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Sports

Cougars will have revenge in mind in for C-USA championship game

by MARK SUAREZ
THE DAILY COUGAR

In a moment of boldness, senior quarterback Kevin Kolb refused to let his teammates hang their heads after falling to Southern Miss 31-27 on Oct. 14.

Kolb, frustrated with the referees and the agony of losing for the third consecutive time, called his shot at M.M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Miss. 

"We're going to run the tables on our side," Kolb said after the game. "We'll meet (Southern Miss) in the conference championship and then we'll have some neutral refs and then we'll see what happens." 

After that loss, the Cougars went on a tear to close out the season, winning their remaining five games to take the Conference USA West Division. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles rebounded from two consecutive losses to Virginia Tech and East Carolina to win their final four and the East Division crown.

Houston (9-3, 7-1 C-USA) and Southern Miss (8-4, 6-2 C-USA) will square off one more time for the C-USA championship at 7 p.m. Friday at Robertson Stadium.

For UH head coach Art Briles, the road to the championship game since the loss to Southern Miss has seen the Cougars mature in more ways than one. 

"I know we are in a different mindset -- that stuff you can't put on paper and point to it," he said. "The mental aspect of the game is very important. I know we are a mentally tougher football team than we were on Oct. 14, and we are a more confident team and a more passionate team now."

The Cougars have certainly been a more committed football team when it comes to running the ball. Junior running back Anthony Alridge and senior running back Jackie Battle have rushed for more than 800 yards each and will look to exploit a Southern Miss defense that is surrendering 131 rushing yards per game. 

Kolb, who is the UH all-time leader in passing yards and completions and holds numerous other offensive records for UH, will guide the Cougar spread offense for the final time at Robertson Stadium.

The Southern Miss defense has not been shabby defending the pass, holding opposing quarterbacks to 172.6 yards through the air per game, and could give Kolb problems early. 

Senior center Sterling Doty, who was a solid fixture on the UH offensive line and will make his final appearance at Robertson as well, said the key offensively is taking what the defense gives them while recalling some of Southern Miss' defensive tendencies.

"We're going to come out and of course try and run the football," Doty said. "Set up the pass and just really take what the defense gives us.

"We obviously think they're going to do what they did to us back when we played them in October, so we're basically going to … try to execute the game plan." 

The game plan on defense for the Cougars will not be as familiar to the Golden Eagles. Houston has undergone a shift in its 3-4 defensive alignment, and senior nose tackle Marquay Love said the change has been positive.

"We have different adjustments with our pass rush," Love said. "Now we have four (defensive) linemen … that's what's changed. Now we just have to (contain) the quarterback and not let him scramble and we got to be able to get pressure."

If Southern Miss quarterback Jeremy Young has his way, Houston will have to contend with a passing threat that yielded two touchdowns in their previous meeting. Golden Eagle running back Damion Fletcher is a dangerous option out of the backfield as well. He's rushed for 112 yards per game this season but was held to a modest 85 yards on the ground against Houston. 

Senior cornerback Willie Gaston knows Young and Fletcher had their moments against the UH defense, but said blown assignments and miscommunication in the secondary won't be a problem this time. 

"I think we're going to match up pretty good," Gaston said. "We matched up well against them last time; we only gave up three big plays. The thing is, we've got to make sure we communicate out there on the field. You always have to have communication. That is definitely going to be the key."

Gaston will also say his final goodbyes to Robertson Stadium and the UH faithful after five seasons with the team. He said he remembers the atmosphere in 2002 after the infamous 0-11 campaign of 2001. 

Like an artist working on his final masterpiece, Gaston is as proud of the journey as the end result.

"This program has gone from a 0-11 season to go to three bowl games in four years," Gaston said. "It's a great feeling knowing that we made that much of a change, that much of a turnaround."

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