University of Houston Athletics
Football Daily Practice Report
10/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 30, 2007
HOUSTON - In a departure from their regular practice schedule, the University of Houston football team began preparations for this weekend's home game against Conference USA rival SMU with a light workout Tuesday afternoon on the UH practice fields.
Under clear skies and pleasant temperatures, the Cougars worked out for less than an hour in shorts and shirts. With this weekend's game being played at 7 p.m., Sunday on John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium, the Cougars will move their game-week preparations into high gear Wednesday afternoon.
"We covered all phases of the kicking game," head coach Art Briles said. "It was a long weekend. This worked out well with this being a Sunday game, giving us another day."
Although the regular practice schedule will be disrupted this week due to the Sunday game, Briles said he was not concerned with the change to the routine.
"Whatever we are dealing with, SMU is dealing with the same. No team has the advantage over the other. All you want is a fair playing field, and we got it."
Fans can hear Sunday's game live on 790 AM The Sports Animal with Tom Franklin calling the play-by-play action, David Klingler providing color analysis and Chuck Brown reporting from the sideline. The pregame show is slated to begin one hour before kickoff.
Fans also can follow live stats over the Internet by clicking the "Gametracker" link at UHCougars.com.
Sunday's game also will be televised live nationally on ESPN with Eric Collins calling the play-by-play action, Bill Curry providing color analysis and Dave Ryan reporting from the sideline.
It will be the fourth time this season that the Cougars will appear on television. UH has posted a 2-1 record in televised games in 2007 with wins over Colorado State and C-USA rival Rice.
The Cougars come into the game after an impressive 34-31 win at UTEP last weekend. In that game, the Cougars scored two touchdowns in the final period to rally from a four-point deficit. Senior running back Anthony Alridge accounted for 205 rushing yards against the Miners, his third 200-yard rushing game of the season.
With that win, the Cougars pushed their lead in the C-USA West Division to one game over Tulsa and 1.5 games, plus a tiebreaker, over UTEP.
"That was as good a win as we've had around here in a long time," Briles said. "I was really proud of our players, their determination, their attitude and their belief. It reemphasized what they've been doing for a long time, so it was a gratifying effort."
Alridge has recorded 1,063 rushing yards this season and enters the SMU game with at least 100 yards in each of his last four games.
