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LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 6, 2016

Ryan Higgins

Ruston, Louisiana

Western Kentucky - 52, Louisiana Tech - 55

Q. Pretty wild game.
RYAN HIGGINS: Yeah, we really had faith in our defense the whole time. We kind of -- we stalled out in the fourth quarter. I thought we played the first three quarters really well offensively. I think we -- I went for it on the fourth down, and that was one of only times we didn't score.

I just thought we did a great job offensively and our defense made a play when they needed to to take a little pressure off our back and we were able to finish the game.

Q. How nice is it to have Carlos back?
RYAN HIGGINS: That's a special player right there. I mean, showed every reason, like -- he's awesome, man. It's hard to -- hard to explain. It's just nice to have him out there. I mean, at first, they just weren't making the adjustments they needed to stop him and we just kept burning him. He makes me look good, so I'm happy.

Q. Inaudible.
RYAN HIGGINS: Extremely. I think we do a great job with the screens, or we have every game. But having that just superior speed, unless somebody -- they have really got to get back to stop that guy, just because he's got some wheels.

Q. Jarred Craft had a great game, as well. What was he able to do on the ground as well as the passing game?
RYAN HIGGINS: Jarred's got great hands and giving him little screen passes or anything like that, dumps, check-downs, I trust him to make plays, and he's done a great job making the first guy miss almost every time. And I'll dump it to him, you know, expecting, okay, they got us on this one, I'll check it down to him, get a couple yards.

Next thing you know, he's got nine or ten. He's just been -- he's become, I guess, more loose, just in the way he runs and everything. He's just becoming a really good running back.

Q. When you look at Western Kentucky's numbers coming into this game, you may have thought they were good against the pass, they had not played very many pass-happy offenses thus far. What did you see on tape that made y'all think you could exploit them deep?
RYAN HIGGINS: Well, really we didn't expect them to play man-up as much on us. We just expected a lot of three-deep zone and stuff like that we thought we were going to have to run the ball and then force them to lock down. But they did that early, and we took advantage of it.

Wasn't exactly what we expected but we -- I mean, coming in, we definitely didn't underestimate them. We were like, this is going to be the best -- I think the best defense in the conference and just with a great offense, too. We were expecting a great team and they did, and they were good players, but I think we just took advantage of a lot of opportunities.

Q. Seemed like you enjoyed the company of one another. What is it about the two teams that make it -- you despise them a little bit?
RYAN HIGGINS: Really I just think how the past two years have gone, with 2014, us putting a whipping on them, and last year, them beating us, and then having -- they had the 13-game win streak in the conference, and like coach holds said earlier in the week, they had the belt between us and it just -- I don't know. It was just really intense, and we knew how good they were, and we knew how good we were. We just knew it was going to be a great battle and it just made it all that more intense.

Q. On that note, what's it like when you stop that 13-game win streak and set yourselves up nicely to continue this run for a conference championship, what's that feeling like, that you took care of business?
RYAN HIGGINS: It's great. Like Coach Holtz said, we have 24 hours to celebrate. We're stoked that we did a great job offensively and defense made plays when we need them to, and we came out with a win more than anything.

But we're not happy with where we are. We feel better than where we were but we just have to keep going, and I mean, it doesn't stop here. It's on to the next game.

Q. What was that feeling of jubilation like? You were on the sideline, you guys had done your part putting up 55 points but still having to be on the sideline hoping the defense could make play and sure enough, one play in, they get the fumble. What was that moment like?
RYAN HIGGINS: It's surreal. We had all the confidence in the world that our defense could step up. I mean, with Xavier and Coop and Lloyd and all those guys, we trust them to make plays, and we knew they could come through in the clutch for us. And it just happened to be on the first play and made it all that more -- I wouldn't say caught us off-guard but it was a wonderful sensation.

Q. As a quarterback, do you like to play a game like that, where the offense --
RYAN HIGGINS: On one hand, yes. It's awesome, I guess, to be in a shootout but on the other hand, it can be a little scary.

Q. Did you get in a rhythm with Carlos? Did you feel like it's going to be a big day, not just you, but the passing game in general? Did you find that touchdown feel?
RYAN HIGGINS: Yeah, like in warm-ups, I just felt -- we warm up with our deep balls and stuff like that, and I just felt great today. I was just feeling it. And really, just after one or two passes, you just get in a rhythm like that and it's just -- and it's great to have Carlos back and we were able to connect opponent a few. It was just nice, kind of like in the zone.

Q. Shootouts, you've had a couple of these, nice to finally get one? How much of a confidence boost is that?
RYAN HIGGINS: It's huge, especially moving into next week. We get some time to rest our guys. Just really as far as offensively, it's great knowing we can put up as many points as we need to win. And especially with -- inaudible -- it's a great confidence boost for the defense, knowing, hey, we need to make a play and we did and really just of course we're all -- we all know we need to improve every day and every game, but we hope to build on this momentum.

Q. How happy are you to get a little extra time off?
RYAN HIGGINS: I'm especially excited. Like today I felt great. The team, or the offensive line did a great job, gave me plenty of time, and it's easy when I've got guys like Carlos and Trent to get open quickly. I don't remember taking too many shots. Just it's going to be nice for everybody to just have a nice little break, almost like a bye week. Just ready to come back Sunday, ready to work.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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