RUSTON, La. - Louisiana Tech head football coach Skip Holtz and select student-athletes spoke with the media Monday in advance of the team's upcoming Conference USA road game at Rice, which will air at 7 p.m. Friday on FS1.

Head Coach Skip Holtz

"It was a nice win Saturday. We certainly never take winning for granted. It is always great to win a home conference game. I just want to thank everyone in the military with it being Military Appreciation Day the other day. What they do on a day-to-day basis gives us an opportunity to live in the freedom that we live in. It gives us the opportunity to be involved in this great University we are a part of. It was nice to honor so many people in the military. I have to thank the fans that endured the weather. There were a lot of ponchos in the crowd. The band, the cheerleaders and the Regal Blues were awesome. That band had more fun than anyone in the stadium. When we came home from Mississippi State late and other road trips, they are out front playing. I cannot thank them enough for the environment they create and the job they do for us. I certainly need to thank not only the fans, but the band and the cheerleaders."

"I think Middle Tennessee is a really good football team. I know they are banged up right now and have some injuries with what they are going through. I was really impressed with what they did offensively. They have a really good football team so it was nice to win. Going into the game we talked about some keys for us. One of them was that we needed to be physical. We needed to bring a lot of energy, or as the players call it `Juice.' I felt like we did that. We created an environment in the locker room and on the sidelines. I was really proud of the way those guys went out and the energy that they played with. We not only played hard, we not only played physical, but I thought we played one of our smarter football games of the year. You can play hard, but you have to play smart. We played hard at Mississippi State. It was a really balanced football game when you look at the stats, but giving up special teams touchdowns, throwing pick sixes and doing those types of things makes it irrelevant how hard you play."

"I thought there were some great lessons learned in the Mississippi State game. I am OK with taking a loss in the season if it will help us grow and learn as a football team. I thought we went out and played a smart football game. It was one of our better third down football games. We had zero turnovers on offense. We created three on defense. We kept them out of the end zone for a big play. We had been lacking big plays the last couple of weeks and for us to have two big-play touchdowns was nice. I thought this football team played smart. We are maturing and we are growing. I say all the time that we are a work in progress. I really like the way a lot of things came together on Saturday."

"Defensively, I thought we were very stout against the run. I cannot say enough about Vernon Butler and the way he is playing right now. Along with Aaron Brown, those two guys inside are doing a great job. Vontarrius Dora had one of his better football games. Jaylon Ferguson continues to grow as just a freshman and is getting more and more time on the field. [Deldrick] Canty has started to come back a little bit. He played about 10-15 plays in this game. He is nearing full strength. It will be nice to have all of your weapons, especially on the front line when you see the way Jaylon has gained experience and the way he is growing. I thought Beau Fitte and Nick Thomason probably played their best game jointly. I think Nick Thomason has become a great football player. Beau Fitte ran around and made a lot of things happen. Defensively, he had a great interception. The players always mess with him about his hands and catching, but he caught a great ball with his hands, especially in those conditions. Defensively, we scored, created three turnovers and we were stout against the run. We gave up 384 yards passing and when you are as stout as we are and are able to put up points in a hurry, a team finds themselves down and starts throwing the football. I thought our defense did a great job of giving up 380 yards but only giving up 16 points. We let them throw it in front of us. They threw it underneath and we rallied and tackled well. I thought our defense played a really solid football game, creating five positive field positons and doing some really good things. I am proud of the way they played and the way they are starting to come together."

"On the offensive side of the ball, we had a zero turnover day. At halftime I looked at the stats and we had 330 yards of offense in I think 30 plays. We were averaging 11 yards a play. There were a lot of positive things as we came in here at halftime. We created some big plays. Right now, it is nice to have Kenneth Dixon back, but I thought Jarred Craft ran really well. I thought he played hard and the combination of the two takes some of the pounding off of Kenneth. It was certainly nice to have him back out there. I cannot say enough about Jeff Driskel, Trent Taylor and the way some of those guys are playing out there. We had both Paul [Turner] and Carlos [Henderson] back. The disappointing thing offensively was that we had nine drops. I do not believe we have had nine drops all year. Jeff Driskel was 20-of-30 throwing the ball with seven drops. That type of accuracy on a bad weather day, it is pretty phenomenal. When you have a balanced offense like that, it makes it harder to defend. I was really proud of the way the offensive line played. I thought Jens Danielsen played his best game that he has played since he has been here. I thought he did a really nice job."

"The special teams were solid. I do not think it was special, but it was certainly solid. It was nice to grab an onside kick and then watch the offense reel off a seven and a half minute drive for 14 plays and eat up the rest of the fourth quarter while the defense sits on the bench. There were a lot of positive things to build on from this game. There were a lot of good things in this game. I am just really excited to get the win. I think we beat a really good football team in Middle Tennessee. Like I said, never take winning for granted."

"We have a short week as we get ready for Rice. We have a little different schedule. We will practice tonight. Normally, Monday is their day off. It looks like we may have the opportunity to get even more wet practice in and throw the ball around in the rain. We will be normal on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday will be our travel day. Friday will be the game. It is short week without a lot of preparation, but this late in the season it is not like you are adding a bunch of wrinkles. We have to go polish some things up because when you look at Rice, they have the No. 1 rushing offense in our league. Our defense will definitely be challenged with that. They also have great balance. They are throwing for 241 yards a game. They have an experienced quarterback who does a lot of good things. They have three different running backs that have rushed for over 100 yards. They are running the ball by committee right now. Their offensive line is very big and experienced. I think they do a really nice job with what they do offensively. They have more speed than they did last year. They pose some challenges for us."

"On defense, they play a nickel defense which means they play five defensive backs. They play two linebackers and four down linemen. With their five defensive backs, some of their coverages get a little exotic. We are going to need to spend some time this week in our passing game. They have an undersized defensive line, but they are very active. Their defensive ends are very active and very stout. Alex Lyons, the linebacker, is their leading tackler and all over the field. It has all the makings to be a great game. It is a conference game late in the season as we near the end of October. You have two teams that are tied for the West and have a little history between the two schools. I have great respect for David Bailiff and the way he runs his program. It will certainly be a challenge with the short week to go on the road. The last time we did this was Western Kentucky at the beginning of the season. We are going to have to be mature in how we handle this. We are going to have to rely on our senior and upperclassmen leadership to make sure we can get the preparation we need early in the week. I am excited about the opportunity and excited to have something to play for this late in the season."

On Tech's third quarter offensive scheme:

"We have gone into four games this year where in the first quarter they are running something completely different than we have not seen on film. Some of them package to stop Kenneth. Some have a package to sink back, drop eight and put three down linemen. It takes you a series or two to figure out what they are doing and how to attack it. I tell everyone to take a deep breath; it is a 60-minute game. The players have done an unbelievable job of going out there and executing. In some of the second halves, I have gotten more conservative. I run the ball. We have had a lead and want to protect our defense, so we eat up clock and punt it away. To me, that is a formula for success. Some may say that it is conservative and it may take some points away, but we are not trying to outscore them in the first, second and third quarter to see if we can put up 70. We are figuring out what we need to do to win the football game. When we were up 35-10, I have tailback that is just now coming back, so we have to play more people, and a quarterback who had just turned his ankle. We needed to protect him, so I said let's get big and run the ball, eat up clock, punt it away and take home a win. That is what we were able to do."

On the bend but don't break defense:

"People are throwing the ball as run plays now. When people are spreading you out, they are trying to avoid sacks. They are getting rid of the ball in a hurry. That is part of their run game. As soon as you jump up to try and take that away, that is when the ball starts going over everyone's head. We have talked to our team and our entire philosophy is to let them throw underneath and let's rally to it and tackle him. I thought the defense tackled really well. Outside of three third downs our defense gave up, I thought they did an excellent job. I think Brent Stockstill is a really good quarterback. He does a really nice job. He makes good decisions. He does not put the ball in danger very often. We were able to capitalize the couple of times that he did. I think that is all part of it now. There are a lot of people coming up to stop the underneath passes and give up 70 points. I do not care how many yards they throw for. I just care about how many points they score. At the end of the day, it is not a statistical game, it is a score game."

On Kenneth Dixon returning to 100 percent:

"He is getting there. We are going to put him out there and see how he responds. After every series I was asking Jabbar [Juluke] to check with him. I wanted to make sure that if I was going to keep putting him in, it was not swelling or getting tender. I told him that he has to be honest with us and tell us where it hurts. He was great. He said there were times where it got a little sore on him. You could see him get up and limp. I did not see him limp one time with the ball under his arm. It was not until he scored the touchdown that he would limp. I thought he really did a great job. The plan was to start Jarred. He had earned that with the amount of practice and reps he had taken. We put Kenneth in just to see how it would go. When we had the big lead in the second half, we did not play him. At that point we were ready to shut him down."

On Rice's defense:

"There have been some people that have made some big plays on them. They held Texas to 260 yards but they gave up 450 yards because of three punt returns. You look at them in that game and go, `Wow, they are physical.' Then you watch them against Baylor, which Baylor is scoring 70 against everyone, but Baylor hit a lot of big plays on them. Western Kentucky hit big plays but it was a little different. They have a couple of big tight ends that they will motion. There are bits and pieces you have to take from every game. You look at this Rice team right now and they are 4-3. Their three losses are to Western Kentucky, Baylor and Texas. They are a very good football team and I think it will be a great challenge for us. I do not think we can go in and say we are just going to throw the ball. I certainly do not think we can go in and say we are just going to pound the ball. I think we are going to have to see what their package is and what they are going to try and do against us. We will try and attack it with the weapons we have."

On Rice HC David Bailiff:

"Our friendship goes beyond football. When my wife was going through her battle with cancer, he was one of the first ones to call me. He is a guy I have an incredible amount of respect for. We have coached against each other a number of times when he was at Rice and I was at East Carolina. We had a good group of guys and spent a lot of time together. We had some really quality coaches that were in this league at that time. David and I just formed a bond and we have remained friends since. When we went down there and took a 52-14 rear end whipping, we were excited to have the opportunity to return the favor last year. There is a great rivalry brewing with these two schools. They are hard-fought, quality football games. I am looking forward to having the opportunity to go down there and play them. I know our players are really excited about it. Jens talked about going down there two years ago and watching the clock run while they ran up and down the football field. I think everyone is excited about this game. I have a 30-year relationship with Coach Rick Stockstill and it was one of those ones you hate having to play your friend, because you know someone has to lose."

On Friday night games:

"I would much rather play on Saturday. I have always viewed Friday night as for the high schools in the state of Texas and Louisiana. The communities rally around those high schools. Believe it or not, I remember those days even though it was a long time ago. I hate to take anything away from that because I do think that is a sacred experience for those high schools and those communities. From that stand point, I am not a fan of Friday night games. That is where the Thursday nights have become popular in college football, which we played earlier in the season.

"I do like the exposure that playing the weekday game gives us as a program, playing on Fox Sports 1. It is a captive audience because people are going to watch it. You are only competing with so many games on a Thursday or Friday night compared to a Saturday night when everyone in the country is playing. It is a double-edged sword. I do enjoy the exposure part of it. I like the opportunity to play in Houston, an area that we recruit. We have some young men on our football team from that area. Playing in Houston, on national television and during primetime, will be awesome, but I still think Friday nights should be reserved for high school. Coaches coach, players play and administrators administrate. They did not come ask me what day I wanted to play. They told me. We put the schedule together and we are just getting ready to play it on a Friday night."

OL Jens Danielsen

On the performance of the run defense:

"We feel comfortable with Kenneth in the backfield. We know he is one of the best running backs in the nation, so when he is back there we know we always have a chance. We just try to execute our job as the offensive line and he can make some pretty special things happen when he has the ball in his hands."

On OL coach Robert McFarland:

"I think he instills values for how hard we work and trying to finish plays, block and communicate. I feel like that is one thing we have grown on is our communication because all five of us have to be on the same game plan and know where we are working. I think he does a good job of helping us achieve our goals."

On Jeff Driskel and Trent Taylor's connection:

"It is pretty crazy. You definitely do not see the performance Trent keeps putting up game in and game out. It is really cool to see. They are both great players and can make plays. I just enjoy it. We are moving the chains. We are scoring. That is what we want to do, so I am proud of them."

On lack of offense in the third quarter:

"I think we just adjust in the second quarter. We know we are in a game where we are trying to fight and compete. The third quarter is us not executing. That is on us and we have to do a better job. There is nothing else to really say about it. We just have to keep getting better and keep playing because you have to play all four quarters."

On facing Rice this week:

"This game is big for us. It is the next one on our schedule. We are both tied right now for first. We both have one loss in conference. It is always a big game when we play each other. It is always hard fought. Last year, we got the better of them. We played really well that game. But I still remember two years ago when we played and they busted us pretty bad. That was not a good feeling.

"I probably remember [both games] pretty equally. They are two completely different stories. Last year was a great feeling and I think that was the most points we ever scored in a game. The year before that was probably one of the worse games I have ever been beaten. It was not enjoyable. It is two completely different stories and we need to learn from both of them and prepare for this week to go on and win the game."

On expectations for the game:

"I am expecting it to be a good game. We are both two good teams and I am excited for Friday night."

On playing on Friday:

"It is a little different playing on a Friday, but all it means is we need to be a little bit more concentrated and get more film and work in earlier in the week."

On possibly becoming bowl eligible Friday:

"That is a good feeling. We still know we have to go game by game. We don't want to just be bowl eligible. We want to do more than that and get back to a conference championship game. That is our ultimate goal. We know if we do that, then our bowl game will come."

LB Nick Thomason

On playing a good running team like Rice:

"With any team that runs the ball with the way our defense is set up, we have opportunities to make tackles for losses. If it presents itself, we are going to do the best we can to make them."

On the run defense versus the pass defense:

"Last game, they passed the ball around 60 times. When you pass the ball that much, you are going to have some yards, but I think they are averaging only 5-6 yards an attempt. They did not run nearly as much as they passed. It is just little things that we keep shooting ourselves in the foot with. We just have to keep working at it."

On Jaylon Ferguson:

"I thought last year that he was going to be a great player. He has a lot of length. He can beat the tackles because he is so lengthy. He is a special player."

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