Louisiana Tech Bulldogs College Football Pregame Quote, 10/06/2020

Last week certainly wasn’t what I anticipated going out there. I knew BYU was an awfully good football team. I felt like we would definitely make it a better show than we did. We were in a really good football game. It was 7-7 and had an opportunity to get a stop on fourth down and had really good field position. We were driving down and got to about the 40-yard line and threw the interception. Then we stopped them, got it back, went back down, got it back down into the red zone, got a holding call, got a penalty and took ourselves out. It seemed like it started to get away from us there. They scored on about their next four possessions. The one that really made the game lopsided was right before half when they took the two minute drive down and were able to score and then got it in the third quarter and scored again, it went from 21-7 to 35-7 before we ever got the ball again. It was a learning experience for our players. It was definitely a different venue with nobody in the stands. And I mean nobody. It was almost eerie quiet. But, I don’t think that had anything to do with our play. It was more the production of BYU. Their defensive line played really well. They have a really good ball club on defense. They did some things structurally to help protect some of the players that we were really going in to get some one-on-one matchups with. Their quarterback is as advertised. We made the comment when we watched Patrick Mahomes a couple years ago that he was really good. When we watched Dak Prescott, he was really good. Well, I think the same thing is going to be said of Zach Wilson. He’s a really good football player. He was really good the other night. We contested some throws and he put them in the only place they could be.

But then, there’s a lot of things we need to do to get better. Defensively, we’re certainly not playing where we want to be. Some of the inexperience over on that side showed a little bit more. Guys started pressing. We made some routine errors that we haven’t been making. Those are some of things that we have to clean up and get ready for this week in UTEP.

On UTEP:

It’s not the same UTEP. They are 3-1 right now as a football team. They are playing with a lot of confidence. Their defense, starting with that side of the ball, they have 16 junior college or transfer players on the defensive side of the ball in their two-deep. They’ve really worked hard to try and make a difference with their personnel. They’ve done a really nice job. They are fourth in the league in total defense. They’re second in the league in third downs. They’re only giving up 24 percent. They’ve held three of their last four opponents to 14 points, 13 points and six points. What they’re doing offensively, they’re controlling the football. They have a young quarterback who is playing really well. He’s fifth or sixth in the league right now in passing yards. They have a sophomore receiver who is fourth in the league in receptions. Their tailback, who is a freshman, is third in the league in touchdowns. They’re controlling the ball. They lead the league in time of possession right now. Offensively, they’re slowing the game down. They’re making first downs. They’re controlling the ball. Defensively, they’re playing a much more aggressive style where they’re trying to get off the field. They’re going to force you to play against man coverage. They’re going to force you to make some tight throws to get the ball down the field. It’s going to be a challenge for us on both sides of the ball. It’s a conference team. It’s a division team. Having the opportunity to play at home, our football team is really excited to get back into conference play. But, definitely, when you put on UTEP’s film, they’ve gotten everybody’s attention. I don’t think they are the same UTEP that they’ve been.

On if he sees more depth on the LA Tech team heading into Saturday’s game:

I made that comment in the staff meeting this morning. I think, knock on wood, right now where we are is as healthy as we’ve been. We had a couple of guys during camp that maybe had some six-to-eight week injuries that we have missed a little bit. But, certainly, when we went through the hurricane and the Southern Miss game with so many guys out, has just been a turnstile at a couple positions for us. On the offensive line last week, we had six players out, so you don’t have a lot of depth. You’ve got guys who you have to dance with the date you brought. Somebody lies on the ground and you say you have to get up. There’s not anybody else. You have to go. Just making practice and everything, we are not only two-deep, but potentially three-deep at a number of positions. We get Maki Carabin back this week. Gerald Wilbon who we’re going to get a better view with him as a defensive lineman being back. DJ Jackson is back as a defensive lineman. We had two nose guards out and a couple of linebackers out in that game. Just to show you the impact Trey Baldwin makes, he was one of the leading tacklers on Friday and he only played half of the game. Having him back, Tyler Grubbs getting that experience, having Maki Carabin back, Allen Walker having an opportunity to play all those plays and getting Gerald Wilbon and DJ Jackson. We still have to go through a wave of three tests this week, so we have to survive these three. But, where we are right now at the beginning of the week, it’s as healthy as we’ve been. I really commend our players. Once COVID gets into your program, to try and get it out is not easy. Your players have to be really smart and responsible with what they’re doing, wearing masks, practicing social distancing and doing all of those things. They’ve really done a nice job since the Southern Miss of trying to get it under control. We’ve had maybe one or two almost every test leading up to this week, and then the last couple last week were clean. Hopefully, we’re starting to get everybody back and get a healthy roster. Like I said, we’ll see what this week holds, but right now I’m excited about going to practice today.