Briles, Kolb Pick Up Conference Hardware
12/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 6, 2006
Houston, Texas - University of Houston head football coach Art Briles and his senior quarterback Kevin Kolb were named Coach and Offensive Player of the Year, respectively, as it was announced on Wednesday by the league office in Irving.
Named by his league coaching peers, Briles led the Cougars to its first Conference USA championship since the league's inaugural season in 1996. It marks the 10th time in 11 years that the coaches have voted the coach of the conference champion as its Coach of the Year.
Briles becomes just the second head coach in UH history to pick up Coach-of-the-Year honors. Former head coach Kim Helton was the 1996 Conference USA Coach of the Year.
Houston's conference title is the crowning achievement of the rebuilding plan at UH as the Cougars have gone from a winless season in 2001, prior to Briles arrival, to a 10-3 league champ in his fourth season at the helm of his alma mater. The former Cougar wide receiver will be leading UH to a bowl game for the third time in four seasons under his tutelage when it faces South Carolina in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Dec. 29 in Memphis.
Briles, one of nine finalists for the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Award, is the third coach in school history to lead the Cougars to a 10-win season and the sixth one to lead his team to a conference championship. He is now tied for third in all-time victories at UH with 26.
Led by record-setting senior quarterback Kevin Kolb, the Cougars are ranked sixth in the nation in total offense (439.9 ypg). Houston leads Conference USA and ranks 11th in the nation in scoring offense (32.7 ppg).
UH won the West Division with a 7-1 league record. Its three losses this season came by a combined total of eight points. The Cougars hosted the second annual Conference USA Football Championship Game on Dec. 1, defeating Southern Miss, 34-20, before a Robertson Stadium record crowd of 31,818. Houston is currently receiving votes in both major polls and has been for the past five weeks.
Following the Liberty Bowl, Briles will have one more game to coach this season, as he will be a part of the coaching staff at the Hula Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii on January 14.
Kolb was named Offensive Player of the Year after leading the Cougars to the Conference USA championship. He has completed 67.7 percent (266-of-393) of his passes for 3,423 yards and a league-high 27 touchdowns with just three interceptions.
Kolb's yardage total is second in Conference USA, while his touchdown-to-interception ratio is the second-lowest of any Division I-A player. He has started all 49 games of his collegiate career, more than any I-A quarterback and is C-USA's all-time leader in total offense with 13,424 yards. Kolb owns UH career records for completions (938), attempts (1,526) and yards (12,578), while placing second in touchdown passes (92).
A nearly unanimous selection to the First Team, Kolb was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and was the preseason C-USA Offensive Player of the Year. With his guidance, Houston has posted its highest win total (10) since 1990 as the Cougars get set to make back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time since making four in a row from 1978-81 when UH battles South Carolina in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
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