Houston Cougars in-depth 2007 football preview

Cougars look to capture second consecutive CUSA crown in '07

Art Briles is entering his fifth season as the head coach at the University of Houston.

Coming off of their first conference championship in ten years, the Houston Cougars are primed to make another run at the conference crown and a return to glory in 2007. Although the loss of Kevin Kolb and other key senior leadership creates question marks for the upcoming season, Head Coach Art Briles considers this team to be reloading rather than rebuilding.

UH Offense (A): Briles had some retooling to do in the off-season, but the prospects are bright when you consider the Cougars are returning seven starters on offense, including three all conference players. The offense will remain atop CUSA although we may see a shift in yardage from the passing game to the running game with questions to be answered at QB and a lightening quick running back like Anthony Alridge.

UH Quarterbacks (C+): Oklahoma State transfer Al Pena is considered the favorite to start, although Briles has made it clear no decisions have been made. Pena has experience against BCS opponents and has one year of eligibility remaining which means that he probably wouldn't have come to Houston if he didn't think there was a better than average chance of being the starter. Don't be surprised however, if Pena is on a short leash. If the Cougars start slow, Briles has redshirt sophomore Blake Joseph waiting in the wings. The strong-armed Joseph has three years experience in Briles' offense but was shaky at best in the spring game. Coaches and fans alike are high on redshirt freshman Case Keenum who has been impressive in spring practices but is considered the future rather than the now. Look for Briles to reel in his quarterbacks and depend more on the run unless Pena proves himself early.

UH Running Backs (A): Senior Anthony "Quick-Six" Alridge figures to be the focal point of an offense in transition. Alridge might be the best kept secret in college football and could very well be the fastest player in the game. Converted from wide receiver before the 2006 season, Alridge racked up 959 yards on only 95 carries. Alridge is the type of player, like an Andre Ware, that has the potential to transcend the relative anonymity of the program and emerge as a dark horse Heisman candidate, but to do so will have to put up similar numbers for an entire season. Much of Alridge's success came from being part of a one-two punch with fellow running back and now Dallas Cowboy Jackie Battle. Look for teams to stack up their defensive lines early in the season to contain Alridge and try to make the quarterback beat them. For the running game as a whole to succeed, the Cougars will need a solid contribution from freshman tailback Randall Antoine who has made a good impression on the coaches in spring practice.

UH Wide Receivers (A-): The Cougars return a powerful combo of seniors at this position in Donnie Avery and the 6'5" Jeron Harvey. Harvey gives the new quarterback a tall target and will likely emerge as the go-to receiver. Avery, at 5'11", gives the Cougars a steady, smart option over the middle and the ability to go deep if needed. The question mark will be the third receiver, the untested sophomore Chris Gilbert. At 5'9", Gilbert will need to make his presence felt early and often to keep pressure off the two seniors.

UH Tight Ends (B): Mark Hafner was strong in relief of now Arizona Cardinal Rodney Hannah and should be a solid weapon at the position. Freshman Wesley Scourton is penciled in as Hafner's backup and should provide some depth at 6'6".

UH Offensive Line (B-): Although the Cougars lose all conference center Sterling Doty, Sir Vincent Rogers (knee), and Byron Alfred (law school), the unit should be strong again this year, returning three starters in seniors Dustin Dickinson (RT), Jeff Akeroyd (LG) and junior Michael Bloesch (RG). Sophomore Carl Barnett impressed coaches this spring and is a shoe-in to start at center. Left tackle is up in the air as junior Sebastian Vollmer will compete for minutes with sophomore Matt Hart.

UH Special Teams (C+): Junior kicker Ben Bell was solid last season and returns to a special teams unit that should be getting better with experience. Alridge will be a touchdown threat every game at KR. Last season the Cougars ranked 114th in the nation in punt return yardage, so much improvement is needed. Freshman Teric Williams and Randall Antoine will both get chances to see if they can improve on an abysmal 2006 unit. Freshman punter Tommy Skinner will round out what will be a very young inexperienced return team.

The Cougars will try to repeat as Conference USA champions in 2007.

UH Defense (A-): The "Mad Dog" defense of old could be prowling Robertson stadium once more with a unit that is returning eight starters including two all conference players. Last years defense had many "bend but don't break moments", but with more experience and some truly quick and hard hitting players, this unit should be at or near the top of CUSA again this year and probably won't have to do nearly as much "bending." Second year defensive coordinator Alan Weddell stuck with the 3-4 set for most of the season with a bit of 4-2-5 thrown in sparingly. This year with personnel changes, Weddell feels his team is better equipped to run a 4-2-5 scheme and plans to do so on a more consistent basis.

UH Defensive Line (A+): This year should be a coming out party for the Cougar D-line with all conference defensive tackle Ell Ash wreaking havoc on opposing quarterbacks. Juniors Cody Pree (NT) and Phillip Hunt (DE) round out a unit that should be the premier defensive line in the conference. When Weddell switches to his 4-2-5 scheme, look for senior linebacker Brendan Pahulu to drop in to the other (DE) position.

UH Linebacker (C+): Pahulu will perhaps be the biggest playmaker in this group that includes some tough but slower linebackers in senior Trent Allen and junior Cody Lubojasky. Stephen James will be the only new starter in the unit and will have to bring more to the table to make up for the loss of playmaker Wade Koehl.

UH Defensive Backs (A): The Cougars are loaded with hard-hitting talent at safety with junior Ernest Miller and senior Rocky Schwartz competing for time at the strong safety spot. Senior Joseph Gonzales will get the nod at free safety and be a solid contributor. Junior Kenneth Fontenette was all conference last season and figures to be the most talented corner on the team if not the entire conference once again. Junior Quinte Williams will start at the other corner and will need to start strong because opposing quarterbacks will surely throw his way before Fontenette's.

Final Houston Football Outlook & Analysis

Houston drew a Robertson Stadium record 31,818 fans to last December's CUSA title game versus Southern Miss.

Overall, all this should mean another good year for the Cougars who have an excellent chance to repeat. However, they will need at the very least some solid, mistake-free football from their quarterback. The entire conference seems to be improving as a whole, but in the end it will come down to the same story, a battle between Southern Miss and Houston. This is a match-up that the Cougars should win by a much smaller margin than last year, which will result in their first national ranking since 1992 as long as they don't lose any games they aren't supposed to. Al Pena will have his hands full from the starting gate with a tough season opener at Oregon. If the Cougars can pull off the upset over the Ducks in the notoriously raucous Autzen Stadium, the sky will be their limit.