University of Houston Athletics
Football Daily Practice Report
9/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 26, 2006
HOUSTON - The University of Houston football team began preparations for this weekend's showdown against Miami (Fla.) with a vigorous two-and-a-half-hour workout Tuesday on the UH practice fields.
Working out in full pads, the Cougars began installing the game plan for the Hurricanes on a pleasant Tuesday afternoon. Following the workout, fourth-year head coach Art Briles said he was proud of his team's performance on the practice field but no more than in the preceding weeks.
"The thing that I like is that we have stayed steady all year. There is no more enthusiasm in our players right now than the week of the Rice game or Grambling State or Oklahoma State," Briles said. "One of our goals has been to stay strong, stay steady and stay focused, and that's what we are doing. We have another game to go play; it just happens to be in Miami."
The Cougars continue their 2006 season when they face Miami (Fla.) at 5 p.m. (CDT), Saturday at the Orange Bowl in Miami. That game can be heard live on ESPN 790 AM 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.
In addition, the game will be broadcast to a national television audience on ESPN2 with Eric Collins handling play-by-play duties and Brian Kinchen on color. Dave Ryan will serve as the sideline reporter.
This will be the third of five games that the Cougars will appear on national television.
The Cougars (4-0, 2-0 C-USA) come into the game on the heels of a 34-25 win over Oklahoma State last weekend in the friendly confines of John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium. That win snapped an eight-game losing streak to Big 12 Conference members dating back to 1988.
A season-high 28,260 fans poured into Robertson Stadium to watch the game, making it the third-largest crowd in the history of the facility. That fact did not go unnoticed by Briles, his staff or the Cougar players.
"The thing that really excited me ... was the crowd and the student section," Briles said. "It was a major transition to becoming a football team with a major following. That was very rewarding, and it made a big difference in the football game. I know our guys feed off it, I feed off it and it was a whole lot of fun."
With the win over the Cowboys, the Cougars pushed their winning streak to four straight games, making them one of only six teams in school history to start the season in such fine fashion.
As a result, the Cougars received votes in the latest Associated Press and USA Today Coaches' Top 25 polls. It marked the first time since 2003 and only the third time since 1991 that the Cougars received votes in the two national polls.
