February 1958, while Monksford gave him his last winner at Hamilton i

The Houston Cougars survived Cincinnati on a short week thanks to a stellar performance from quarterback Greg Ward Jr.Unlike the last big Cougars win, however, Ward wont be following that with a week on the sidelines when they travel to San Marcos, Texas, to take on Texas State at Jim Wacker Field at Bobcat Stadium on Saturday night.Ward, who finds himself in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy after passing for 321 yards and two touchdowns in Houstons 33-23 season opening upset of then No. 3-ranked Oklahoma, took a lot of hits in the 40-16 win over the Bearcats last Thursday night.The No. 6 Cougars won despite struggling most of the way, and the lopsided final score doesnt reflect how the game was played. Houston trailed 16-12 early in the fourth quarter before scoring the final 28 points on two Ward touchdown runs and two defensive scores.Credit to the leaders on the team, Cougars coach Tom Herman said. We were down by four points in the fourth quarter, and there wasnt a difference on the sideline as if we were up by 16 on Oklahoma.Ward sat out the Lamar game two weeks ago to rest his shoulder after the victory over Oklahoma. But as Herman noted in his weekly press conference, this weeks opponent, Texas State (1-1), is not Lamar. Its a quality foe that the Cougars cant look past, so Ward will take it easier in practice during the week in order to be ready to go on Saturday.Hes one of the best competitors Ive ever been around, and hes taken a lot of big hits in his day, Herman said. Once he got hit in the shoulder, yeah it hurt, but did his arm fall off? No. Was he able to throw another pass? Yes. That kind of gave him some confidence, like hey what these doctors and coaches have been telling me is true.Ward, who owns a nations best streak of 16 straight wins as a starter, went through a full practice Sunday, including a 7-on-7 session that he threw a bunch and threw it well.Its a volume thing, not what kinds of throws, Herman added. If he feels like its too much then well settle down, and if he feels like he can handle it well give him everything he can handle.It will be a challenging week for the Cougars, and not just because Texas State opened with a victory over Ohio before dropping a decision to Arkansas. Former Houston director of football recruiting Adrian Mayes is now the offensive line coach for coach Everett Withers at Texas State.That will be a big challenge for us, Herman said. We are having to change every signal, call and check. We are trying to get ready to win a game, and yet we are having to spend this amount of time to mask what we are doing. Its not a matter of only changing the plays. Its a matter of what we are calling our plays, how we are communicating and signaling them.Herman and Withers have their own history together, at previous coaching stops at Texas and Ohio State.(We worked together) two years (at Ohio State), and way back when I was a graduate assistant at Texas he was a DB coach there, Herman said. I consider him a close friend. My wife and his wife are really close friends. They got to know each other quite a bit in Columbus and continue to talk to this day. We were excited when Everett got the opportunity to move back to the great state of Texas and excited to see him off to a good start.Texas State opened the season and the Withers era with a 56-54 triple overtime win at Ohio. The Bobcats fell behind 35-0 at halftime in an eventual 42-3 loss at Arkansas last week.Although Ward gets most of the national attention, Houstons defense has been a major reason for the hot start. The Cougars lead the nation in rushing defense, allowing an average of just 38.3 yards per game, and held Oklahomas potent ground game to just 70 yards. Senior linebacker Steven Taylor leads the unit and has 5.5 sacks through three games, as well as an interception return for a touchdown. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Lakers Jersey . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. Byron Scott Lakers Jersey . - Levi Browns tenure at left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers is over before it even began. http://www.lakersbasketballshop.com/Wilt-Chamberlain-Jersey/ . Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. Vlade Divac Lakers Jersey . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. Wilt Chamberlain Lakers Jersey . The Croatian served 21 aces and hit 42 winners against Sijsling, who double-faulted to give Cilic a 4-3 lead in the deciding set. "All the players, they know me and they were really happy to see me and they were really happy that this is over for me," Cilic said.Grand National-winning trainer Denys Smith has died, aged 92. The County Durham handler enjoyed his finest hour at Aintree in 1968 when Red Alligator claimed National glory under Brian Fletcher.Smith could even have claimed the big race 12 months earlier, but the same horse finished a distant third after he became embroiled in the notorious 23rd-fence pile-up that led to Foinavon causing a 100-1 upset. A former taxi driver, the self-taught Smith was seen as one of the pioneering trainers of his generation and also won two Group One races on the Flat.Smith was crowned champion jumps trainer in the 1967-68 campaign but he was prolific on the Flat, too, having won races like the Lincoln (Foggy Bell), the Middle Park (Tudenham) and the Flying Childers (Mandrake Major).He was also a Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer and landed a division of the Gloucestershire Hurdle (now the Supreme Novices Hurdle) in 1968.Owens Mark provided Smith with a first victory under Rules at Sedgefield in February 1958, while Monksford gave him his last winner at Hamilton in 2002.He saddled over 1,600 winners from his Bishop Auckland yard in a careeer that spanned nearly 50 years.ddddddddddddFormer jockey Chris Grant left school as a 15-year-old to work for Smith, in a union which lasted 15 years, and said he owed everything in racing to his former boss.Grant, who is now a trainer in Cleveland, said I nearly got out of the game because I was a bit heavy, but Denys got me going again.He won a National, won a Lincoln, and won so many other good races during such a long career.Flat or jumps, it didnt matter to Denys. He was really ahead of his time in that respect.We travelled a lot of miles together. He used to drive me to the races and I used to drive him back.We got on very well and won some nice races, including the Triumph Hurdle Trial (Cheltenham) with The Grey Bomber and the Greenall (Haydock) with Midnight Love.Denys was in a care home until recently, but his mind was still as sharp as a razor.I wouldnt be where I was now if it wasnt for Denys Smith. Also See: Live results service Full racecards Get Sky Sports ￡10 completely free bet! ' ' '