Sept. 10, 2011

Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery

RUSTON, La. - Louisiana Tech Head Coach Sonny Dykes

Opening Statement . . .
Well first of all it feels good to win. That was a very hard fought game and we knew coming in that Central Arkansas would play well. They've got a lot of experience coming back, a senior quarterback. The unusual thing about our early schedule is if you look at it, we play a senior quarterback against Southern Miss, played a senior quarterback tonight and play a senior quarterback against Houston the following week and then play a senior quarterback against our WAC opener in Hawai'i, so really our first five weeks we are playing against senior quarterbacks. When you do that it's always tough. They have a lot of game experience, they are comfortable in a lot of different situations and he (Nathan Dick) is a good player. We knew that he would be, obviously, he signed with Arkansas and went to Arkansas. I knew all about him and he had a big night tonight, threw for 372 yards.

I was disappointed really in our pass defense they did some good things, they had a good game plan, they got us in some match ups that were favorable for them. I think when Ryan Williams went out it put us in a little bit of a bind defensively but again Central Arkansas deserves credit for the way they played and their quarterback played well and their offensive line played well and their receivers made some big plays. We were fortunate to win. The thing about it, coming off of last week's game, we needed to find ways to win football games and I was really proud of us tonight because we had our back against the wall. They scored with a 1:10 to go, ran that fumble back for a touchdown and our guys responded and went back out there and competed and made some key plays down the stretch and got the thing to overtime. So I was really proud of us for hanging in there and getting that done.

On the first half . . .
"It was a heck of a play to Quinton. Quinton (Patton) really played well. He's a good player. He just has to keep coming on for us. He can make competitive plays on the football, we knew that he would. We want him to continue to get better and do the little things right consistently which he is still learning how to do. I thought we moved the ball pretty well at times. I was a little frustrated in the first half, I thought we had a couple of three and outs and it took us a while to get in any kind of rhythm. I challenged our team at half-time. I didn't feel like we played with tremendous passion in the first half, I felt like we kind of just went through the motions a little bit. I knew we would be in for a game at that point. What happens when your favored over somebody, the longer they are in the football game, the more they think they can win and they need to make one play."

On preparing for Houston . . .
"Anytime you play Houston with Case Keenum. It doesn't matter if your number one in the NFL, you are going to be concerned. They exploited some of our weaknesses tonight and we are going to have to get some things fixed and make some adjustments to have a chance to beat Houston next week.

On the play of Isham . . .
"I certainly don't think of him as a freshman, I mean, two games in the world of college of football is like seven dog years. It is a lot of time to grow up. I don't even think of him that way, I don't think he thinks of himself that way. He could have done some things better tonight. Obviously, any time your quarterback plays a game you always say boy I wish he could have done this or I wish we would have done this but what he does is not panic. There were lots of situations out there where he could have panicked tonight. I loved his composure and he just kept battling and I think our players believe in him and I was really proud of the way he hung in there and led us to a win.

On the play of the special teams . . .
"I think that is kind of our personality. I think that is who we want to be. I think we are dangerous in the return game. I think our guys take a lot of pride in and we didn't punt the ball as well as I would have liked for us to tonight. We have to get some things cleared up with our punt team still but the field goal block, I mean, two block two field goals in two games is a real credit to our effort. That is an effort play. The first thing I do as a coach every week is turn on the opposing teams field goal block and that tells you a lot about the character of their team. We had some really incredible snaps last week, a field goal block and thought we did that in overtime today."


Chad Boyd, Junior Defensive Back

On playing as nickel cornerback:
"I think it is an improvement and gets me around the ball more to make play. I sometimes play safety and nickel corner so it is a good move."

On defensives play at beginning of the game:
"We were just too tight. We played well last week, but it was our first home game and we were too tight. You have to credit Central Arkansas they came prepared and battled us."

On pulling out the win:
"In the past when we have been in tight situations we were not able to come up with the win. It is a positive with all the mistakes we made and we can look back and see what we did wrong."

On effect of Ryan Williams injury:
"He is one of our leaders, me, him and Jamal. We just try to be a tripod at the safety/nickel position and he has been one of our go to guys this season and last season. Hopefully he will come back, but Craig [Johnson] did a great job filling in for him. He had a big pick in the second half. WE always have somebody that can step up and make plays."

On Central Arkansas quarterback Nathan Dick:
"He is one of the top ones. His understanding and ability to ready coverages is a testament to his coaches and his ability."

Adrien Cole, Senior Linebacker

On blocked field goal:
"I know everybody showed me make the block, but I have to give credit to Jon'al White and IK [Enemkpali] for what they did. Jon'al took the guard and IK took the tackled which allowed me to get through, throw up my hands and block the kick."

On Central Arkansas' offense:
"I think they executed. We had our stops, but they were very counter to what we did in making plays. Central Arkansas is not a bottom tier team when it comes to making play. If it wasn't for [Lennon] Creer and the last minute drive, they would have beaten us."

Nick Isham, Freshman Quarterback

On the final two minutes of the game:
"It is what you live for and why you play the game. You never know what is going to happen."

On his composure:
"Just practicing like it is a game. You are out there playing and it doesn't' matter if it is on ESPN or just in the summer time. You want to go out and play your hardest."

On first two games of the season:
"Both games were extreme on the spectrum and winning is just about finishing."

On playing Houston next week:
"We just have to do what we do and Houston is a very good opponent. We just have to go out there and play our game."


Central Arkansas Head Coach Clint Conque

"I thought at times we really threw and caught the ball really, really well. They are very big and physical up front. We knew it would be tough sledding. It was just a back and forth game. I was really proud because we fell behind two scores early and we fought back to tie the game and eventually take the lead. I thought our defense settled down in the second half. We didn't tackle very well. We ran out of gas. They are very big on the offensive line and it really taxed our depth. In these types of games you have to hang on and put yourself in position. We put ourselves there. I'm very proud of that. We dropped two balls in first half for touchdowns. I'm extremely disappointed. We are still a work in progress. I think these guys hurt right now. They hurt because they are vested in (this program). I am very proud with our effort but very disappointed in the end."