LAFAYETTE, La. -- Like everyone else around the country, UCF football players Emeka Okammor and Johnell Neal kept track of water-logged Louisiana over the past month by television.

Today, they get to experience their home state first-hand. All they ask is to enjoy the experience.

Neal, a redshirt freshman cornerback, will start, and Okammor, a sophomore defensive tackle, will play against Louisiana-La tonight with a new objective at hand: building a winning streak.

"We got one win. Now we want another," Neal said. "I don't know if one game is a streak, but I know two is."

UCF (1-2) snapped a 17-game losing streak last week against Marshall. The Golden Knights' final non-conference game of 2005 comes at Cajun Stadium as they try to end a 15-game road losing streak.

Such worries are of little consequence in a state so dramatically affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

About two hours east of Lafayette is New Orleans, forever changed by the storm and its aftermath of flooding.

About an hour to the northeast is Baton Rouge, a city that officials say has doubled in population because of the influx of evacuees and rescue and medical personnel.

In an example of how surreal things have gotten, New Orleans-based Tulane plays Southeastern Louisiana today in Baton Rouge at LSU's Tiger Stadium, a 90,000-seat venue at which fewer than 30,000 fans are expected.

Next week, the Green Wave will play in Lafayette against Houston.

Last week, Tulane played SMU in Dallas.

Lafayette was spared the brunt of both hurricanes. Here, the storms brought wind damage, some local flooding and, in the big picture, minor inconveniences.

Some UCF players' families canceled trips here because they could not secure accommodations. Freshman linebacker Travis Barr said his dad was driving from Atlanta anyway.

"He said he'd sleep in his car if he needed to," Barr said.

The Knights were fortunate to have secured a hotel run by a former football coach. After they showed up Friday, by dinnertime everybody in the travel party had a room. But some players, coaches and staff were sleeping on cots, and some were sleeping more than six to a room.

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Alan Schmadtke
Sentinel Staff Writer