Sept. 30, 2009

Recap | Final Stats | Notes

Louisiana Tech Head Coach Derek Dooley
"I'd first like to thank the fans. It was awesome to walk out there and see red. We challenged them, and they stepped up. It was a great university win."

"We had a phenomenal defense. It's been 62 games since Hawaii didn't score a touchdown."

Regarding the offense
"Hawaii had not played a team that ran the ball well."

On Daniel Porter
"To be able to rush 366 yards against anybody is one heck of a feat. He looked like himself tonight."

"Three scores is always key. When you get up more than two touchdowns, you got the game in good hands. We got a big break at the end (when they fumbled on the goal line)."

On Pressuring the Quarterback
"The sacks are just devastating. We had seven, and Coach Spangler (defensive coordinator) had a great game plan. He was changing coverage, changing people. Everybody played with heart. I saw a whole team that just enjoyed the competition."

"Our goal has always been consistency in our performance, and that only comes with time. This was the next step, but you've got to keep playing. You've got to play every week."

"We've got two good freshmen runners (in Tyrone Duplessis and DJ Morrow). You know I like to run that ball. We really struggled protecting (the quarterback) at times. We had good command of the game, and I didn't want to lose that rhythm."

On the goal line stand right before half
"We made a great stop there. We didn't have a bad quarter tonight."

On What the Win on National TV Means
"You've got to keep doing it. It's just one game. You've got to have a good game day experience and keep investing in the program. This was a big game. I'm proud of the team."

Louisiana Tech running back Daniel Porter
On taking O-line to dinner and bonding before the game:
"I just ordered pizza and had them over to my house. Just wanted to let them know they did a great job last year, and thought it was right to do. I told them I'd do whatever it took to do it (be successful) again this year.

On this being the best game for team:
"It was a great win, a great accomplishment beating Hawaii. The whole O-line did a great job-all credit to the entire team tonight."

On responding to the what's wrong with Porter question:
"I got my mojo back tonight, and we'll go from there-one game at a time. I'm not going to say I was in a slump, but I wasn't getting my yards. God worked it out for me…I got it back."

On win giving confidence:
"The win helps a lot with our confidence. We know where we stand and what we're capable of doing."

Louisiana Tech Defensive End Kwame Jordan
On the interception:
"It hung up for like 20 seconds. I started to jump for it. My first thought was the endzone, then I felt a lot of people around me. It felt good to catch it. It helped the team out."

On defensive strategy (playing QB Greg Alexander):
"Let's go get him, get after him."

Louisiana Tech defensive lineman D'Anthony Smith
On the win:
"We always knew we could do it and tonight we just started clicking. Once we started we couldn't be stopped. It's a moral and confidence booster going into Nevada next week. It makes you known in the conference since this was our conference opener. Come tomorrow morning, other teams in the conference will be talking about us."

On putting pressure on Hawaii quarterback Greg Alexander:
"I've got to give all the credit to Thomas Spangler (Defensive Coordinator). He put us in position to make plays and we came through. It's a great feeling to pretty much dominate."

On holding them on 1st and goal at the 2 yard line:
"Our defense came through. They came out of I-formation which we didn't expect to see. But we were prepared for anything on goal line situations."

Hawaii head coach Greg McMackin
"We've played three games with great energy, even though we lost one last week. There are no excuses in football and there's no whining in football. We couldn't get it going today. We had to blitz to stop the run; we couldn't play base and stop the run. We had a lot of guys nicked up and had a lot of defensive lineman coming in and out."

"Give credit to LA Tech. The problem against the run was the worst exhibition of tackling in football. We were diving and not tackling the way we teach. We're not that kind of football team."

"We didn't have any energy and didn't play our best game. We're really looking forward to going home and playing Fresno State in front of our home crowd. Like I said, you can't make excuses and you can't whine."

"I'm upset because we didn't play better because this was a nationally-televised game. Every sports enthusiast in the country saw us, and I feel bad that people saw us play this way because this isn't us. This isn't Hawaii football."

Hawaii linebacker Blaze Soares
"It was a big audience tonight. It was very embarrassing to perform like that on national television. This is not Hawaii defense. I don't know what to say about our defense tonight."

"You can't do all your talking off the field; where it counts is on the field. We didn't show up. A few players did, but other than that, no energy. There's no excuses. We should have performed the way we perform every weekend."

Concerning the tsunami...
"It really affected us because we all represent the Pacific. That's a hard event and there's a lot of people affected by it. We tried to go out there and play for them tonight."