University of Houston Athletics
Football Continues Preparations for South Florida
10/30/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 30, 2001
HOUSTON, Texas - The University of Houston football team continued its preparations Tuesday for this weekend's non-conference road tilt at South Florida.
The Cougars, who face the Bulls in a 6 p.m. (CST) contest Saturday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., worked out for about three hours during a cool evening Tuesday in shorts and shoulder pads. Following the workout, Cougar head coach Dana Dimel said his team was continuing to work hard despite an 0-7 start.
"Defensively, we had a great team practice. We created some turnovers and now we need to grow on that theme," Dimel said. "Offensively, we didn't have a good effort as far as turnovers. We have to eliminate those."
While Saturday's game will be the first-ever meeting between Houston and South Florida on the gridiron, it will be the first of many games to come. South Florida joins Conference USA as a full-time member in the fall of 2003, but the Bulls and Cougars will play during the 2002 season in Houston.
"All we are doing is starting a rivalry, and we want to start it off right where can have some success in the future," Dimel said.
The Cougars come into the game on the heels of a 58-14 loss at Southern Mississippi on Saturday in Hattiesburg, Miss. In that game, running back Joffrey Reynolds was held under 100 yards for the first time in four games and quarterback Nick Eddy threw for 254 yards on 26-of-56 passing but was intercepted a season-high four times in the loss.
"I didn't like the early turnover on the interception and the two turnovers in the end zone," Dimel said. "Those were a big part of our offensive deficiencies, and we will need to work on that because it has not been a glaring problem to this point."
The Bulls come into the game riding high on a three-game winning streak with a 68-37 win over Liberty coming last weekend.
