University of Houston Athletics
Football Concludes Oregon Prep
8/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 30, 2007
HOUSTON - The University of Houston wrapped up this week's practices for the opener against Oregon with a two-hour workout Thursday afternoon at the UH Athletics Complex.
The 2006 C-USA Champions kick off the 2007 season with a game against the Ducks in Eugene, Ore. this Saturday at 12:30 p.m. (PDT). The Ducks and Cougars have met twice in the record books with Oregon coming out on top in the series 2-0. This will be the first return to Autzen Stadium by Houston since Sept. 24, 1983 when the Ducks squeezed out a 15-14 win.
"Today was kind of a clean up day," head coach Art Briles said. "Just kind of fine tuned what we've been working on for the last month. Our guys are ready to go play somebody, just like I'm sure Oregon is."
One of the challenges this Saturday will be overcoming the offensive packages the Ducks have put together both on the ground and in the air.
"They've got good players, they've got good staff, they've got good schemes," Briles said. "They're a dominant Pac-10 football team. We know we're in for a tough game but our guys are starting to be ready to play."
Oregon is refining what already proved to be a powerful weapon on offense last year. The combined efforts of Jonathan Stewart and Jeremiah Johnson gave Oregon 21 of the 26 rushing touchdowns in the 2006 season and together they earned over 225 all-purpose yards.
Last season three wide receivers put together an eight game series that, with the exception of one year, accumulated more 100-yard receiving efforts than any other year in Duck history.
The Ducks have won 20 or their last 23 season openers, including last season's 48-10 win over Stanford. They're 13-7 when opening the season at Autzen Stadium.
"We've done all we can do to prepare on this end," Briles said. "It's going to be a great atmosphere and we're going to try to feed off their energy. We're going to use it to play to our advantage."
Under head coach Mike Bellotti, Oregon has won 10 of the last 12 season openers and is 7-2 when opening the season at home in Autzen Stadium.
"We're ready to get out and play somebody else. We're excited about that aspect of it. We're anxious for the opportunity to go out there and represent the University of Houston."
The game can be heard over the radio on 790 The Sports Animal, beginning with a pregame show starting one hour prior to kickoff. Play-by-play will come from the "Voice of the Cougars", Tom Franklin with color analysis coming from record-setting quarterback David Klingler. Chuck Brown will rove the field as the sideline reporter. All Cougar football games can be heard and seen on the internet by logging onto the UH Web site at www.UHCougars.com.
The game will be televised on the Oregon Sports Network with Joe Giansante calling the game and Anthony Newman providing the color analysis.
