After a short week of preparation, the UH Cougars will travel for their first road game of the season to take on the University of Cincinnati Bearcats on Thursday night.
Even though the Cougars have started out 2-0, head coach Tom Herman said he would still like to have the extra days to rest and let the players heal. He brought up the offense’s 97 snaps on Saturday, which was more than average.
Regardless of the snap count, the Cougars were back at the facility just a day after the Lamar Cardinals game and went through a practice they would normally have Tuesday.
In preparation for Thursday night’s game, Herman said that the team is following a different training schedule to get them ready.
“We practiced late (Sunday) night,” Herman said. “We went from 7:15 to 9:15.”
Herman said that there were a couple of reasons for the team practicing later than usual.
One reason was to give the team additional rest after the Cardinals game, which was lengthened by an almost four-hour lightning delay. The second reason was to get the team acclimatize to being on the field at night, under bright lights and with slightly cooler outside conditions.
Herman also said that the practices this week would be shorter than usual, and that most of the time would be spent scouting the Bearcats to make sure that the Cougars will be ready.
Senior offensive lineman Mac Long said he noticed the difference in the preparation for the short week.
“Saturday, we got done with the game and Sunday, we came in and we put the game behind us,” Long said. “We had to get right into it. We had to get right into the film, and we had a Tuesday (style) practice, so there’s not a whole lot of time off.”
Senior outside linebacker Tyus Bowser didn’t seem bothered. He said that the coaching staff has prepared them for a quick turn-around and that the team has been working hard to give their bodies time to recover.
The Cougars will attempt to have some sense of normalcy this week, though. For example, they will still have lunch, hit the weights and get treatments around the same time.
The team will leave Wednesday for Cincinnati so that they can go through their normal routine. Thursday’s game will be the first of four games that won’t be on a Saturday this season.
Long said that it didn’t matter which day a game was on; the team will be ready.
“We could be down there at Cream Burger at 12 at night,” Long said. “It’s not going to matter. When they say put the ball down, we’re going to go play.”