University of Houston Athletics
Coach Dimel's Press Conference Quotes
10/23/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 23, 2001
Houston, Texas - Coach Dimel's defensive improvements: "Early in the ball game we did a good job of stopping the run. As I talked about last week, when you stop the run you can start to become more aggressive. We stopped the run early, we became more aggressive, we caused turnovers and we scored a defensive touchdown which was a big step for our program. So now for this weeks ball game we must bring that in and stop the run against Southern Miss. They have been struggling running the football, but they will still run the ball this week."
Coach Dimel on Offensive Improvements: "We ran the ball efficiently and effectively last week. We enjoyed have in the opportunity to do that and if we run well early in the ball game we will be able to throw well later in the ball game. That is what we are trying to do. Our run game was going so well we didn't feel the need to throw, but when we did throw we did it well. Nick was 15-23 passing overall. Right now he is completing passes at a high percentage rate and that is what we want to see happen. We want to establish a run game this weekend and be able to help Nick in his passing game. We feel like the Offensive line was playing much better and our Player of the Week Darnerious Watson."
Coach Dimel on fourth quarter play: "In the fourth quarter we did not play well defensively and that is an area of emphasis this week. We need to finish a game defensively, we had an eleven point lead and we need to hold on to that lead. We have to be more prepared to battle in the fourth quarter on defense."
Coach Dimel on the kicking game: "As we evaluated our kicking game, that was the thing that needed to be improved - how the kicks were placed and avoiding kicking the ball out of bounds."
Coach Dimel on Southern Miss' younger players performance: "I'm really impressed by the younger players that have stepped up after never starting before. They have done a nice job defensively and have played hard for them. They are very young on defense across the board, the only returners they have on defense are their two linebackers. They have done an outstanding job with their defense coming in and doing some good things for them."
Coach Dimel on Southern Miss' offensive struggle: "They are struggling with the offensive system that they have and they are trying to get better at it all the time. The bottom line is until you can run the football with some consistency the you are going to struggle offensively and that is where they are now. They are going to try to establish their run game against us and we have to stop it. "
Coach Dimel on the balance between running and passing games: "I think in this game I think it will be more balanced between running and passing than it was last week. We were running the ball so well, there was not any reason to throw it. When they finally stopped our run, we threw it enough to put us into a third-and-five, we just couldn't convert the third-and-five."
Coach Dimel on the Trick Play: "The fake field goal looked solid on film looked like it would be a good play for us, more than anything I think they were weary about us having a kicker that could actually kick from 44 yards, so they were probably thinking fake as well. If the play was executed properly then it would have worked. Some of the mechanics of the play: we didn't hold the ball long enough to get the guys to buy it, and so forth."
