[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23770]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              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.

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