Dec. 29, 2011

Dallas, Texas - Houston Football has arrived in Dallas. Following three days of post-holiday workouts on the UH campus, Houston will enjoy the festivities surrounding the 2012 TicketCity Bowl, while also preparing for the Jan. 2 contest against Penn State at Cotton Bowl Stadium.

The Cougars practiced for nearly two hours on Thursday morning before loading the buses for the near four-hour trek to "Big D". The team arrived at approximately 5:30 p.m. this afternoon and met as a group before a BBQ dinner and entertainment at Gilley's in downtown Dallas.

Included in the entertainment was a hypnosis show. Nearly 15 Cougars participated, including defensive linemen Zeke Riser and David Hunter.

"It was a lot of fun," Hunter said. "The guy did a good job and it was great getting out and having fun with our teammates, even if it was at our expense a little tonight."

The team was also treated to a silver watch from the TicketCity Bowl and the watches were fitted on site.

"This has already been a lot of fun," Eric Braswell said. "We didn't make a bowl game last year, so this is new for a lot of us. But while we are having fun, this is a business trip. Our total focus is on Monday's game."

After dinner many team members spent the evening in the Player's Lounge. The lounge is complete with stereo equipment, game consoles, a pool table and snacks.

It will be an early wake-up call for UH on Friday. The team begins practice at 10 a.m. at Mesquite High School and will attend the Dallas Mavericks game later that evening.