RUSTON, La. - Louisiana Tech head coach Skip Holtz, junior offensive lineman Abraham Delfin and senior linebacker Trey Baldwin spoke to the media ahead of LA Tech's game against Charlotte on Saturday, Nov. 13, at 2:30 p.m. CT.
 
Head Coach Skip Holtz:
On the defense against UAB:
"It's five weeks in a row being disappointed with the outcome of the game. There are certainly some things to build on, but also some areas of concern. I look at it defensively and thought we started out like gang busters. At the end of the first quarter, they had five carries for five yards. The defense was playing pretty well. We gave up that one big play. We were able to capitalize on a turnover and found ourselves up a little bit. But we had 21 missed tackles during the course of the game and 16 of them with the linebackers and the safeties is a problem. Ten missed tackles is a lot. I give UAB an awful lot of credit. Their running back is a strong, powerful runner, but we have to do a better job fundamentally of tackling, of staying square, pad level and the biggest thing is wrapping arms. We're coming up. We're hitting people, but we're throwing a shoulder at them. When you have a 225-pound back, he isn't going to go down. You've got to take away the engine room, which are the legs, and wrap your arms up and around his legs and try to get him on the ground any way that you can. That was the biggest disappointment for me was just the way that we tackled defensively."
 
On the offense against UAB:
"Offensively, there were some things to build on. Watching JD Head have his first start and play as a freshman, he did some really good things managing the game. He didn't turn the ball over. We didn't have a turnover on offense. We had our second-highest rushing output of the year against the No. 2 defense in our conference in UAB, rushing for 150 yards. Chris Fournier went over and played left tackle for the first time all year which was a really good move for us offensively. Dakota White stepped in and really did a nice job at the right tackle. Abraham Delfin and Joshua Mote continue to be staples for us up inside. That unit is really starting to gel and come together. Keyon Henry-Brooks and Marcus Williams Jr. did a really good job running the ball. The inside and outside receivers played well. We scored 38 points. There were a lot of good things offensively. We hit a lull there with a couple missed assignments and overall execution we have to do a better job with in the second and third quarter. Overall, the offense played pretty well."
 
On the special teams against UAB:
"Special teams-wise, Smoke (Harris) drops a punt which is the first one he's dropped in two years being back there. It's not something you see very often. He's been very reliable for us back there. We gave up our second fake punt of the year which is something that can't happen. Our defense works too hard to get a stop and have to get right back onto the field. We were unsound in what we did. They did a nice job in executing, but we were unsound. We were supposed to have a guy at linebacker level and he wasn't there. We have to take ownership of that as a staff. That's our job first and foremost to make sure we get the ball back and no fakes are successful. That's the second one that was successful on us this year. The fake punt and the fumble on the punt led to 14 points and all of a sudden you find yourself down 24-21 at half. The disappointment was the way we tackled on defense."
 
On moving forward:
"Our coaches, our players, our staff. We all have to do a better job. It was disappointing to lose. Especially with that being the seventh loss, it took us out of bowl contention for the first time in seven years which is disappointing. As we talked about as team, there's still an awful lot to play for. We've got three games left on our schedule. We have the opportunity to play two of them at home in front of our family, our friends, our alumni, our fan base here at home. We're going to do everything we can to send these 18 seniors out a winner and find a way to see if we can get on a win streak going down the stretch with three games remaining."
 
On Charlotte:
"It'll be a challenge for us. We've got Charlotte this week who is a good football team. They're 5-4. They beat Duke to open the season. They had a nice win last week in beating Rice in overtime after Rice had beaten UAB. It'll be a challenge for us, but we have three games remaining. We still have to keep putting this together and find a way to send these seniors out the right way."