU, UAB and Rice."
This marks the 21st time that the two teams meet, and is the first conference game played between the two schools since they were in the Southwest Conference in 1995. The series began on Sept. 27, 1975, a year before Houston joined the SWC. The Cougars won the last meeting between the two schools, 17-15, on Sept. 30, 2000 at Robertson Stadium. The other 18 times were games as SWC foes. Houston has won three straight games against the Ponies, and has an 11-8-1 series record against SMU.
Kickoff for the SMU game is slated for 5:00 p.m. The Houston-SMU game will air on AM 740 with Tom Franklin handling play-by-play, with Tony Fitzpatrick serving as the analyst, and Chuck Brown providing sideline reports.
