University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Continue Prep for Match-up Against UL Lafayette
9/11/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 11, 2002
Following a tough loss to Tulane last weekend in the first league contest of the year, the University of Houston Cougars took the practice field behind the Athletics/Alumni Center on Wednesday (Sept. 11) afternoon to concentrate on regrouping and handling the UL Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns this Saturday at Robertson Stadium.
"Wednesdays have turned out to be a really good practice day for us because after two straight longer days (Monday, Tuesday), we have a bit more down time," began third-year head coach Dana Dimel. "On Wednesday we try to shorten practice just a little bit and try to get the timing of things down.
"And today was no different. We had good intensity, worked hard, and are trying to regain thew three segments of football we showed in the first game."
The three segments being the offense, which has produced 853 yards of total offense in the first two games of the season, the defense and special teams -- all which had problems in the Cougars' loss to Tulane last weekend.
"We had our most well-rounded game that we've had in a long time in our first ball game of the year (vs Rice on Aug. 31), so today we focuses on consistency and finishing. Those are the two things that we're stressing to our guys."
In shifting to a game plan for the Ragin' Cajuns' game, Dimel offered little insight other than to say that the main focus this week has been getting the Cougar squad to improve upon last week's game and return to its form displayed against the Owls in game one.
"The biggest thing we're striving for right now is that our football team plays to its capability," continued Dimel. "We have a scouting report on them, but we understand that last week we didn't play to our capability -- we had some unforced errors -- and have our football team play to its level."
Houston carries a 4-2 lifetime mark -- including 2-1 in Houston -- against UL Lafayette since 1946. In addition, this weekend marks the first meeting between the two schools since the 1999 campaign when the Cougars shutout the Ragin' Cajuns, 45-0, at Robertson Stadium.
Following the Cougars' game against UL Lafayette Sept. 14, they begin a season-long four-game road swing beginning Sept. 20 vs the nationally-ranked Texas Longhorns in Austin. The Cougars don't return home to Robertson Stadium until Oct. 19 when they host C-USA opponent Army.
