University of Houston Athletics
Cougar Football Notes
9/26/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 26, 2001
As the University of Houston football team gets set to kick off conference play this weekend against C-USA newcomer TCU at Robertson Stadium on Saturday, Wednesday's (Sept. 26) practice focused not only on preparing for the Horned Frogs, but once again stressing the mental preparation going into a game.
After all, this will be the first time this season Houston has played back-to-back games.
"I think the biggest thing guys have to get used to right now is that we only have one week to get ready for a game and to be prepared," second-year head coach Dana Dimel said after practice. "That's the biggest thing right now. "They have to realize how quickly this game (TCU) is coming up on us and how critical a game it is for us."
Dimel said he and his coaching staff are also now focusing on getting the team "over the hump" and concentrating on winning ball games rather than simply playing better than most people thought they could, such as in the Texas game last weekend.
"Teaching them how to win football games and not just play well for periods of the game is important. Playing well against Texas is great, but the national expectations were not to win the game. But this week, the expectation is that we want to be a contender in this conference, and we're going to have to start winning these games like this one coming up this weekend."
Houston holds a 13-7 lifetime record against the Horned Frogs, and Saturday's game will mark the first time these two schools have faced each other since the 1995 season.
And in looking ahead to the game itself, Dimel spoke of the physical challenge for the Cougars on both sides of the ball, said Houston's main plan is to run against TCU's strong defense and attempt to capitalize on their struggling offense.
"We have to play a lot more consistently defensively and make sure that we're running the ball even better than we did last week," Dimel continued. "I don't mind telling people that, but we're just going to flat-out run the football.
"TCU has a real good defense and their offense has struggled a little bit. I think we're more talented, and I'm just going to find out whether we're a better team or not."
Next up for the Cougars: Houston travels to New York to take on C-USA opponent Army on Saturday, October 6. This will mark the Cougars first road game of the season, and kick-off is scheduled for noon.
