congressional_record: CREC-2006-12-08-pt1-PgE2146
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| granule_id | date | congress | session | volume | issue | title | chamber | granule_class | sub_granule_class | page_start | page_end | speakers | bills | citation | full_text |
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| CREC-2006-12-08-pt1-PgE2146 | 2006-12-08 | 109 | 2 | UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON--CONFERENCE USA CHAMPS | HOUSE | EXTENSIONS | ALLOTHER | E2146 | E2146 | [{"name": "Ted Poe", "role": "speaking"}] | 152 Cong. Rec. E2146 | Congressional Record, Volume 152 Issue 135 (Friday, December 8, 2006) [Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 135 (Friday, December 8, 2006)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E2146] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [[Page E2146]] UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON--CONFERENCE USA CHAMPS ______ HON. TED POE of texas in the house of representatives Thursday, December 7, 2006 Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, today I recognize my alma mater, the University of Houston Cougars whose football team won the Conference USA Championship on December 1, 2006 against Southern Mississippi in front of a hometown crowd of 31,818, the largest crowd in the history of UH's Robertson Stadium. After being down at halftime by a score of 17-13, the Cougars rallied by to win by 34-20. I am immensely proud of the Cougar football program, which in the space of 5 years has turned itself completely around from a winless season in 2001. This lion's share of this tremendous success is attributed to Mr. Art Briles, the head coach of the Cougars--the brilliant architect of the turnaround. When Briles came to the Cougars in 2003, he found a team and school demoralized and devastated from years of mediocrity. A mere three years later, due to his leadership, the Coogs are conference champs and headed to the Liberty Bowl. In football, statistics are misleading, because the game is above all a team effort. It is hard to describe the contribution of an individual player to such an effort through their statistics, because one's performance is mortally dependent on so many other variables--broadly speaking, the performance of every other player on the team. Therefore, it could be said that the most important, perhaps only, statistic that matters is that of wins and losses, which reflects the performance of the team, not the individual player. This statistic is really the coach's statistic--Mr. Briles is ultimately responsible for it. In this the Cougars excelled, with a record of ten wins and only three losses. In recognition of excellence in leadership and performance, on December 6, Briles won the Coach of the Year award from the Conference USA--An award well-deserved. Mr. Speaker, in football, extreme importance is paid to the position of the quarterback. In the realm of sports, the vitality of this position is matched only by the pitcher in baseball. Fortunately, UH had an excellent quarterback in Kevin Kolb. In the championship game, Kevin completed 19-for-31 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for a 46-yard touchdown. But this was the continuation of an equally stellar season, in which Kevin completed 266-for-393 passes for 3,423 yards. He threw a league-high 27 touchdowns with only three interceptions. This touchdown-to- interception ratio was the second lowest in all of NCAAI-A football. For these exceptional accomplishments, Kevin has deservedly won the C- USA Offensive Player of the Year award. I must also recognize Vincent Marshall, who was named the game's Most Valuable Player. Vincent, a wide receiver, rushed for a touchdown and had 224 all-purpose yards--100 receiving, 22 rushing, and 102 yards on three kickoff returns. Also notable is the fact that Vincent has made a reception in 36 straight games, allowing him to be the Nation's top returning career receiver. He is also just 31 catches, and 557 yards, away from holding the UH record in both categories. Mr. Speaker, I commend Coach Briles, Kevin, Vincent, and the entire Cougar football team for a superb season, a conference championship, and for making students of the University of Houston, past and present, proud to be a Cougar. I look forward to the Liberty Bowl, where the un- daunted Cougars will face the Southeastern Conference South Carolina GameCocks. They will meet for the first time since October 5, 1974, but whom the Cougars are 2-0 against. I look forward to a Cougar victory. My pride goes to UH. ``Eat `em up, eat `em up; rah, rah, rah,'' Mr. Speaker. That's just the way it is. ____________________ |