RUSTON, La. -

Louisiana Tech head football coach Skip Holtz, defensive coordinator Blake Baker and select student-athletes spoke with the media Monday in advance of the team's upcoming game at Mississippi State.

Head Coach Skip Holtz

Opening Statement:

"It is great to win, especially in a conference game on the road where you had to play for 60 minutes and kick a game-winning field goal. I thought there were an awful lot of positives in this game. There were a lot of things to build on. There were certainly some things we need to clean up as well. We continue to tell the team that we are a work in progress and that we need to keep getting better. When you look at the college football teams that are going to be successful, it is not those who start strong, it is the ones that continue to get better."

"Defensively, I thought our front seven played an excellent football game. They had five sacks, 12 tackles for loss. They hammered the run at 2.6 yards per carry. Most of that came from the perimeter. I thought we did a great job up inside outside of the two big-play passes that accounted for about 100 yards of offense. I thought the secondary did a nice job of playing run support and containing the passing game. The two big play touchdowns are the plays we have to eliminate. We have given up way too many big-play passes this year. That is one of the things we pride ourselves on, yet they were able to get two of them. Both of them were zone coverages. Those are the things we have to clean up as a defense.

"Overall, I was really proud of the way that the defensive front played. Jaylon Ferguson had his first start. He played with a lot of energy and was exciting. He is a very talented young man. He made the most of the opportunity he got. [Vontarrius] Dora, [Vernon] Butler and [Aaron] Brown continued to play solid, along with [Nick] Thomason, [Beau] Fitte, [C.J.] Cleveland and [Lloyd] Grogan. I think there are a lot of good things going on with our front seven. We have been able to stay relatively healthy. Those guys are progressing and developing. We need to continue to build our depth."

"On the offensive side of the ball, I thought it was another solid performance from our quarterback. I thought Jeff Driskel played a really solid football game. We gave him the ball 44 times and asked him to throw it. I think he did a nice job of that. He led two two-minute drives down the field. He had the one at the end of the half with about a minute to go and put it in the end zone. Obviously, he had the one at the end where we were able to go down and get the game-winning field goal. I thought Jeff played solid. He is really starting to feel comfortable with the receivers. Carlos Henderson, [Kameron] McKnight and Trent Taylor played well. Trent Taylor is really becoming a comfort zone for Jeff. Trent gets open and catches the ball. For a quarterback, that is a combination you are looking for. I think those guys are starting to build some pretty good chemistry with Trent, Carlos and Kam. Jeff is starting to feel more comfortable with those guys."

"I thought the offensive line had a big day going against what I considered the best front we have played to this point. They did not give up a sack, even throwing the ball 44 times. I thought they did a nice job, especially [David] Mahaffey and the two tackles, and [Darrell] Brown and [Jens] Danielsen. Jarred Craft stepped in for his second career start. He did a nice job, running for about 80 yards. We did not ask him to do a lot. I thought he protected the ball and did a really nice job."

"On special teams, outside of the game winning field goal, I thought we were okay. I did not think it was great, but I certainly do not think it hurt us. There were a lot of positives in the game, but definitely some things we can get better on."

"This week we get ready for Mississippi State. We get a chance to step out of conference which lets you take a deep breath. You can get a non-conference game and prepare like we did for Kansas State. This is a really good SEC team. They are 4-2 right now. They are big and powerful. They are very athletic which is what you would expect from a Southeastern Conference football team. They have one of the more heralded quarterbacks in the country. He has thrown 182 passes without an interception. He is big and strong. He can run and throw. They have a very big offensive line that is very athletic. They have two running backs that are very different. One is a big power runner and the other is small and a space type player. They can do a lot with those two different running backs. Their receivers are tall like you would expect. I think it is a very talented offensive football team. There is no doubt who makes the wheels on the bus go round and that is the quarterback who is a very talented player from right down the road. It is going to be a great challenge for our defense, one that our defense is really looking forward to."

"On defense, they have two projected first or second round draft picks. Their defensive line is very big and very athletic. Their linebackers are the game. They are built as an SEC West team. The linebackers are 240 or 250 pounds. The defensive linemen are all 300 pounds. They are tall, lean and athletic. They do a great job. They are very multiple. Knowing that is a Manny Diaz defense, you know you are not going to just get that size and power, but you are going to get a scheme that will twist your head around a little bit. You have to expect the unexpected going into this game. I have great respect for Manny and the job that he does from a defensive stand point. It will be a great challenge for us on that side of the ball as well."

"The biggest challenge of the day will probably be special teams. They have a kick returner who is one of the better ones in the country. I think he is averaging 29 yards a return which would be one of the best in the country if he had enough return. Along with their punt returner, they are both very explosive and have the opportunity to take the ball the distance every time. I think our cover teams are going to be really challenged. They have a field goal kicker that has not missed yet. It is going to be a good challenge. We are playing a good football team, a really well-coached football team, but with it being a neighboring state, I know our players are really excited about the opportunity to play."

On Jonathan Barnes:

"Jonathan [Barnes] has had a great year. He was named the conference player of the week, this week. He is playing with a lot of confidence right now, with the way he is kicking off and kicking field goals. He is coming off his freshman year where he probably lost a lot of confidence and probably started to question or doubt himself a little. Jonathan is such a competitor and came back with an entirely new attitude. Last year he was in a kicking competition all year. With the way he came out early in the year, it was not hard to see who was going to be your kicker. I have really been impressed with the way he has grown and matured. Confidence is something you have to bring yourself. You do not get it from your team. You get it from an inner confidence. He has some swagger and is playing with sting. I never even thought about him missing that kick. That never even entered my mind. It never entered my mind that if we kick it, he may miss. That is a good feeling to have, but it is because of the way he is carrying himself right now."

On Kenneth Dixon:

"He wanted to get on the field Saturday. He was probably the biggest cheerleader on the sideline. I looked at him at one point and he was running up and down the sidelines jumping and waving a towel. I looked at him and said `Are you sure you are hurt?' He smiled and said `I'll play if you want me to.' He is just such a competitor. I know he wants to play. I know he is excited about having this opportunity."

On Mississippi State outside of Dak Prescott:

"He is just a difference making quarterback, but they have very good running backs. They have a big, tall offensive line. They are very good defensively. It is going to be a great challenge, not just the quarterback alone. The quarterback probably gets too much credit and gets too much blame. I think this is a very talented team from top to bottom. Not just on offense and defense but special teams. That is one of the places they have made a huge difference with their football team right now."

On depth at receiver:

"It is unfortunate we have had to show all of this depth, because that means we are injured. There have been some guys who have had the opportunity to step up. Last week it was Marcus Gaines, with Carlos Henderson being out. Carlos was back and competed his tail off. I thought Carlos had one of his better games since he has been here. Paul Turner did not play and that left an opportunity for Marcus, Marlon Watts, Sanford Seay and a number of people out there. I thought Sanford went in there and just like Jaylon he has been waiting for his opportunity. I thought he played really well and did a nice job. As we continue to get injuries through the course of the season, it is nice to have these guys step up. Hopefully we can get some of these guys back. If not some of these other guys have to step up. I am proud to see the progress some of these young guys are making."

On if players will keep current role when starters return:

"It is going to give us depth. Someone will not have to play 80 plays, they will both play 40. That only makes you a better quality football team. They are showing that this environment is not too big for them. I have been proud of the way some of these young guys have stepped up. That has been one of the keys to our success.

On changing things against Manny Diaz:

"We have signals we used while [Manny Diaz] was here. I can remember when Charlie Strong was at South Carolina and left to go to Florida. We had to go in the off season and change all of our signals. These are not things we started talking about this week. These are things we started with a while ago. You have to be careful that you do not confuse your own players. We are not trying to reinvent the wheel. That was one of the benefits; everyone coming back was in the same offense and defense for a second year in a row. The last thing you want to do is change all of your terminology. You just have to do a little better job of hiding it when you communicate."

On Manny Diaz:

"I have said this before. Even if I knew Manny would be here for one year, I still would have hired him. Manny did a great job. I am very grateful. It worked out for Louisiana Tech and this program and it worked out for Manny Diaz. He got an opportunity to get back on that horse again. I am happy for him. I think he did a great job here and I am grateful for that job that he did. He created an attitude with the defense. We have made strides every year and we continued on that last year. I think Manny did a great job while he was here. He is a great football coach and an even better person. I wish him nothing but success in every other game of the year except this one."

On Mississippi State's atmosphere:

"With the early kickoff they will not have as much time to drink Diet Coke before the game, so they will not be as caffeinated. It will be a great environment. They have a great fan base and very loyal fans. They are loud and show up. It will be a great venue and atmosphere. That is part of the energy and excitement.

"We will address the crowd noise. You have to learn to communicate with a lot of distractions around you. The more you practice, the more comfortable you are with it. We will probably pipe in cowbells. It will be hard to listen to at practice every day. That is what we will hear while we are there. We will pipe in some crowd noise, even if it is just white noise. We will make the guys learn to communicate without being verbal."

Defensive Coordinator Blake Baker

On Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott:

"He is a hand full. The first thing that stands out is his size. Being a fifth-year guy, he has been around the program and the same offense the entire time. The most impressive thing to me is he does not put the ball in danger. I think he has 182 [passing] attempts and zero interceptions. The offensive line does a phenomenal job up front giving him some time. And if something does break down, he has the wheels to make things happen."

On how it changes the defense since Mississippi State rarely turns it over:

"I think the biggest thing, which has honestly been quite frustrating this year, is we cannot give up the big play for a touchdown. Since Western Kentucky, it has happened on us in every single game and that is something we pride ourselves on here. Ultimately, it falls on me. That is something we have to take more serious and we have to get that fixed immediately."

On giving up the big plays at UTSA:

"In both the slants, honestly, they are going to complete it in that coverage. We just have to vice the ball and make the play and make them 15-yard plays and make them snap it again. On the first one, we had bad eyes and a bad angle and he goes untouched. On the second one, same thing with bad eyes and both safeties do not vice the ball and it goes for 57 yards instead of 15. On the back end, we just have to take better angles and key the hip and get there to get them on the ground. That is the No. 1 priority for this week and for the year."

On facing mentor Manny Diaz:

"I do not think the approach is any different. We do not play each other per say. Our defense is not playing their defense. It is probably a little more meaningful having the relationship that we have. We talk every single week still to this day. We are good friends off the field. It is bragging rights so it is a little more meaningful."

On evaluating the safeties:

"Honestly, they have been up and down. The thing is they have to be more consistent. I think they have improved every week, but they are still not, in my opinion, playing at the level they were last year. We have to get them to that level again. Safety is a crucial position in our defense. They make the defense go round. We just have to get more consistent back there."

"It really has been [a surprise]. It is just small things, attention to detail. Everything is fixable. It is not anything athletically. Being veterans, they have made those plays time and time again. We just have to be more consistent."

On Mississippi State's rushing attack:

"Their rushing attack is good. They are good up front. They are going to be similar to probably Kansas State. Probably a little bit longer and more athletic. Up front, they are really good. They have two backs. One is a power back and one is kind of a scat back. They do a lot. Their running game has every run imaginable. We have to play with great eyes because they do have the ability to move the chains and be really adequate in the running game."

On portraying to the defense the experience of State's Dak Prescott:

"The biggest thing is trying to make it difficult on the quarterback until the ball is snapped. If we undress ourselves before the ball is snapped, he will eat us alive. He has seen every coverage and he has seen, pretty much, the defense he will see Saturday that he has seen all through spring and fall camp with Manny [Diaz]. We just have to do a good job of not letting them know what we are in until the ball is snapped."

On the defensive scheme in the second half against UTSA:

"A lot of it had to do with making adjustments to what they were doing. They started trying to spread us out and hit in the quick game so we did not bring as much pressure as we did in the first half. The frustrating thing about last week is understanding that if they nickel and dime us here and there, make them snap it again. The frustrating thing was those two explosive plays. They had 300 total yards of offense and a third of that came on two slant routes which are unacceptable. We started backing off the pressure just based off what they were doing to us."

On knowing he was going to face Manny Diaz at Mississippi State when he took the DC job:

"I told him we are coming after him. You circle the date. We both joked about it. I told him do not steal any of our signals. We have talked about it and we are both excited for this opportunity. It is always good to see him. I am excited about it."

On the similarities in defensive philosophy being an advantage for Mississippi State:

"It is a great advantage. I am sure the offensive line is going to know our terminology so we have to change some things up signal-wise and terminology-wise so they cannot just adjust to whatever we are barking at the line of scrimmage."

On taking away the run against UTSA but still allowing long pass plays:

"That is what I keep going back to. Our run defense, for the most part, was pretty stout all night. We let a couple of zone reads get outside of us. For the most part, we were pretty stout in the run defense. Like I said, the nickel and dime stuff I can live with, but it is the big plays for touchdowns. If it is a 15 or 20-yard gain, we will get on the ground and make them snap it again. I have confidence we can keep them out of the end zone. Whenever we let a 5-yard slant go for 57 and 39 yards, I have an issue with that."

WR Trent Taylor

On the UTSA game:

"You did not get anything coming out of the mouths of the defense this time. It was a good hard-fought game. Much respect to that defense. They did their job all night. It was a well-fought game and luckily we came out with a W in the end."

On LA Tech lowering the number of personal fouls from the ULL game:

"I think we were all kind of prepared for it pretty well. Just going into it, we knew it could be an issue and it has been an issue for us in the past. We were kind of mentally ready for that side of it and I think that helped us a lot with just keeping our composure and not getting involved in all that. Luckily, nothing like that ever happened [against UTSA]."

On if he is surprised teams are not double covering the wide receivers:

"With any of our receivers, we have a bunch of weapons. A bunch of players made some big plays for us like Carlos [Henderson] and Kameron McKnight. He made a big play for us late in the game on that last drive. With all the weapons we have out there on the field with our quarterback, running backs and receivers, whatever the defense wants to do, pick your poison. We are going to come after you."

On if Mississippi State has an advantage with Manny Diaz on the coaching staff:

"Maybe a little bit. Going against him in practice last year with his defense, I know he likes to switch things up and have people moving around everywhere on the defense. We are kind of ready for that. We are ready for him to bring a lot of pressure and move the defense around a lot. It is something we have to be prepared for and we have to watch a lot of film this week and be ready."

On the depth at wide receiver:

"Just seeing all the guys step up in the roles needed to be filled like Sanford [Seay] and Marcus Gaines and his big game the other weekend, it is good to see that. Having Kenneth [Dixon] down last week at UTSA, we needed some guys to step up and that is exactly what we did at the receiver position."

On Kameron McKnight's growth as a receiver:

"It has been fun just watching him from the start of the season to now. He has grown up tremendously. He has made huge strides and there is a lot more he can still learn. As great of a player he is already, he still has so much more to learn. He can still be 10 times better than he is now. I just cannot wait to see what kind of guys he grows into."

On if LA Tech's recent success against Mississippi State is a confidence booster for Saturday:

"Maybe a little bit. I know this team and we have confidence in ourselves regardless of the team we are playing. I know we have the talent to go compete with anybody and as long as we play our game and do our job out there on the field, I have confidence in my team and we all believe in ourselves that we can get the job done."

DE Vontarrius Dora

On looking forward to this game on the calendar as a Mississippi native:

"Ever since I came to Tech I have been waiting for this chance. It is finally here and I am just ready to go out Saturday and play."

On facing Dak Prescott:

"He is pretty good. He can run. He can throw the ball. But I am pretty confident in our defense that we are going to play to the best of our ability and will try to limit as much as we can."

On pressuring the UTSA quarterback:

"The scheme we had going into the game, we felt good about it. We got a lot of pressure on the quarterback, a lot of hurries and that led to the opportunity for more sacks. We capitalized on that."

On the play of Jaylon Ferguson:

"It was great. The energy he brought in his first game starting and he played tremendously well. I am proud of him."

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