University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Ready To Take On The Bulldogs
9/12/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 12, 2001
HOUSTON - After spending much of the day in a state of turmoil waiting to hear if the University of Houston's game at Georgia would be played or not, head coach Dana Dimel finds himself in a quandary heading into Saturday's game.
Dimel and his staff awaited word from the NCAA or conference officials throughout most of the morning until the Southeastern Conference (SEC) decided that all events would go on as scheduled this Saturday. While he is very sensitive to the tragic events in New York City, Dimel also feels that his team really needs to play another football game.
"Yesterday, football certainly was put in its proper perspective so that winning and losing a football game doesn't seem as important when compared to the big picture," Dimel said. "Yet as a football team, we are anxious to play another game."
Houston enters the Georgia game having held its 35th practice on Wednesday and will have concluded half of its scheduled practices for the entire season by the time the Cougars play the Bulldogs.
"That is a lot of practice time, and we certainly have worn away the rustiness during the past two weeks," Dimel said. "We ended last week with three great practices, and after taking Sunday off, we came back on Monday with a great attitude and have had three good practices again this week."
While the Cougars are ready to play another game, Dimel and his team is not taking Georgia lightly.
"This week's events will make it hard for visiting teams this weekend because of travel difficulties they may encounter," Dimel said. "We also will go into the game with a new quarterback who has just one game of experience under his belt. But, just like last year when we traveled to LSU, we will be playing in a great venue and are looking for a great effort from our team."
After playing the Bulldogs on Saturday, Houston returns home to play host to the Texas Longhorns on September 22 before opening Conference USA play against TCU on September 29.
