RUSTON, La. - Louisiana Tech head coach Skip Holtz, junior fullback Jacob Adams and senior linebacker Ezekiel Barnett spoke with the media ahead of LA Tech's game at NC State on Saturday, Oct. 2, at 5 p.m. CT.
 
Head Coach Skip Holtz
On the North Texas game:
"It's great to win. I'm really proud of this team and what they were able to do in overcoming some adversity last week and being able to step up. Some guys really stepped up and played a really quality game for us. Anytime you can get a conference win, you have to celebrate it. It wasn't always pretty. It wasn't perfect. There are a lot of things we'll need to improve on, but that doesn't diminish the outstanding performances by a lot of individuals. It was nice to play at home for three weeks in a row. We had a goal we wanted to go 3-0 at home going into the open date. Unfortunately, we weren't able to accomplish that. We were 2-1 with that one loss being the Hail Mary against SMU. It was really a point of emphasis to make sure we hold serve at home, especially in the conference games.
 
"Out of the first five, we had one conference game and that was the one we circled and said this one is a must. We have to go into the open date at least 1-0 in the conference. As we've said all along, we're going to learn a lot about our team and hopefully we can continue to grow and develop as we go through the season. The defense really stepped up. The defense played a really solid football game for us in only giving up 17 points. Even with that, they were stuck with a couple short fields with a blocked punt and a fumble at our end of the field. The defense really stepped up and played an outstanding game. Offensively, some guys came in and we got off to a fast start and started up 24-0 with a long run by Marcus Williams Jr. He made a great run to get into the end zone and made it into the end zone twice. Then the long touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone there at the end of the second quarter. We did what we needed to do. It certainly wasn't perfect. Shoutout to the punt returner Smoke Harris for being the LSWA Co-Special Teams Player of the Week. Congratulations to him. What an electric play it was. I wish he could've got into the end zone. Overall, I'm really proud of what this team was able to accomplish and finding a way to win the game."
 
On NC State:
"The task doesn't get any easier this week. We get to go to Raleigh to NC State. Dave Doeren does a great job with that program. He's been there quite a while and he's done a really nice job. Right now, he has one of his better football teams that he's had. They had a huge win last week against Clemson. When you look at this football team, the word solid comes to mind. They're just really solid in everything they're doing. They're playing with a lot of upperclassmen. A lot of guys have played. They have four guys that are tracking for career stats in NC State history. When you talk about their two receivers, their running back for average yards per carry, the punter, the place kicker, they have a lot of guys that have played a lot of football and that have really done a nice job for them. They have a really solid football team. Offensively, they're multiple. They do a lot of things. They have two running backs. One's averaging 6.5 yards per carry and one is averaging five. They have a couple wide receivers that are really playing outstanding. Their quarterback is a seasoned guy who was 3-0 last year and now with four games under his belt is really playing with confidence and doing some good things.
 
"The strength of this NC State team is defensively. They have some great players on the defensive side of the ball. They have a very solid scheme in what they do. They're a 3-4 defense in what they do and they run it very, very well. They're very gap-sound in what they do and they're not giving up a lot of yards. They've given up right around 200 yards in three games and gave up 300 yards to Mississippi State. The only game they lost, they were minus-three in the turnover battle. When you look at it, it's going to be a tall order for us going to Raleigh, but it's one we're really excited about getting into this week, stepping back out of the conference, learning a little bit more about our football team and watching them compete on the road in a very loud, energetic stadium. It's a great challenge for us this week. After this week, we'll get into the open date and really have a time to look back and review the first five games and some things we have to do in the second half as we really get into the conference race."