Dec. 23, 2007

HOUSTON - Fresh off a five-day break, the University of Houston football team returned to work Sunday afternoon with a solid workout on the UH practice fields.

After position meetings and sessions in the Elmer Redd Strength & Conditioning Center, the players worked out in full pads for a little over an hour under clear skies and cold temperatures. Following the session, interim head coach Chris Thurmond said he was proud of the way the players responded after a lengthy lay-off.

"It was great tempo today. The guys came back and they really did a good job coming out here. We weren't out here a long time, but they were efficient and they did a good job," Thurmond said. "There was a great attitude with great, great work today. We got a lot of stuff done."

The Cougars meet TCU at 7 p.m., Dec. 28 in the 2007 Texas Bowl at Reliant Stadium. Fans can hear that game live on 790 AM The Sports Animal with Tom Franklin calling the play-by-play action, David Klingler and Ted Pardee providing color analysis and Chuck Brown reporting from the sidelines. The pregame show is slated to begin one hour before kickoff.

Fans also can follow live stats over the Internet by clicking the Gametracker link at UHCougars.com.

The game also will be televised live on the NFL Network (DirecTV channel 212/Dish Network channel 154) with Brad Sham calling the play-by-play action, Charles Davis and Mike Mayock providing color analysis and Kimberly Jones on the sidelines. It will be the sixth time this season that the Cougars will play on television.

The game also will be broadcast live on Westwood One Radio with Don Criqui handling play-by-play duties and Allen Pinkett as the color analyst.

In addition to their Texas Bowl preparations, the Cougar players have endured final examinations to wrap up the fall semester, the loss of head coach Art Briles who accepted a position at Baylor and the hiring of Oklahoma co-offensive coordinator Kevin Sumlin as the program's 11th head coach.

Through all of that, the players have responded favorably and worked hard each day in practice. That kind of mental toughness can only help the team during the game against the Horned Frogs, Thurmond said.

"They have done a good job of setting their mental clock each day. You can always control how you are going to approach things. They have approached things in a positive manner, and we (coaching staff) have approached things in a positive manner. They have come out here and handled things each day," Thurmond said. "We tell them every day `handle it whatever the situation is.' They've done that, so it is a tribute to them. They are a great bunch."

Following practice, the team enjoyed dinner at Cougar Hall and then checked into this week's team headquarters, the Hyatt Regency in downtown Houston.

The Cougars will continue their regular game-week practice schedule this week with workouts scheduled for 11:30 a.m., Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The team will participate in a walk-through at Reliant Stadium at 2 p.m., Thursday.