RUSTON, La. - Louisiana Tech head football coach Skip Holtz and select student-athletes spoke with the media in advance of the Bulldogs' RED OUT game against FIU this week.

Head coach Skip Holtz

Opening comments:

"Looking back at Kansas State, it was a great college football game. We had two teams that competed their tails off trying to win with neither flinching in a great venue. It was a great environment with the sold out stadium on a beautiful day. This is why you play the game. These are the games that you want to be involved in. I thought it was electric. We had ten true freshmen who played in that game. I thought it was invaluable for our football team. Nobody likes losing and we certainly went there to play the football game. That was our mindset going into it. When you look back, we certainly had our opportunities. I thought we played physical and with some energy. There were some great individual appearances on both sides of the ball. There were a lot of positives to build on."

"We talked about how they were the No. 1 scoring defense, the No. 8 rushing defense and the No. 16 overall defense. Our offense put up 453 yards and had 23 first downs. For the second week in a row we got the ball and had to drive it the length of the field. I thought that drive showed an awful lot of character. I believe we were on the nine-yard line with about a minute to go. I think that was a bright sign for the future against a very good defensive football team."

"Defensively, I thought there were some great individual efforts. I thought Nick Thomason was all over the field. The way he recognized run and played the field was fun to watch. It was fun to watch on Saturday but it was even more fun to watch the film. I thought the entire front seven played a good football game; [Vontarrius] Dora, [Vernon] Butler, Nick. I just thought there were an awful lot of things to build on. I thought our defense played with their stinger. They played with confidence. That is what we are used to watching. After the first game, I think everyone was a little disappointed with the way we played. We have a very competitive group of young men on that side of the ball and they played with some confidence."

"We went against one of the better special teams units in the country. Last week, I thought our kickoff team stepped up. We went against a guy averaging 47 yards per kickoff. I said last week that he was probably licking his chops. We really challenged him and I thought our team answered the bell. We did a nice job covering kickoffs. Outside of one punt return, I thought the special teams did a nice job. All of those things are things we can grow on and build on as a football team."

"This week we get into conference play. We have an opportunity to come back home. There is no place like home. If we can find a way to duplicate that environment from the first week, with the red out, I know our players will be really excited. Every conference game on our schedule is highlighted. Every conference game perks your ears up a little bit more. Yeah we want to win bowl games, but we want to win a championship. That is part of being in a conference."

"We play FIU this weekend and I think coach [Ron] Turner does a great job. It is pretty obvious his handprint is starting to show on that program. He has been there a couple of years and has had the opportunity to recruit some players. It is certainly a different football team than we went and played two years ago."

"They are building it with defense. They were a top three defense in our conference a year ago. They return seven starters on the defensive side of the ball. They are very athletic. If you look at our all-conference team, especially on the defensive side of the ball, is made up largely of FIU football players. They have some tremendous talent. Their defensive line is one of the strengths. On their defensive line, they have two ends in [Denzell] Perine and [Michael] Wakefield. Those guys can flat out play. They can rush the passer and get after you. They are very athletic for a front. Their linebackers are very active. They blitz a lot more than Kansas State did. They are a lot more active with their linebackers. I think they have one of the better defensive players in the league in [Richard] Leonard. He is their kick returner and punt returner. He is up for defensive player of the year. He is a preseason all-conference player. They have a lot of talent on that football team. Their structure is similar to what we played last week, but they are much more aggressive. They have some great individual players and are well coached. They play hard. They are very physical and athletic which is what you would expect from a Florida football team."

"On offense, Steve Shankweiler is their offensive coordinator. Steve and I were together for eight years. Before I was here, we were together at East Carolina and at South Florida. He was the offensive line coach. He is a really good football coach and a good fundamental coach. He knows football. I have sat in meetings with him for the past eight years. I have an awful lot of respect for him and the job he is doing. They have put a really solid offensive football team together. I think they have a really good quarterback. I recruited him out of high school when I was at South Florida. He is very athletic and can run. He has a strong arm. He is really the guy that makes the wheels on the bus go round on the offensive side of the ball. Their offensive line is very athletic, probably the most athletic offensive line we have seen. They are going to run a lot of zone schemes at you. They are very quick up front. They are not a power football team as much as they are athletic. Their running backs are by committee. They have great feet and athleticism. They get behind that athletic line and find gaps. They have a tight end that has caught a pass in 27 consecutive games. He is an all-conference player. He gives them flexibility to do a lot of different things. He will line up as a tight end, wide receiver or running back in the backfield. They are very multiple. They have a wide receiver that had nine catches and 166 yards against Indiana. [Thomas] Owens, he is big and athletic. He is really a difference maker and is their leading receiver."

"Their defensive back [Leonard] is their kick returner and their punt returner. They are averaging 42 yards a punt and their kicker is back as an all-conference player. They are number one in defense right now. They are giving up 315 yards a game right now. I think they are No. 20 in the country in total defense. They are 2-1 and beat Central Florida at Central Florida in a big rivalry game. They lose to Indiana and the score looked lopsided but it was an evenly played game. That is the same Indiana that beat Western Kentucky, 39-36, this weekend. It is going to be a great game. I like the way this football team grew up this week. I like the improvements we made from week two to week three. We are a work in progress right now. We have to keep improving and gaining experience. We are excited to be back at home with the Davison Athletics Complex and the Red Out atmosphere."

On difference between Western Kentucky and Kansas State:
"Our players were reminded that you have to be ready every play. It is hard to get a 59-10 win out of your thoughts. In our first game on the road, I did not think we played with the energy we needed to. Second, I thought as coaches we added too many wrinkles. I think our players play best when we let them play fast. They play best when they do not have to think and can just go out and play on their toes. I felt like we were on our heels a bit too much, trying to read and react at Western Kentucky. We put them in a position this week where they could just go play football. We took a lot of thinking out of it. I thought they were very focused and determined. I thought Western Kentucky was a great wake-up call and a great challenge for us as a defense. I like the way they responded."

On last series against Kansas State:
"As we got into the red zone, they started bringing in more and more pressure. They played a lot more cover zero in the second half. In the second half they got much more aggressive. As the game went on they got more and more aggressive. In that third overtime they had a lot of man coverage and they were going after the corner back. We got behind the chains a little on first down. On the fourth down they were playing everything underneath and the read took him to the corner ball. I thought he laid up a great ball and it was unfortunate Trent [Taylor] was not given an opportunity to go up and get it."

On accepting penalty on third down stop:
"If you would have told me they would throw a touchdown pass, I would not have taken it and made them kick a field goal. We went there to win. We did not go to play it close. I thought the best opportunity to win was to make them kick a 50-yard field goal. Had it been a five-yard penalty or a 10-yard penalty, I would not have accepted it. The referee said a 15-yard, personal foul chop block and we wanted to move it back. It would have been a 48-yard field goal had we held them on third down. I like our chances on that. On third-and-17 with the way our defense was playing, I really liked our chances. They were not having a lot of success throwing the ball. They were having to run the ball methodically. I thought it was the right place. It was a vote of confidence to the defense."

On injuries:
"Paul Turner will not be out there Tuesday because of class. It is a hamstring. You cannot measure it. We just have to hope he can work out some of the soreness. It is not pulled. When he feels like he can run without making it pop. We did not play him because of the tightness. Kirby [Wixson] will still be out with his shoulder. There is no time table."

On offensive line:
"I thought the offensive line did some really good things. We did not have many calls in that game that did not have options for the quarterback. There were not many straight called runs. I thought when the ball was handed off and the reads took us there, I thought they did some good things. We were much more successful on short yardage than the week before. I thought they did some good things against a strong and powerful defensive front. We are not as fundamental as we need to be which concerns you going against an athletic defensive front this week, but they are starting to gel. I thought [David] Mahaffey did a much better job at center this week, than he did last week. O'Shea Dugas continues to grow. Josh Robinson shows flashes of what he is capable of doing; he is doing some really good things. I thought Jens [Danielsen] played well at tackle. I also thought Darrell Brown played really well at tackle. We just have to get more consistent inside with our center and two guards."

On starting 1-2:
"We are two plays from being 3-0. I told this team we are not going to hang our head. When you do not put your best foot forward, that is when you have something to be upset about. We went and played our best game. We put our heart, soul and energy out there. We all wish we were 3-0 but we are not. We cannot put our head in the sand and mope over two plays. The good lord put two eyes on the front of your head instead of the back so you can see where you are going, not where you have been. We have a really good team coming in."

On the play of Jeff Driskel:
"Jeff has not put a ball in danger in three football games. He threw that one deep ball to Paul Turner, which I thought was a great ball, against Western Kentucky. The defender made a phenomenal play, but it was a one-on-one jump ball. He had six throwaways Saturday. It is very unselfish. He knows he cannot hold it, so if it is not there, he puts it in the third row. You live to play another down. I think that is the experience coming out in him. I think he sees the field really well. He is doing a really good job of managing the game for an offense he has only been in for six months. Every game he builds more and more of a relationship with his receivers."

On Carlos Henderson:
Carlos has been coming back. We talked about him not being able to practice and the rust. He had five catches last week. The splint on his hand gets smaller and smaller. That surgery he had was extensive. He had two screws put in his hand. Here he is three weeks later catching balls and playing. I think it is a testament to him and Dr. Graham who did the surgery up at the Cleveland Clinic. We are almost to the point where we are just taping fingers together. When we get to that point, he is really going to have an opportunity to shine and show what he can do. He will get better and better every week."

On Kameron McKnight:
"He needed the redshirt year. Conner Smith has not played a snap the last couple of weeks. With him being out, you are asking a redshirt freshman to step in, start and play 80 plays. I think he has made some key catches for us. He made some great blocks on the perimeter. I think Kameron McKnight is growing up and maturing in every game. Not only does he keep getting better and better, but he is getting more comfortable, confident and gains the ability to play fast. I think he has done an unbelievable job. For him to be a redshirt freshman and play the way he is, it bodes well for the future."

"Even in the Western Kentucky game which is the first time he got to play a significant role, I thought he stepped up and played well. Last week at Kansas State, the arena was not too big for him. The environment is not too big for him. Some players, you do not know how they are going to handle it. Their eyes get big and they start playing slow and see 27 guys on defense. The game is not too big for him right now which is a comforting feeling."

RB Kenneth Dixon

On the locker room after the Kansas State loss:
"There really was not too much air in the locker room. I feel like we were very encouraged that we have something we can build on. I feel like the offensive line played very well that game. We fought to the end."

On getting into conference play:
"It is very important to practice hard this week, work hard and study a lot of film to get ready for the conference game this week. It is all about the preparation that we have to do throughout the week."

On facing FIU's defense:
"It is a very good challenge up front. They limit their teams to 92 [rushing] yards per game and 218 yards passing per game. It is going to be a very good challenge. They bring a lot of blitzes from all over the field, a lot from the boundaries. They are kind of like the defense we just played, but they are going to do a lot more movement. They have physical defensive ends and are athletic. It is going to be a great challenge. We just have to lock in and accept the challenge."

On taking notice of FIU's defensive stats:
"We take notice of all defenses. We prepare all the way down to the T."

DE Vontarrius Dora

On losing back-to-back close games:
"It is just keeping everybody up and not letting the loss have that big of an effect on us for the whole season. It is just one game. We have nine more to go."

On bouncing back this week:
"After any loss, you want to bounce back and be more determined to get a win because everyone hates losing. Everyone will be fired up for the next game."

On the return of Aaron Brown:
"I feel like he is a really big asset on the d-line. He can help us a lot. With that depth, he adds a lot for us and is versatile. He can play the run and rush the passer too. He is a great player."

On FIU's offense:
"They kind of remind me of our offense. They can bring the tight end. They can spread us out of zone, out of power. It should be a fun game."

On the crowd versus FIU:
"I am hoping the fans turn out. I loved all the energy we had that all the fans brought. I loved it."

On comparing the FIU game to K-State:
"I am expecting the same thing. At Western Kentucky we gave up a lot of rushing yards, so a lot of teams want to try us and I am pretty sure they are going to try us too."

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