University of Houston Athletics
Coach Dimel's Take on Winning Ballgames
9/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 10, 2002
HOUSTON, Texas -
Tuesday Football Luncheon With Coach Dimel
"We are not happy about the outcome of last week's ballgame. The tone of our football team right now is one of aggravation and not frustration. It is important to understand that I think we have gotten to the point where we can be aggravated and not frustrated about a loss like that."
"Our football team is not to the point where we can overcome seven turnovers and still win a football game. However, I think that we can get to that stage where we can overcome just about anything and win a football game."
"There were many positives last Saturday, many people played well and several things were done well. The bottom line was that the turnovers cost us the football game, so we have to eliminate the turnovers. Fumbles are just a matter of us squeezing the football; one of the fumbles was without a player even being hit. We can perform well enough to win a football game if we just hold onto the ball and don't turn it over."
"Joffrey Reynolds had some miscues, but non of them were from lack of effort. I think Joffrey had a fine football game, besides the fact that we have to do a better job of holding onto the football. We have Joffrey to where he has 300 yards of offense now in rushing. That is definitely something positive for him."
"Anthony Evans needs to get better each and every Saturday. As a redshirt freshman, he has to step up, and he has been forced to step up because of Chris Robertson's injury. The potential for Evans is there, but we need him to accelerate his pace."
"Our receivers are catching the ball well and blocking well. They are doing some things to be team oriented players and accepting their role as the offense has evolved to fit the talents that we have. When they are called on to catch passes they are doing a solid job of that, but they are also blocking well."
"Tight ends are a strength for us right now. It is nice to have those guys healthy. They are playing extremely well.. We are able to get into two tight sets; which is helping us. Defensively, I think our front four have done complete reversal. The linebackers have improved and the defense had a solid and outstanding performance. "
"However, none of us played well enough to win a football game. We all understood that and we all talked about that. No aspect was good enough to win or we would have won the game."
"We had their quarterback in position where we could have gotten some sacks, but we got a little overzealous. Therefore, we have to do a better job of that when we get in the backfield. There were times where if we would have had a sack it would have been a deterrent to their scoring drive."
"There is unbelievable senior leadership on this team and there is also a really cohesive attitude that we will go out and respond well and play a good ballgame on Saturday."
Dimel Q & A
Q: Did your kids come down to earth a little bit? As big a win as it was to get that Rice victory, do your kids know who they are at this point?
A: I think we are going to see what our football team is about when we play this weekend. I told them have to be able to handle prosperity as well as handle adversity. We didn't respond well to having prosperity so now we are back into an adversarial position again and we have to respond to that.
Q: Considering the outcome of the past two games and the upcoming road games, does that make a win this week that much more imperative?
A: I don't think so, I think that we have proved that we can play pretty well on the road. I am very excited about this game, and I think there is no doubt that we have to win this game. You should never save have to in football, but looking at the big picture you can't look ahead. We have to focus on this game and win this game. Going ahead after that though, I feel very comfortable about those next three football games.
Q: You mentioned the fatigue factor a while age. Do you think some of those fumble can be attributed to the fatigue factor. I don't think so; I think they stem more from concentration errors. To be candid, I feel Joffrey just tried to make something special happen. He put forth an unbelievable effort trying to make things happen the right way. He has to say within himself that we have three more downs to get the football in.
Q: Where does Sherod McGowan fall in?
A: Sherod is finally staring to get himself into the condition we feel like he needs to be to in an we might get him into the ballgame a little bit more this weekend. We feel that this is a game where his presence can show up, because this is a team that is very run oriented.
