University of Houston Athletics
Two First-Ever Match-ups Highlight 2007 Cougar Schedule
2/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | General
Feb. 27, 2007
HOUSTON, Texas - The University of Houston Cougar Football team embarks on an ambitious 2007 schedule, as UH looks to repeat as Conference USA champions with its 12-game slate released today.
Besides a rigorous league slate with home dates versus East Carolina, Marshall, Rice and SMU, road contests at Tulane, Tulsa, UAB and UTEP also greet the Cougars in their quest for back-to-back titles. The Cougars also will take on nationally-recognized programs at Alabama, Colorado State and Oregon, and entertain Scott Street rival Texas Southern in the first-ever gridiron clash between the two neighborhood schools.
Now that the schedule is released, University of Houston head coach Art Briles is ready to defend the Cougars' title.
"You know our attitude about football in general and our schedule," said the 2006 C-USA Coach of the Year, "is give us a field, air up a football, put some guys in some stripes and some people in the stands and we're going to play football. We like the schedule. We like the wide variety of opponents on the schedule from all over the nation, and we like the fact that we are going to be a really good football team that is going to get after (other teams.)
"It is a great opportunity and challenge for us to prove that we can sustain our success, that we can get on top and stay on top. That is our message and our theme this season."
UH Director of Athletics Dave Maggard feels this schedule is yet another step in the Cougars regaining national recognition.
"This schedule brings top quality competition to face our football team," said Maggard. "We have some outstanding home games, and of course, games that attract national attention such as Oregon, Alabama and Colorado State.
"This should be a great test for our football team as we work towards defending our Conference USA championship."
The Cougars open the season by visiting the University of Oregon on September 1; Houston's first visit to the Emerald State since 1983 and its first Pac 10 road game since taking on the University of California in Berkeley on Sept. 5, 1998.
After an off week, UH begins its defense of its Conference USA crown, traveling to New Orleans on Sept. 15, to face Tulane and its new head coach, Bob Toledo. The Cougar-Green Wave affair will take place in the Louisiana Superdome, the first time Houston has played in the legendary facility since 2000.
On Sept. 22 the Cougars will debut their home schedule by playing host to Colorado State of the Mountain West Conference, a team that has been to six bowl games since 1999 and won three conference titles during that span. Even though UH and CSU are knotted at 1-1 in overall series, this will be the first meeting of the two schools with Colorado State as a member of the MWC. The Cougars and Rams last met in Fort Collins on Nov. 10, 1973, a game won, 28-20, by Colorado State.
Houston stays at home the following week, as the ECU Pirates make a visit to John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium on Sept. 29. The Skip Holtz-led squad finished 7-5 last season and took part in the inaugural PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Ala.
Alabama is next on the schedule, as Houston travels to Tuscaloosa on Oct. 6, looking for its first win against the Crimson Tide in 10 tries. The Tide also will be debuting a new coach, as former Miami Dolphin mentor Nick Saban takes over an Alabama squad that played in the Independence Bowl in 2006.
The Bayou Bucket is on the line on Oct. 13, when cross-town rival Rice invades Robertson Stadium, and like Alabama, a new head coach, too, will lead it. Former Texas State head coach David Bailiff brings the Owls into the inner-city clash for a first-ever Bucket battle in the month of October.
Back-to-back road games await the Cougars as October winds down, as UH first travels to UAB on Oct. 20 and then to UTEP on Oct. 27. Former UH assistant coach Neil Calloway (1993-96) has taken over the reigns of the UAB program, and Houston seeks out its first-ever win in Birmingham. The Cougars-Miners game could be a pivotal game in deciding the winner of the West Division.
In front of a nationally-televised audience on ESPN, the Cougars face SMU on Sunday night, Nov. 4. Last season, the Cougars clinched the West Division with a come-from-behind win over the Mustangs late in the 2006 campaign.
For the final time during the regular season, the Cougars hit the road, taking on the Golden Hurricane in Tulsa on Nov. 10. Houston has won two straight from Tulsa, including a 30-23 win at Skelly Stadium in 2005.
The Cougars wrap up the 2007 season with back-to-back home games and first-ever encounters with Marshall and Texas Southern. The Thundering Herd was one of C-USA's hottest teams down the stretch last season, falling just short of becoming bowl eligible.
Texas Southern's place on the schedule, a Nov. 24 affair at Robertson Stadium, marks the second straight season the Cougars have squared off against a Division I-AA team from the powerful Southwestern Athletic Conference. Last season, UH knocked off Grambling State, 42-22, in front of 27,302 fans.
Taking on the other three "cross-over" teams from the East Division also has Briles upbeat about 2007.
"It's nice to switch up and play different people, because we have played Southern Miss five times in the last four years," added Briles. "This year we catch UAB, East Carolina and Marshall, so that is going to be interesting games because the dynamics of those teams has changed with the change of coaches at ECU and UAB since the last time we played them (in 2004.)
"Our whole thing is that we take care of us. If we do a good job of keeping our players motivated and intense, it is not going to be an instance when we are concerned about whom we're playing. People are going to be concerned about playing us."
Houston begins spring practice on Tuesday, March 6, with the Red-White Game set for Saturday, April 7.
2007 Houston Football Schedule
SERIES CURRENT DATE OPPONENT SITE TIME RECORDS STREAK Sept. 1 Oregon Eugene, Ore. TBA 0-2-0 L 2 Sept. 15 *Tulane New Orleans, La. TBA 8-4-0 W 4 SEPT. 22 COLORADO STATE O'QUINN FIELD TBA 1-1-0 L 1 SEPT. 29 *EAST CAROLINA O'QUINN FIELD TBA 3-4-0 W 2 Oct. 6 Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala. TBA 0-9-0 L 9 OCT. 13 *RICE O'QUINN FIELD TBA 24-9-0 W 2 Oct. 20 *UAB Birmingham, Ala. TBA 1-4-0 L 1 Oct. 27 *UTEP El Paso, Texas TBA 1-3-0 W 1 NOV. 4 *SMU (ESPN) O'QUINN FIELD TBA 12-9-1 W 1 Nov. 10 *Tulsa Tulsa, Okla. TBA 17-15-0 W 2 NOV. 17 *MARSHALL O'QUINN FIELD TBA First Meeting NOV. 24 TEXAS SOUTHERN O'QUINN FIELD TBA First Meeting TBA &C-USA Championship Game TBA TBA
*Conference USA game. BOLD CAPS indicates home contests played in John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium. Site and time of Conference USA Championship Game will be determined at the conclusion of the regular season. Times are listed as Central Time and schedule is tentative.
