University of Houston Athletics
Football Daily Practice Report
10/31/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 31, 2006
HOUSTON - The University of Houston football team began preparations for this weekend's key Conference USA showdown against West Division leader Tulsa with a vigorous workout Tuesday afternoon on the UH practice fields.
The Cougars compete in their final regular-season home game of the 2006 season when they square off against Tulsa at 2:30 p.m., Saturday at John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium. The game can be heard live on 790 AM The Sports Animal with the pregame show beginning one hour before kickoff. Tom Franklin will handle the play-by-play duties, while former record-setting UH quarterback David Klingler will provide color analysis. Former All-Southwest Conference center Chuck Brown serves as the sideline reporter.
All Cougar Football games can be heard live on the Internet by logging onto www.UHCougars.com.
Saturday's game also will be televised live on CSTV (DirecTV Ch. 610) with Carter Blackburn calling the play-by-play action and Brian Jones as the color analyst.
The team will celebrate Senior Day as 17 student-athletes and their families will be recognized for their dedication and sacrifices to the Cougar Football team.
Saturday's game also pits the top two teams in the C-USA West Division. A win over the Golden Hurricane on Saturday combined with road wins at SMU (Nov. 11) and at Memphis (Nov. 18) will hand the Cougars the West Division championship and the right to host the C-USA Championship Game on Dec. 1 at Robertson Stadium.
However, Briles said he, his coaching staff and players cannot afford to look ahead to any games and must face a talented Tulsa team this weekend. "What this game is is a big game for the West Division title," Briles said. "We are 4-1, and they are 4-0. You don't have to be a mathematician to figure out that the winner of this game is going to come out in pretty good shape. Since we are here, we are going to take advantage of it, because you don't get too many chances to be here."
The Cougars (6-3, 4-1) come into the game on the heels of a 51-31 win over UCF last weekend at Roberston Stadium. Trailing 21-17 at the halftime break, the Cougars roared out of the locker room to score touchdowns on their first four possessions of the second half to take the win.
"It was a big win last Saturday against UCF, a team that we have a lot of respect for from a program standpoint and an athletic standpoint," Briles said. "They are a very talented team that showed it last year by winning the East Division. It was a good, tough win for us."
With the win over the Golden Knights, the Cougars become bowl eligible. If the team is selected for a bowl game at the end of the regular season, it will compete in the postseason for the third time in a four-year span under Briles. That will be the first time that UH has accomplished that feat since the 1978-81 Cougar teams competed in four straight bowl games.
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