April 5, 2008
RUSTON, La. - The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs saw more growth from their quarterbacks in Saturday's scrimmage and continued to see their go-to guys on defense step up to make plays.
Quarterbacks Ross Jenkins and Steven Ensminger both completed a majority of their passes and made good decisions in the pocket. Jenkins did not have the touchdowns he had last week, but he still put up solid numbers completing 15-of-25 passes for 132 yards and an interception.
Ensminger threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Earl Griffin for the offense's first touchdown of the day. He completed 14-of-25 passes for 127 yards and three interceptions. Two of his interceptions came after defensive linemen batted the passes at the line of scrimmage.
Head coach Derek Dooley said he was pleased with the quarterback play again in the scrimmage and is looking forward to seeing Jenkins and Ensminger continue to battle in the last week of spring practices.
"Ross had another really good outing. His only interception he took a chance when he didn't have to," Dooley said. "He did a great job. I don't want that to get in the way of how he played. Overall, he managed the offense well and we did some nice things."
Along with the four interceptions the defense forced and recovered a fumble on a fourth-down conversion. Receiver Shane Womack was stripped of the ball by Brian White and Quin Harris after getting the first down in a situational drive. The turnover kept the offense from driving for the winning score.
"I think overall offensively we had four interceptions and a fumble. So turnovers are something you can't have any," Dooley said. "Defensively that's a good job of getting turnovers, but we didn't pressure the quarterback the way we need to. We threw the ball 50 times and only had three sacks."
Dooley added it was more of the same in terms of who shined for the defense. Tech's two returning All-WAC players on defense - Harris and Antonio Baker - led the way for the Bulldog D.
Baker had 10 tackles, and an interception. Harris had seven tackles, a fumble recovery and a pass break-up. Other defenders playing well Saturday were Dusty Rust with six tackles, Mason Hitt with six tackles and a sack. Tarence Calais had six tackles and an interception.
Offensively, Allen Gilbert led the running backs with 56 yards on six carries. Daniel Porter had 50 yards on eight carries and scored on a 23-yard run up the middle. Josh Wheeler showed signs of being closer to form after an injury plagued season with nine catches and 73 yards.
Dooley said overall he has been more than pleased with his team's intensity throughout spring practices. The team has adopted his philosophy of high-intensity practice and it has resulted in better workouts and preparation.
"We've gone 11 practices and I haven't had to get upset over the toughness, the physical part of it and the effort," Dooley said. "We have come a long way on that. There are guys flying around out there knocking each other silly, and that's good. Of all the things we've improved on from last year, it's the physical nature of how both sides are playing and the competitive spirit they're playing with."
The Bulldogs will practice three times next week before Saturday's annual spring game on T-Day at 1 p.m. T-Day will be open to the public with free admission. There will be a variety of activities for children before, during and after the spring game at Joe Aillet Stadium.
