Student Publications
University of Houston
151C Communications Bldg
Houston, TX 77204-4015
713.743.5350

©1991-2007
Student Publications,
All rights reserved.

Last modified:

Contact:
ktruitt@uh.edu

Sports

Briles has revived Houston's fallen football program

by MARK SUAREZ
THE DAILY COUGAR

When UH head coach Art Briles took his first steps onto John O'Quinn field at Robertson Stadium in 2003, the only thing that mattered that night was beating the Rice Owls -- and UH did 48-14.

By the time Briles steps off the field Friday evening, he will know if the journey he began that day to bring Houston its first conference title since 1996 will finally come to an end.

After three seasons in the Briles era, UH football has undergone an evolution that has seen the Cougars mature into C-USA championship contenders. The process has bore witness to the development of the entire program from the ground up. 

"The thing about coaching and playing is you get in a mode and you just grind," Briles said. "You just work and you evolve as a system and as a staff and you evolve as players.

"That's kind of been the steady process that we've been in since I stepped on the campus. (From Athletics Director) Dave Maggard all the way through our coaches and players … and we've ended up in a pretty good spot right now."

The evolution of the 2006 Cougars began with a dominant recruiting class that yielded senior Kevin Kolb among others, who was the first true UH freshman to start at quarterback and has since led an assault on the UH offensive record books. 

"We've got a bunch of guys that came in here and played early," Briles said. "Marquay (Love), Wade (Koehl) and Kevin (Kolb). A lot of these guys have come in and played as true freshman and we've grown with some other guys prior to getting here." 

In his first season, Briles guided the Cougars back to respectability after a 7-6 campaign with an appearance at the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. Houston scored in the final minutes on what has become known as "Vincent's Run" to send the game into overtime after wide receiver Vincent Marshall turned a short pass over the middle into an 81-yard touchdown. Houston fell 54-48 in triple over time and left Hawaii with a "black eye" after the infamous brawl following the game. 

In 2003, Houston had a 1,000-yard rusher in Anthony Evans and a 3,000-yard passer in Kolb. UH played a ball control style of offense, accumulating 651 rushing attempts with an average time of possession of more than 31 minutes a game. 

With expectations raised, the 2004 Cougars slipped on a banana peel in the first game of the season, falling 10-7 at Rice. From that moment Houston suffered key injuries on defense that led to a scoring frenzy from its opponents who averaged 32 points against the UH defense. Houston saw its season rushing totals fall to 466 attempts. Kolb suffered a drop in production as well, and the Cougars ended the year a disappointing 3-8 overall. 

The 2005 season saw revitalization in the passing game as Kolb led the Cougars to a 6-6 mark. The Cougars went into the final game of the season needing a win against Rice to gain bowl eligibility and handily defeated the Owls 35-18. Defense was still a problem for UH, who surrendered 27 points a game but offset that with great production from its skill position players. Ryan Gilbert rumbled his way to a 1,000-yard season and Marshall had 939-yards receiving that year. The Cougars displayed a balanced offense with 422 pass attempts compared to 477 rushes. Houston earned a spot in the Fort Worth Bowl and fell 42-13 to Kansas. 

Last season's progress has translated well in 2006. The Cougars are 9-3 and 7-1 in C-USA this year. Houston fell by one point on the road at Miami and captured its first victory against a Big 12 opponent when it defeated Oklahoma State 34-25 earlier this year.

In the grand scheme of things, the defense has finally evolved with the offense. The mad dog defense of the late 1970's has been revived under new defensive coordinator Alan Weddell. Offensively, coach Briles knows a good thing when he sees one. 

"Overall I think we've done well," Briles said. "It's been evident by going to three out of four bowl games. (UH) had been to one bowl game in the previous fifteen years and we've been to three out of four. We've been nationally ranked offensively in the top 20 in the country three out of the four years so there's some stuff that's been very positive and we're very proud of that."

Send comments to dcsports@mail.uh.edu