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Louisiana Tech Head Coach Quotes
Head Coach Skip HoltzOpening statement…“Let me say that, what a football game, huh? What a great football game, what a beautiful day. It was a gorgeous day to play the game and there was a great crowd playing at a Big 12 site against Kansas State, who have won more games the last four years in the Big 12 than anybody. It was a great opportunity for our players. I was really proud of how they came out and competed in this game. I was proud that they did not let some mistakes get them down or hang their heads. They just came back and kept competing. They had that 90 yard drive at the end just to get the game to overtime. They had no timeouts with their backs on their own nine yard line. The clock was running, but they made some plays to get it to overtime. It certainly was not a perfect game on our part. We put our defense on the field three times inside the 30-yard line, which you cannot do against a really good football team. I have great respect for Coach Snyder and I congratulated him and his team. I thought they did the things they needed to do to win the football game. I am just really proud of the way we competed. I thought the defense played really well outside of that last play – the third down and 16, where they gave up the touchdown, but I thought they played their tails off today. I thought some individuals competed extremely hard. We learned a lot about our team today. I liked what I saw with how they competed. We played 15 freshmen, which makes us the 14th team in the country playing the most freshmen. To play 15 freshmen in an environment like that and a game like that – for it to be only their third game of experience – I think that is invaluable for our football team. We have to grow from this and continue to get better. I look forward to getting into conference play and going home.”
On quarterback Jeff Driskel’s play…
“I think Jeff was really seeing the field very well. He was making really good decisions with the ball and not putting it in danger if it was not there. There were a couple balls that might have looked like bad throws but they just were not there. He understood the challenge our offensive line had against their defensive front. He knew we had to get rid of the ball and he threw it out of play. I think he made some really good decisions. I feel like I should have helped him more when we saw a lot of man coverage at the end of the game, but I am really proud of how he played. He is a real talent, but I am impressed with his maturity and the way he manages the game and sees the field.”
On the game going back-and-forth…“We talked to our players about how this was going to be a staring contest and it was going to come down to the first one to blink. That was how this game was going to be. I heard one of our players say going into overtime, ‘Don’t blink.’ We just had to keep believing in what we were doing. Both teams play a lot of plays on both sides. I knew there was an end, but it was just about who was going to make that critical mistake to lose the game.”
(snip)
Louisiana Tech Head Coach Quotes
Head Coach Skip HoltzOpening statement…“Let me say that, what a football game, huh? What a great football game, what a beautiful day. It was a gorgeous day to play the game and there was a great crowd playing at a Big 12 site against Kansas State, who have won more games the last four years in the Big 12 than anybody. It was a great opportunity for our players. I was really proud of how they came out and competed in this game. I was proud that they did not let some mistakes get them down or hang their heads. They just came back and kept competing. They had that 90 yard drive at the end just to get the game to overtime. They had no timeouts with their backs on their own nine yard line. The clock was running, but they made some plays to get it to overtime. It certainly was not a perfect game on our part. We put our defense on the field three times inside the 30-yard line, which you cannot do against a really good football team. I have great respect for Coach Snyder and I congratulated him and his team. I thought they did the things they needed to do to win the football game. I am just really proud of the way we competed. I thought the defense played really well outside of that last play – the third down and 16, where they gave up the touchdown, but I thought they played their tails off today. I thought some individuals competed extremely hard. We learned a lot about our team today. I liked what I saw with how they competed. We played 15 freshmen, which makes us the 14th team in the country playing the most freshmen. To play 15 freshmen in an environment like that and a game like that – for it to be only their third game of experience – I think that is invaluable for our football team. We have to grow from this and continue to get better. I look forward to getting into conference play and going home.”
On quarterback Jeff Driskel’s play…
“I think Jeff was really seeing the field very well. He was making really good decisions with the ball and not putting it in danger if it was not there. There were a couple balls that might have looked like bad throws but they just were not there. He understood the challenge our offensive line had against their defensive front. He knew we had to get rid of the ball and he threw it out of play. I think he made some really good decisions. I feel like I should have helped him more when we saw a lot of man coverage at the end of the game, but I am really proud of how he played. He is a real talent, but I am impressed with his maturity and the way he manages the game and sees the field.”
On the game going back-and-forth…“We talked to our players about how this was going to be a staring contest and it was going to come down to the first one to blink. That was how this game was going to be. I heard one of our players say going into overtime, ‘Don’t blink.’ We just had to keep believing in what we were doing. Both teams play a lot of plays on both sides. I knew there was an end, but it was just about who was going to make that critical mistake to lose the game.”
(snip)
