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Houston Spring Football Update #3

Cougars in pads for the third workout

Houston return to the practice field on Saturday afternoon.
 
Houston return to the practice field on Saturday afternoon.
  
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March 24, 2012

Houston, Texas - Practice 3 Update - March 24, 2012
Houston Football hit the practice fields in full pads on Saturday afternoon and it didn't take long for Scott Street to be filled by the sounds of football once again.

Playing in front of a huge crowd of fans, there were a number of great performances on Saturday, but it was hard not to notice the outstanding play of the offensive line. Both the first and second units performed well, no surprise with the return of four starters from 2011 and the emergence of Ralph Oragwu as a front-end player. In fact Houston has a couple of great options along the line. Emeka Okafor has seen improvement up front and players like DeAnthony Sims has shown an ability to play at a high level early this spring.

Perhaps the most impressive part about that offensive front so far as been their willingness to get down field and block. Oragwu made a great downfield block for Dewayne Peace on a screen play, setting up a touchdown, while Jacolby Ashworth made an athletic play to spring Kevin Wilson for a TD.

Defensively Kent Brooks continues to make big plays. Coming off a strong effort in the TicketCity Bowl, Brooks picked off a pass in the endzone against the No. 1 offense and showed great instincts flying up to snuff out a screen pass at the line of scrimmage.

Phillip Steward showed his athleticism flying up to bat down a throw from David Piland at the line of scrimmage and there might not be a more instinctive linebacker in Conference USA than Derrick Mathews, who was in on play after play.

 

 

Offensively Piland was again sharp hitting Mark Roberts and DeAndre Perry on scoring throws during the Red Zone offense segment and Crawford Jones was sharp hitting Perry and Wayne Beadle on touchdown passes.

Charles Sims continues to play like an All-American as well and found the end zone on a couple of occasions, including a run after a nifty spin to avoid a potential tackler.

Next Practice:
Houston returns to the practice fields on Monday (March 26) at 4:30 p.m. The club will be in full pads for the workout.

Spring Practice Overview: Houston gets 15 total practices in the spring, including the annual Red & White Spring Game, which will be held on Friday, April 13 at 7 p.m. at Robertson Stadium. Each practice, including the Spring Game is free / open to the general public. Click HERE for a complete (updated) Spring Football practice schedule.

All practice times and locations are subject to change, so please check with UHCougars.com and follow us on Twitter at @UHCougarFB for more information.

Who We Saw:
Several former Cougars were in attendance at Saturday's practice. Former offensive lineman James Hong was in attendance, as was former quarterback Case Keenum, who came out to watch his old running mates prepare for 2012.

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