@LATechFB Weekly Press Conference Transcript: Nov. 16
11/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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 road game at UTEP, which is set for 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.
Head Coach Skip Holtz
"I know a lot of people have been talking about Kenneth [Dixon] and the record. I like to tell that unselfish story from a week ago. Boston Scott returns a kick to the four-yard line. Kenneth has a chance to go in and get a touchdown and he says, `Let Blake Martin have it. He is a senior too.' As unselfish as Kenneth is, I would love to see him have the opportunity to reach that mark. At the same time, the team is focused on the ultimate goal. We always talk about the players giving up their own individuality for the good of this team. Right now, I could not ask more from these upperclassmen."
"It was a needed open date. We needed it for a number of reasons. It was an opportunity for us to self-scout and look at where we are statistically. We spent a lot of time looking internally on what we need to do better. Potentially, we could have four games remaining. We know we have three right now with seven wins. We have two left on the schedule and a bowl game. We had the opportunity to look at a couple of our future opponents. We were able to put some mock game plans together. We were able to get on top of recruiting. We went at it pretty hard on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We were in full pads and scrimmaged quite a bit. We gave a lot of the young guys an opportunity to come along. It gave us an opportunity to get a really good look at them. It was really productive."
"With the quarter ending this week on Thursday, it was a great opportunity for us to give them some free time and get a jump academically. Finishing this quarter strong is important. It was a really productive week. I feel like we got better last week. We had an opportunity to really look at ourselves and add some wrinkles. I thought it was a really productive week as a staff and program. Then we had the opportunity to get away for a couple of days. We gave them Friday and Saturday off. It gave them a mental break and a physical break, which I thought was important for them."
"I think UTEP is a very dangerous opponent. I say that because they need this game for bowl eligibility. With two games remaining, they are in a win or else situation. Not only do they play hard every game, but we are going to get everything we can get. They will throw the sink at us. They are in a one game season. It is a very dangerous game. The most important thing is that we understand what we are walking into. They are 8-2 at home over the past two years. They are very difficult to beat at home. This is going to be a heck of a challenge for us going on the road. I think Sean Kugler does a heck of a job. They are hard-nosed, physical and tough. They control the line of scrimmage."
"Offensively, their offensive line coach's son is the quarterback. Last time a coach's son came in here, he threw for about 400 yards on us. On the offensive line, they have four of five returning starters. Sean Kugler prides himself as an offensive line coach. They run the ball, control the clock and cut off your possessions. He does a really good job of managing the game. They have a tight end that leads them in catches. They have two wide receivers that are really explosive in Autrey Golden and Jaquan White. They are very explosive big-play players. At running back, they have had some injuries and they are doing it by committee. I will be honest, when you look at this football team, it is about their offensive line, with how they come off the ball and control the line of scrimmage. They really do a good job."
"Their defense ties in to what they do as an offense. They are a 4-2-5 defense. They play with five defensive backs. They are very active and pressure oriented. Most people who run a 4-2-5 have their safeties lead them in tackles. With UTEP, it is their two defensive ends and two linebackers. Their front six is very active. They are physical. They go against that offensive line every day. They play very physical up front. When you look at them statistically, they may give up some yards, but they lead the league in three-and-outs as well. They are going to put a lot of pressure on the line of scrimmage. They are going to force your hand. You are going to have to operate under pressure.
"Their special teams are probably one of their strong suits. They have a kick returner who is the active leader in kickoff returns. He is third all-time in touchdowns on kickoff returns. They have a punt returner averaging 15.5 yards per return. Their punter is second in the league, averaging 45.8 yards per kick. Their kicker is third in the league at 62 percent on touchbacks. They are really salty on their special teams. It will be a great challenge for us having to go there where they have an 80 percent winning percentage the past two years. As a football team, we just have to make sure that we are focused."
"We have had our open date and our time away. Now it is time to get back into the routine. Sunday was a step in the right direction with what we were able to do. We were able to get a good practice on Sunday night. Players are off today academically and then tomorrow we will be back over here to get into the full game plan."
On academics:
"We have spent a lot of time on it. We have been all hands on deck. Thomas Graham has been a phenomenal addition to our academic office. He played here and understands it from both the student's side, but also the athlete's side. He understands the faculty and the workload. There has been a huge attempt to improve the academic center. We want to make a better situation for our student-athletes. I think it is showing. We have taken players and dismissed them the past two weeks for study sessions. We are trying to do whatever we can. When it says student-athlete, that is how it starts, students first. We have a handful of young men that may be in danger of that. They have been taken out of football and been doing nothing but working on their academics. It is that important for us to make that stand. If you do not make your grades, you will not have the opportunity to play. I do not want to go through what we did last year. I think there has been a real concentrated effort from the administration and from Thomas Graham. I think it has been great and we will find out on Thursday when the quarter ends where we stand."
On the defense:
"I think this week, self-scout was good for us. We were able to really sit down and look for the breakdown. They were not so much assignment errors, as they were technique errors. A lot of it is having the linebackers fit underneath. You have three new linebackers that have never started before. Beau Fitte, Nick Thomason, C.J. Cleveland and Lloyd Grogan have done a great job. They still have only been there for a year. We have guys like Kentrell Brice, Adairius Barnes, Bryson Abraham and Xavier Woods who have all been at their position for three or four years. I think that has been a big part of it. It was a good opportunity for us to get better and look at our mistakes. These upperclassmen said lets go to work. The whole mindset is to keep getting better. The teams that win are the teams that get better throughout the course of the season. That is why I enjoy this team so much, because of their blue collar approach."
On focus on pass defense for upcoming games:
"That is going to be a big focus if we are fortunate enough to get to [the Conference USA Championship.] If you look back at the first game, it was concerning. We gave up a lot of yards and points. We were trying to make some adjustments to the offensive line, playing two new guys. We were down 21-3 like that. I think it is going to be huge. When you look at Southern Miss and the way they throw the football, pass defense will be a focus point. That is why I think this open date came at a good time for us. I hated it being 10 weeks into the season, but once we got to it, it was nice to be able to take a deep breath. We were able to look at some things and give ourselves the opportunity to be a better football team going down the stretch."
On Kenneth Dixon not getting national attention:
"I do not think he is getting enough coverage. We have Jeff Driskel, who is a phenomenal story about everything that is good in college football. He is a young man that graduates and does everything he is supposed to. He found a new home and got a fresh start. Those are feel good stories. I think Kenneth is the same thing. He has an unselfish attitude. It is not about give me the ball. It is not about how many carries he gets. It is all about what we have to do to win. Deep down inside, do I think he would like to have the record? I do. I also believe it is from his heart when he says, `Coach, give that touchdown to the other senior. He has been hurt all year.' Those are things that do not happen everywhere. In a fast-paced world that we are in that is all about me, it is refreshing to deal with people like Kenneth Dixon on a daily basis. His story should be told."
On young linemen:
"It was great to see Ethan Reed, Shane Carpenter and some of the guys who are redshirting, get that amount of work. The bye week provided great development type things for our guys that we needed. I am excited about the future. I think Jens Danielsen and Josh Robinson have played well for us, as two seniors on the offensive line. I am really excited to see these young guys start to put it together. I think we have some talent on the offensive line. The biggest issue is that we are young. We are going to have to develop those guys. I think Robert McFarland has done a nice job of putting everything together, with what we had to do at the center position and move all the pawns around. Those guys have kept getting better and they are working hard at it. They are doing some good things up front."
On injuries:
"Secdrick Cooper should be fine. Kenneth is running well. We have a lot of guys on that bubble. Nick Thomason, we may have him back this week. He has really been progressing well and responding to treatment. Conner Smith may be back this week. Paul Turner has had that nagging hamstring and I think last week was good for him. He had some time away to give it a chance to recover. If you never let it recover, it will never heal. It just needs time and unfortunately, that is not something we have in the middle of the season, as a senior. He has been pushing through it every week."
On if he is paying attention to the NCAA touchdown record:
"No sir. We just have to focus on Louisiana Tech football. We came back with a goal in mind and that goal is obtainable. We are trying to achieve that goal and it is to win a conference championship."
On recovering during the bye week:
"It was good on the bye week. We got to rest our ailments and everything. But we also got to get in the film room and get a lot of mental work in. "We got a lot of rest. A lot of our younger guys and two's got a lot of work. I feel like our team has had a lot of rest this week and we are ready to play."
On what it would mean to break Montee Ball's NCAA touchdown record:
"It would mean a lot for us to break it as a team. I feel like those type of goals after being here four years, it is not so much an individual goal. It is a team goal. This is a program. The treatment, weight-lifting, competitiveness of the teammates, the offensive line, the coaching; it would be a great goal for us to break, but like I said, we are here to win a conference championship."
On the offensive line helping him break the record:
"We are all grinding to try and do it, but like I said, it is all about a championship."
On not overlooking UTEP:
"This game means everything. Like Coach Holtz always says, if the last game was big, how big is this one? Every game we play from here on out is going to be big. I feel like our team is always going to be dialed in and focused. We play hard."
On the improvement of the defense in the past few games:
"We just really come in every week and work hard to make ourselves better for the sake of the team. We come in, put our heads down and go to work. There really has not been a difference. It is just coming in and grinding every day."
On resting during the bye week:
"We took an early peek at UTEP and focused on ourselves. We got both of those things going for us on the bye week."
On watching UTEP on tape:
"I know they lost their running backs. I know one of their backup quarterbacks is now playing running back, so he is kind of a wildcat guy that can run the ball. They have a great style of offense they run. With their running back being out, I feel like they still ground and pound with the people they have in the backfield."
On wanting to see Kenneth Dixon break the NCAA touchdown record:
"I feel like the locker room is aware. During the game, we might hear if he is close. We want it for him as a team, collectively. We want him to be the best he can be. If it comes to him reaching that goal, we will try to help him any way possible."
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