University of Houston Athletics
Coach Dimel's Press Conference Quotes
11/13/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 13, 2001
Houston, Texas - Coach Dimel on Defense: "The first thing I want to talk about was how much better our defense played. Without one or two big plays they made on the long catch in the third quarter and when Bachie (McGruder) caused the fumble, there at the end of the game, we had held them (Louisville) close to 300 yds. For the ball game. Louisville the week before put a great deal of yards on Tulane and were on a peak going into our ballgame. We made some subtle changes schematically within the defense that really helped us out. I was real pleased with the way the defense played. I f we can continue to play at that level this next game, I think we can make a run this weekend."
Coach Dimel on Special Teams "I was not especially pleased at all with our special team coverage and kick-off coverage. We had worked all week on different types of placement kicks and on that one we decided that there was a pretty strong wind and we decided to kick the ball out of the end zone on the opening kick-off and obviously we did not get it done. The kick did not have the hang time and the coverage really suffered because of that. That gave Louisville quite a bit of momentum to start the game."
Coach Dimel on Momentum "Offensively and Defensively we probably played well enough to have a chance to win the football game against Louisville, obviously one of the best teams if not the best team in the conference. Now we have the momentum back in the direction we want to have it. This week we have a chance to get a victory to get the momentum going even better as we will move in to playing Georgia in the final game of the season after the UAB game."
Question: "Coach, How did you feel about Kelly (Robertson) coming off the injury and starting this week?" Coach Dimel: "He (Robertson) had a little rust on him, which could be expected after not starting and still having some problems with his wrist which is not 100% by any means. After he injured his wrist, the doctors said he needed to have surgery, but Kelly said he didn't want surgery he wanted to finish out the year. He had a solid performance at quarterback and I am looking for him to step up and have a big game this week at that position. We have a big task. UAB is the #1 defense in the country against the rush and is a very good defensive football team, but I think that we are going to go out and have an outstanding offensive performance this week. I feel good about how our team is ready and going back in the direction that we need it right now and I think that Kelly will lead us into a big game on Saturday."
Coach Dimel on Rufus Williams: "So that everyone understands this, Rufus (Williams) was a partial qualifier coming out of high school. A partial qualifier coming out of high school under certain restrictions in the NCAA if they can get academically 75% to graduation by the end of their fourth year, than they get an extra year of eligibility. Rufus is on track to achieve that, so we will have him back for next year. " "Rufus is constantly improving everyday. He made a couple nice stops in the Louisville game, one on a critical run situation where they had run a ball up the right side and he (Williams) got a block and made a big play and had a pass batted down. So Rufus, I'm really pleased with how he is playing."
Coach Dimel on Kelly Robertson's Eligibility Status: " Kelly Robertson's status is still in question because if his background and because he has been so many places and had injuries. So it is still in question whether we can get that extra year. We are still trying to push the envelope on that and we hope that it does happen. We will probably try to get some kind of definitive answer before spring ball starts."
