University of Houston Athletics
Daily Cougar Football Practice Report
10/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 24, 2007
HOUSTON - - With clear skies and temperatures in the 70s for the second straight day, the University of Houston football team continued its preparations for this week's game at UTEP Wednesday afternoon.
The Cougars (4-3, 3-1 in Conference USA) hold a one-half game lead over the Miners and are leading Tulsa by one game in the C-USA West Division standings.
Working out in full pads, Houston practiced for two-and-one-half hours on the UH practice fields Wednesday. Afterwards, Houston head coach Art Briles was pleased with his team efforts as they moved closer to the game.
"We had a good workout in nice weather," Briles said. "Guys were bouncing around as we get one day closer to our goals of where we want to be."
Houston enters Saturday night's game looking for its second-straight win over the Miners, but first victory in El Paso. Houston won 34-17 at Robertson Stadium last season after falling 44-41 in double overtime at El Paso in 2005.
The Cougars are coming off a 49-10 victory at UAB last Saturday, while UTEP looks to bounce back from a 45-42 overtime loss against East Carolina in El Paso. That was the Miners' only loss at home this season, giving UTEP a 3-1 record in home games. The victories came against New Mexico (10-6), Texas Southern (52-12) and Tulsa (49-48).
Saturday's game at UTEP could play a pivotal role in determining the C-USA West Division champion as Houston returns home to play SMU on Sunday, Nov. 3, before playing at Tulsa on Nov. 10. The Cougars close out their regular season schedule with home games against Marshall on Nov. 17 and Texas Southern on Nov. 24.
Cougars fans can hear Saturday's game at UTEP on 790 AM The Sports Animal with Tom Franklin calling the play-by-play action, Ted Pardee providing color analysis and Chuck Brown reporting from the sideline. The game is schedule to kickoff at 8:05 p.m. with a pre-game show slated to begin one hour before kickoff.
Fans also can follow live stats over the Internet by clicking the "Gametracker" link at UHCougars.com.
