University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Conclude Pre-Season Camp
8/25/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 25, 2001
With exactly one week remaining before the 2001 season opener, the University of Houston participated in its fourth and final scrimmage of the fall season this afternoon at Robertson Stadium.
In what UH head coach Dana Dimel called a "situational scrimmage," the Cougars worked out for a little over an hour as they prepare for Rice University next Saturday at John O'Quinn Field. UH spent most of the scrimmage working its number one offense while prepping its defense for the Rice option attack. Coach Dimel also sprinkled in a few special teams' plays, as he tries to shore up a unit that was a headache for him and his staff during the 2000 campaign.
Junior quarterback Kelly Robertson, running the first-team offense, was extremely effective in moving the ball. Solidifying his status as the Cougars' starting quarterback, Robertson looked crisp in completing nine-of-13 passes for 239 yards and two scores. More impressively, he spread all nine completions to nine different receivers, including touchdown tosses to sophomore Mark Hopkins (19 yards) and junior Ethan Ross (six yards), who looks completely recovered from off-season shoulder surgery.
Dimel was impressed with the workout this afternoon, but the second-year head coach knows he must push his team to get better over the next week if they want to find success in Southwestern Bell Bayou Bucket battle with Rice.
"There are still a lot of things we have to get corrected," said Dimel. "We have to have better success early in the game if we are going to be a good football team. That is what our guys need to understand. We have to come out of the locker room humming and getting ahead of some people.
"We have to play better football early on both sides of the ball, and that is a big emphasis for us right now. Secondly, if we don't, we have to understand how to overcome adversity. But we need to be a better early football team.
Dimel also pointed out that Robertson has truly grasped the controls of running his football team.
"Kelly did really well," added Dimel. "I thought he did a good job. There are still some little things with execution, getting used to game-day speed (and) that's why we are hoping four walk-throughs like this scrimmage will help us."
The Cougars will enjoy a day off tomorrow before settling in for the week's preparation for Rice beginning on Monday. The Cougars and Owls will kickoff at 7 p.m. on September 1 at Robertson Stadium.
Tickets are still available for this inner-city battle, one of only two Division I-A city clashes in the nation.
-UHCougars.com-
