University of Houston Athletics
Cougar Football Notes
9/4/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 4, 2002
With an exciting 24-10 victory over cross-town rival Rice under their belts to kick-off of the 2002 campaign last week, the University of Houston Cougars took the practice field behind the Athletics/Alumni Center on Wednesday (Sept. 4) afternoon to concentrate on handling the Tulane Green Wave this coming Saturday at Robertson Stadium in the first Conference USA and home match-up of the year.
"Great day today, had a real good practice," began third-year head coach Dana Dimel following practice. "The biggest thing this week is that we stay focused as a team and have a good practice because in having a conference game so early in the year, we have to elevate our game from what it was last week.
"Now we're playing a team that throws the ball so well and has such a solid offense," continued Dimel, who said Houston's main goal defensively this weekend is to contain Tulane's All-Conference running back Mewelde Moore, who rushed for a game-high 167 yards on the ground and caught five passes for an additional 67 yards in the Green Wave's 37-19 win over Southern last weekend. "It's real important for us to have real good defense preparation and to make that transition from a run team (Rice) to a pass team (Tulane)."
In shifting to the Houston offense, which produced 466 yards of total offense -- including 305 yards on the ground -- against Rice last weekend, Dimel stressed finding and maintaining a balance between both the Cougar run and passing attacks.
"For our offense, we're just continuing to establish the consistency and balance that we had last week," Dimel said. "We ran the ball better last week, and we want to continue to balance that with throwing the ball a little bit more effectively."
"There is a momentum and a confidence, but you have to weork really hard to make sure there isn't a let down.
Houston carries a 4-3 lifetime record against the Green Wave, and this weekend marks the first meeting between the two schools since the 2000 campaign.
Following the Cougars' home opener game against Tulane, they play host to UL-Lafayette at Robertson Stadium on Sept. 14 with a 7:00 p.m. kick-off.
