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Seats available for Cougar fans in Dallas

The first meeting between the Houston Cougars and Air Force Falcons on the football field will not take place at Robertson Stadium in Houston or Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Instead, weather forecasts predicting Hurricane Ike to make landfall along the Texas Coast caused UH Athletics Director Dave Maggard and UH President Renu Khator to move Saturday’s game to the Gerald J. Ford Stadium on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

UH head coach Kevin Sumlin completely supports the decision.

"This week, both administrations and coaches voiced their opinion that they wanted to play the game. Sumlin said. "There’s no other time to play it."

Houston and Air Force do not have adjoining bye weeks the rest of the season, so if they do not play this week, the game would be cancelled.

Sumlin told his team on Monday that they were going to play Saturday’s game against Air Force "no matter what."

"I told them to be prepared to play anywhere…to play in another venue here in town, somewhere here in the state or somewhere out of state," he said.

Sumlin said he did not want to cancel the game because he felt the players deserved the chance to play every game on the schedule and because each win is crucial to earning a post-season bid to a bowl game.

"You can cancel a game and move on, but…you’re only guaranteed 12 of them. For the kids who are seniors, who are guaranteed 12 games, I don’t want to take anything away from them (and) guys that work real hard for those 12 opportunities and for the opportunities that present themselves after those 12 games. This game gives…both teams a chance to earn another win that might be critical for a bowl game."

Although the Cougars have had just one game at home this season and will not play at Robertson Stadium again until October, Sumlin said moving the location of the game was the only way to guarantee the teams would play on Satruday.

"We sacrificed, but it’s a question of playing a game or not playing a game. It’s unfortunate (but) I am encouraging (fans) to come," Sumlin said.

Students receive free admission to the game with a valid Cougar One card at the entrance at Gate 5 of the stadium. Fans who already have tickets will have a designated section in the stadium. General admission tickets will be sold for $10 at the stadium on Saturday. Various parking lots will be available. All transactions will be conducted in cash only.

The game will be broadcast on CBS College Sports and on KBME-AM. Live updates will be posted online at The Daily Cougar’s Web site.

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