RUSTON, La. - Louisiana Tech wore full pads for the first time in camp this fall as the Bulldogs practiced for over two hours on the Tech Practice Field Friday afternoon.

The players, already eager to get in any kind of game situation, took advantage of the team periods in full pads and even had to be reined in by the coaches in order to keep the focus on practice and not just playing.

Overall, Friday's session did not have a clear advantage for either side as the offense and defense battled back and forth throughout the practice session.

"The first day in pads is always exciting for every program in the country," Louisiana Tech head coach Skip Holtz said. "We put on these full pads, get out here and get some team. We had to pull them back a little bit because it started to turn into a scrimmage which is not what I was trying to get done out here in team work. Right now it is really spirited with a lot of pride on both sides. It seems like every time the offense makes a play, the defense rallies and the same thing on the other side of the ball when it goes that way."

The running game had positive moments but still left the coaches wanting for more. The inconsistency in performance left a challenge for experienced backs like Kenneth Dixon, Blake Martin and Marlon Seets, as well as the younger backs and the offensive line.

"There were some positive plays but there were some lost yardage plays," Holtz said of the run game. "They're not all going to make yards but you have to eliminate the lost yards. You may end up in a 2nd-and-9 or 2nd-and-8 but you don't want to end up in a 2nd-and-14. There's some of those where we had a couple guys come free and those are the things where we've got to get corrected but I also thought there were some really positive plays as well."

The offensive line is continuing to learn under new offensive line coach Robert McFarland. But the challenge is not just learning and growing as a unit, but having to do so against one of the most skilled groups on the Bulldogs roster.

"We've got to come together," Holtz said of the offensive line. "Now I will say this, we are seeing a lot of looks. We're seeing movements, twists, linebacker blitzes ââ'¬" we're not holding anything back. There's no restrictions on the defense in what we can do right now. So it is not just a stale defensive front. They will come together, they are working hard at it, we have some expectations on where we want to be and we are working hard to get there. My job as a coach is to set a standard and not to lower it."

Saturday will mark Louisiana Tech's first two-a-day in fall camp with a pair of closed practices.

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