University of Houston Athletics
Tuesday Football Practice Report
11/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 14, 2006
HOUSTON - The University of Houston football team wrapped up a two-hour workout Tuesday afternoon under clear and breezy conditions at the UH Athletics Complex in anticipation for its regular season finale at Memphis.
"We had a nice workout," head coach Art Briles said. "The team understands the importance of this football game and how we need to finish our mission to claim the West Division outright. There is no time for any physical or mental letdown."
Saturday's game with the Tigers is slated for 1pm, Saturday at Liberty Bowl. 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. The game will be available on the Internet by logging onto www.UHCougars.com.
Houston (8-3, 6-1 C-USA) picked up an impressive 37-27 come-from-behind victory at SMU, while Memphis (1-9, 0-6 C-USA) dropped a 26-24 decision against UCF.
The Cougars were paced by utility back Anthony Alridge, who rushed for a career-best 225 yards on 13 carries. Jackie Battle also ran for 136 yards. It was the first time that Houston had a pair of backs rush for over 100 yards since Mike Green (162 yards and Ketric Sanford (107 yards) accomplished that feat at Army during the 1999 season.
"We've always prided ourselves on running the football," Briles said. "We were No. 6 in the nation in 2003 rushing the ball. It's not a new adventure with us running the ball. It's just happened to show up more the last couple of weeks, and that's a credit to the offensive line."
Saturday's game marks the 19th time that Houston and Memphis will meet on the gridiron. The all-time series is even at 9-9, but the Tigers have won the last three meetings in the series, including a 35-20 decision last season at Robertson Stadium.
"Any time you play a conference team it's a war, it's a battle," Briles said. "All you have to do is look at your Sunday newspaper, and I can show you 15 games that went one way that should have gone the other way. What they have done in the past and this year makes no difference. What we've done this year makes no difference. We are going to line up Saturday and play our tails off for 60 minutes."
