	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 30, 2017

Skip Holtz

Ruston, Louisiana

South Alabama - 16, Louisiana Tech - 34

Q. I tell you, you look at this and the final score. Here's the thing, it may not be the prettiest, but it's a W.
SKIP HOLTZ: It is a W. The thing that was just, it was frustrating offensively tonight. We really got kind of out of a rhythm. It seemed like we started off so well and we were really, we started fast, we were rolling along, and then we had the fumble in the red zone. (Audio cut out.)

In the second half, especially the third quarter it felt like we were on the edge of a cliff on our own goal line most of the third quarter. And we were, most of those third downs were probably 15 plus. So penalties, dropped balls, it certainly wasn't a very clean game offensively (audio cut out.)

Q. You went with an empty backfield a lot. Is that just something you guys just focus on or was it me. It seemed like you did that more often in the first half?
SKIP HOLTZ: No, we came in here and said that that was one of the things that they do a really good job of mixing their zone and man and man and zone. And I thought they really did a nice job of mixing up their coverages as a defense and couldn't get a bead on them. It was first downs, man, first downs three deep, first downs, quarters. They just kept changing up. So it was hard to get a bead. But they've got to show their blitzes more in empty, when you get an empty, they've got to show their hand a little bit more. And that's why we came in here and said we're going to get in a little bit more empty and I thought it even helped us some in the second half, we got a couple quick passes thrown out to the flat with Boston Scott or Jarred Craft and picked up some key first downs for us when we were struggling a little bit there to start the fourth quarter.

Q. How hard is it to find that fourth receiver. We have Teddy Veal we don't know about. But just finding that other guy to be a good target.
SKIP HOLTZ: Cam McKnight had a couple catches tonight. Adrian Hardy made played a major role for us, he got an awful lot of plays for us, had about four catches, did a really nice job. Marlin Watts had a couple nice catches for us. And then George Scott got an opportunity, didn't catch the ball quite as well as we like as a freshman, but I think he's a really talent and he got an opportunity to get some of this nervous energy out of him. We'll find out what's going on with Rhashid, he didn't get a chance to finish tonight, but we'll see where he is tomorrow with treatments this week and see whether or not he'll be ready. But I think it's critical that those guys keep stepping up. It's really important that those guys step up and we're constantly looking for depth especially at that wide receiver position.

Q. You talked about the starting field position you looked at the 10, the 11, and the 11. It seemed like when the fourth quarter hit you changed the tempo just a little bit and it caught them off guard. They were pointing at each other. Is that something you expect to see more of?
SKIP HOLTZ: I didn't think we were very physical in the first half in being able to run the ball. You'd run the ball and then it's second and seven, and then throw it and it's incomplete and then you're in third and long again. But you we started going a little bit more tempo in the fourth quarter. They play a lot of defensive linemen, but we felt if we could start speeding things up we would stop some of their substitutions and we would be able to run the ball a little bit more efficiently, which proved accurate. I thought Boston Scott did a great job of hitting it tonight. I know he didn't have a million carries, but I thought, from a running standpoint, I think he only had six yards or six carries, but he averaged about 12 and a half. I thought he hit it really hard. I thought he was explosive, he was electric. He did a really nice job of coming back last week when he was really hampered and only rushed for about three yards a carry and was kind of nursing that shoulder a little, but he came back full speed tonight.

Q. They had some turmoil in their program this week, they changed offensive coordinator. From what you saw on film did they do much different tonight?
SKIP HOLTZ: No, their starting quarterback was back. He had played, they had really played two quarterbacks this year and the one that played tonight was the one that started the season. He got a nick in the Oklahoma State game, sat two games, and then he was back for tonight. So they pretty much ran what they did. There was a couple small wrinkles, but it was pretty much what we had, what we prepared for, what we expected. They do a nice job. I thought the quarterback threw the ball really accurate for them and we got to do a better job, especially in our man coverage, getting inside and taking away some of these slants because that was their bread and butter, that was something they went to all night and really, outside of probably about eight or 10 drops tonight by them, I mean, we really got saved defensively a little bit by some of the balls that hit the ground. But it certainly wasn't because we covered on a handful of those. So we got lucky with it, and I know, I said this before, South Alabama is a good program, they have done a good job. Wasn't the cleanest game that we wanted tonight, but proud of the way our players hung in there, the way they competed. J'mar got a little frustrated there and he started to show it from a body language standpoint. You can't, as a quarterback, that's when we need leadership more than anything. But he never flinched. For him, he loves it, tie game, we got to go down and put the score in, you look at him and wink and he's like, got it, we're good. So I really love his poise and his composure and what he did tonight and I think tonight was a good, was a good learning situation for him, just as a leader and as a quarterback of an offensive football team.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297