RUSTON, La. (Nov. 19, 2019) – Louisiana Tech head coach Skip Holtz spoke with the media Tuesday in preparation for Tech's west-division road showdown with UAB set for Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
 
Head Coach Skip Holtz
 
Opening Statement:
"Let's start by reflecting back to last week. There were an awful lot of distractions last week. It was obviously a short week. Marshall had an open date prior and we had six days to prepare. Final exams were last week with the last day of class being Thursday. A lot of the players had to move exams around because of that. We travelled Thursday, played in a very difficult environment. Obviously we had players unavailable for that game, pursuant to an athletic department policy. We have the special opportunity to tutor, mentor and help grow 120 young men in this football program. That responsibility includes loving them in times of joy and also having the opportunity to be stern but fatherly with them to help them grow through some difficult times. I felt really good about our team despite those distractions. I felt like they handled it with incredible maturity. I was more worried about how they handled it mentally from the academics side in a short week. I felt they were very focused.
 
We came out fast, started with that big kickoff return. We had to calm Aaron (Allen) down a little bit after that first series. We were up 7-0 in a tough environment against a good football team. So, no. I don't feel like those distractions lingered and affected the game. Unfortunately, we made some uncharacteristic mistakes. We dropped a punt. Nobody felt worse than he did. We were in a 10-7 ballgame with a young quarterback on the road, and then right before half, that momentum swing happens and then we were down 17-7 heading into halftime. Then in the fourth quarter, we were driving deep into the red zone and we snapped the ball over the quarterback's head. (Kody) Russey hasn't done that all year. He's been the starting center all year. He's seasoned and experienced. That went from us driving to put seven on the board to a 14-point swing where they drove down and scored a touchdown. It seemed like one of those nights that the more we kept competing and banging the rock to get back into it, the ball kept bouncing funny ways on us. It just made it very difficult.
 
We had some freshman step up in key spots for us. Three redshirt freshmen got their first collegiate starts. Aaron Allen went in and played really well, outside of maybe the first series and a couple third downs we'd all like to have back. He was 19-of-32 throwing the ball without an interception. He had four drops and four 50/50 balls. If we come down with half of those, he's 25-of-32 in his first career start in a tough place to play against the number one team in the east. I thought he played really well. Smoke Harris had nine catches for 91 yards in his first career start. Unfortunately, he also had three drops. I thought Biron Rossell, who stepped in at tackle and started for Gewhite Stallworth, played excellent until he left because of an ankle. There were some young guys who really stepped up. There were some positive things from this game. I look at the way the special teams are playing – especially the kickoff and kickoff return units. I look at guys like Maki Carabin as a true freshman, who made two tackles on three kickoffs. I look at Brodrick Calhoun, DeAndre Marcus and Wayne Toussant. Just so many young players who are really making their presence felt on special teams. I think that's something positive we can build on. At the end of the day, as a team and as a coaching staff, we did not do all the little things required in order to play smart football.
 
We have been one of the better red zone offenses and defenses, not only in our conference, but nationally as well. We were 2-of-9 (22 percent) in the red zone. We weren't very good on third down. We lost the turnover battle, which led to points. From a big play standpoint, we didn't make enough and we gave up too many. Ultimately, I don't think it was anything more than us needing to play a much cleaner game if we want to win against a really good football team and compete for a conference championship.
 
Getting into UAB this week: I have great respect for UAB and Bill Clark and the job that he's done with that program. Right now we are battling it out for first place in the west. It's going to be a very competitive game this week. I know they have the 4^th-longest active home winning streak that we're walking into. They are really good defensively. They are number one in our league in essentially every defensive category. They are very aggressive, and it all starts with their front four. I think their front four are true difference makers in this league, and many of them will be playing on Sundays. They create a lot of problems and make it very difficult to run the ball. They're only giving up 99 rushing yards per game. Offensively, they have gone through some of the growing pains with a young quarterback. They had an injury to their quarterback in the Tennessee game. They are running their quarterback and have two really good running backs. They have a big offensive line and are running the ball well out of many different formations. There are some large challenges for us this week. What we have to do is put last week behind us. I think our players are angry at the way we played. It was very uncharacteristic like I said. I think our players are very motivated and very excited about the opportunity we have in front of us."
 
If there's frustration with the unavailability of J'Mar Smith and Adrian Hardy:
"It is what is. We have to play with who we have. This is no different than if they were injured. We've got to step up and do what we need to do. I thought the guys that stepped in did a really good job. I don't think that was the reason for the performance or the loss. I don't care who was sitting in those positions. We've got to play with who's available and roll up our sleeves and compete. We need to talk about who we do have and get ready to play and compete for a conference championship."
 
If he learned anything about QB Aaron Allen in the Marshall game:
"The moment wasn't too big for him for sure. I think his first three plays showed some nerves, but after that I thought he really settled in. He had some growing pains on some third-down decisions. Aaron sees the field really well and doesn't put the ball in danger. He throws the ball very accurately, and he did all those things that we thought he would. I was proud of the way he went out and competed."
 
On the rivalry that has developed with UAB:
"The players are excited about this game – there's no doubt. Two years ago UAB blocked a field goal against us to win 23-22 at their place. Last year we were in a 7-7 game in the third quarter and made some mistakes that got that game out of hand. UAB is a quality team. Bill Clark has done a great job of building that program. Our players get excited about playing the better teams in our league and within our division."
 
On possibly losing momentum built up earlier in the season:
"You need to worry about what you have more than what you don't have. Whether you celebrate a victory or mourn a loss, you think about it for 24 hours, but then you have to turn the page. That's one of the great things about sports and what they teach us in dealing with adversity. We all have adversity – what makes the difference is how you deal with it. You've got to get up the next morning, dust yourself off and get ready to compete again. This team is probably wishing we had six days this week instead of eight to get that taste out of our mouths. Not only the losing, but not putting your best foot forward is the biggest thing that frustrates everybody on the inside right now – is that we didn't play our best game. Sometimes you win eight straight and sometimes you lose. We're going to learn a lot about ourselves this week. We've got to go on the road against a very good football team in an environment where they have been very successful for the last three years. It's going to be a great lesson to us in how you pick yourself up and stay competitive. We're going to roll our sleeves up and get after it even harder. That's all you can do."
 
 
To access video of today's LA Tech press conference, go to: https://conferenceusa.box.com/v/2019-20Video
Password: 2019-20Video
 
Click on Conference USA File Share > Video > Football > then the week of highlights you are seeking > then the school you are seeking.
 
Audio from today's press conference can be accessed on SoundCloud by clicking on the links below.
 
HC Skip Holtz audio: soundcloud.com/latechathletics/new-recording-17