University of Houston Athletics
Spring Practice Winding Down For Cougars
4/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 5, 2007
HOUSTON, Texas - With the annual Red-White Game less than 48 hours away, the University of Houston Cougars worked out in shoulder pads and helmets this afternoon under beautiful blue skies and 80-degree temperatures.
The defending Conference USA Champions practiced for almost two hours, and UH head coach Art Briles likes how his team is concluding spring drills.
"The main thing is that we are pleased that at this point we are really healthy," said the 2006 Conference USA Coach of the Year. "That is the number one issue. Secondly, it's been a different spring in that we are coming off the championship season. From West Virginia to Florida to Mississippi, Louisiana and Oklahoma, we are the champions out of this league.
"This gives us an added bit of incentive to keep that feeling alive. It is a good feeling knowing that you're conference champions. There aren't that many in the United States, and we're one of them. That has given us some momentum with our attitude, belief and effort, and now we have to produce on the field.
"Our whole focus this spring is we must sustain. We've got to be that much better in all phases of the game."
The Cougars will work again on Friday afternoon before plunging into the annual scrimmage at 10 am at the Carl Lewis International Track and Field Complex behind the Athletics/Alumni Center. All fans are encouraged to attend.
Houston returns 15 starters from last year's squad that finished 10-4 and captured the West Division of Conference USA with a 7-1 mark. The Cougars knocked off Southern Miss in the title game at John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium in front of the largest crowd in the stadium's history. UH concluded the year with its first trip to the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in ten years, squaring off against South Carolina in what CollegeFootballNews.com called the fourth-best bowl game of the 2006 season.
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