Louisiana Tech Bulldogs College Football Pregame Quote, 11/05/2019

Reflecting on the UTEP game two weeks ago:

Welcome to this week’s press conference. It’s been a couple weeks since we’ve done this. Going back to UTEP a couple weeks ago ‚Äì I’m just really proud of the way our team is playing right now. Everyone is playing unselfishly, together and smart. They really did some good things in the UTEP game. If I was nitpicking, I’d say I wish we could have finished a bit stronger, but overall I was really proud of the way they played.

On having a productive bye week:

We came off the UTEP game into an open date, which I thought was incredibly productive. I really like having the two open dates. It’s something I hope will to continue to be looked at keeping moving forward because it’s huge for our players. I don’t know that I’ve ever had a team this healthy eight weeks into the season. It speaks tremendous volumes for what this team did in the summer and fall camp and the way they worked, prepared and conditioned for this year. This open date we handled very similarly to the first one. We wanted to develop some depth and get some necessary rest and recovery for those guys who are playing a major role for us. We wanted to get ahead for what we’re doing as a coaching staff as far as game-planning and self-scouting. I thought it was a very productive week as far as that’s concerned. Our coaches had an opportunity to go out recruiting, and then we came back Sunday and got involved with the North Texas game plan.

On the challenges in facing North Texas:

This is one of those weeks that you would consider a rivalry week. This is a week that everybody has a bit more pep in their step and everyone is excited for. This is a game that traditionally both teams have had a tremendous amount of respect for each other. This game has come down to a field goal two years in a row – with them winning in our place two years ago and us being fortunate in coming away with a win over there last year. This is a game that creates a lot of energy and excitement, just when you say North Texas and Louisiana Tech because of the history, the rivalry and the competitive nature of these games when these two teams play.

North Texas is a team that was picked to win the west. They’ve got pretty much everybody back from last year, especially on the offensive side of the ball. They’ve got an awful lot of weapons. We know it’s going to be an unbelievable challenge for us as a football team. It starts with the numbers they’re putting up on offense. They’re video game numbers and it starts with Mason Fine. He’s competitive, tough, accurate and fun to watch play. I enjoy watching him play and have great respect for him. I have great respect for Coach Littrell and the job he’s done with this program. I think there’s a lot of mutual respect between our two programs. I’m very excited about this game.

On homecoming:

It is homecoming this week. Homecoming is a great tradition that schools all over the country recognize and give many of their former students and alumni an opportunity to come back to visit the campus and to rekindle old relationships and catch up with other former students. Our mayor Ronnie Walker has done an incredible job with this town and the city of Ruston in the way it’s grown. Our president, Dr. Guice has done an outstanding job helping grow this university ‚Äì not just from a people standpoint but from a structural standpoint with the new buildings on campus. New dorms have been erected on campus. It’s an exciting weekend with an exciting opponent and right now I’m really looking forward to this week.

On facing an offense as potent as North Texas:

You start with what has been done successfully against them in the past ‚Äì not necessarily in our games but also with previous opponents this year. North Texas has a different team this year than they did two years ago. They have different strengths. Same with us. Our strength last year may have been our front four led by Jaylon Ferguson, who now I’m watching play on Sundays. You’ve got to find that balance between what you have and what people have done. It’s certainly not copying what was done two years ago because you don’t have the same personnel. It is certainly intelligent to help formulate the team you presently have to build the future. I tell our team all the time that knowledge is power. The more you know about the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent, the better chance you have to be successful.

On the success of running back Justin Henderson:

I can’t say enough about the job that Justin Henderson has done. He came here last year as a junior college player. He wanted to play last year, but really wasn’t ready, and played a minimal amount last season. Had a lot of missed assignments and a couple fumbles, and just wasn’t really ready to play the role. He has worked incredibly hard. Not just physically where he’s changed his body and become stronger and faster, but he has worked incredibly hard mentally in learning the offense and feeling more comfortable in the blocking schemes. He has really applied the ‚Äòknowledge is power’ mantra to his game. He came in here just wanting an opportunity to show the improvements that he made. Things happen for a reason. He came in here third on the depth chart coming into the fall. Israel Tucker got mono and had an ankle issue, and Jaqwis Dancy has had a number of injuries that have prohibited him from playing, and Justin Henderson has stepped up and made the most of his opportunity. I couldn’t be more proud of the progress he’s made, but even more to see all his hard work and determination turn into success on the field. I’m really excited for him. We say all the time that competition makes the entire program better and it’s certainly a situation where Justin has made the entire room better because of his competitive nature and his drive to get better. I commend him for that. He wasn’t given anything. He’s had to earn it, and he’s certainly rolled his sleeves up and competed for the opportunities he’s gotten.

On the difficulties in facing Mason Fine:

Statistically, he’s got video game numbers for a career. What he has done is truly remarkable. I compare him a lot to Trent Taylor. Trent was a guy who didn’t have another division I scholarship just as Mason Fine did not. He’s made the most of the one he got, just as Trent did here. Trent led the country in receptions his senior year, and I think one of the things that makes both of them as successful as they have been is their toughness both mental and physical. Mason is extremely talented and intelligent. He knows defenses and has an extremely quick release. He’s hard to get to when you blitz because of how quick he can get rid of the ball. Structurally, their coaches have put together the outlets. The young man knows it very well, and he is executing their offense at a very high level. He throws the ball as accurately as anybody in the country right not. The football field is 53 and a third feet wide, and he uses every six inches to place a ball where it needs to be. He is really an exceptional quarterback and an exceptional talent. I know right now their record is 4-5, but it’s certainly not because of a lack of explosiveness as an offensive football team. I know they’ve had some injuries and some tough breaks at some difficult times, but I think he is a phenomenal talent. There is a reason he was one of the players of the year in this league a year ago. There is a reason that he was the preseason player of the year in this league this year. I think everybody has an incredible amount of respect for him and what type of football player he is. I love watching him compete.

On being atop the division right now:

There’s eight conference games. We’ve played four. It’s halftime. There’s a lot of teams that have been losing at halftime who have come back and won a football game. There are five teams in our division right now that can still mathematically win the west division. There are five teams with two or less losses. Two losses can mathematically win this with everybody having four games remaining. Especially when you look at who plays who in the final eight games. For us right now, it’s about focusing back into these final four games and keeping a 1-0 mentality. When I look at North Texas, I know that 4-5 is disappointing for what their expectations were going into the season. They’ve played some really quality opponents. They lost their starting receiver for the year and they’ve got to address that. They ran into a red-hot SMU team that has a transfer QB that is putting up top-10 numbers this year. I think it’s a combination with some of the injuries they’ve had to overcome as a football team and I think it’s some of the teams that they’ve run into. I put on the film, and they’re everything I thought they’d be ‚Äì probably even more so in some respects. I am not anticipating anything other than us having to play our absolute best to have any type of chance to be competitive and win this game.

On not receiving national recognition after a 7-1 start:

I think if we continue to take care of our business on the field, then the big things will handle themselves. There’s still a lot of football to be played. There’s four games left with a potential championship game and a bowl game. I am not going to beat my drum at the halfway point saying that we should be ranked. We’re 7-1. Let’s see how this thing plays out. Let’s see how we handle it. We’ve learned how to win a little bit and had some success, but can we handle it, stay humble and still execute at a high level? Can we go out to the fields every day and continue to do the little things necessary to get us to this point? I’m probably more concerned about us taking care of our business. If we continue to do that, the bowls and the polls will take care of themselves. Until then, we just have to make sure that we don’t start looking at things that are outside of our control and stub our toe with things we can control ‚Äì which is the way we perform this week.