From Louisiana Tech coach Skip Holtz’s press conference this week:
“You look at this football team right now and they are 1-5, but they are now an independent and they have played Florida, Boston College, Mississippi State and they still have South Carolina and BYU. Their schedule is brutal and I have really been impressed with what this team has done. They are 1-5, but yet their halftime scores average a three point difference. They were down 10-7 to Florida, 13-7 to Boston College and were up 14-13 on Mississippi State. They were up 14 points on Tulane and ended up losing that game. I think they have a number of injuries right now and I would expect some of them to start coming back and I think that has hurt them. I think they are a talented team. We know that this is going to be a heck of a challenge. We are excited to go up there and play in Gillette Stadium. It will be a real treat for our players. At the end of the day, we are going up there for a football game. It is not going to be a sight-seeing tour, it is a business trip.”
“On defense, their linebackers are the best part of their defense. [Steve Casali] and [Shane Huber] are very active. They are really good football players. They have a number of guys that we nominated for preseason awards and watch lists. I know Huber was one of those. He is very talented, can run very well and is physical. That is where I think the strength of their football team is. [Tedrick] Lowery is from the state of Texas and was an all-state running back and safety there. He is very active. I think the real difference for them is upfront. [Da’Sean Downey] is the best pass rusher we have faced so far this year. He has great speed and athleticism. They utilize him in a lot of different areas. They play him at end. They stand him up and play him at linebacker. They will bring him, drop him, and play him to the boundary. He has two things that make him special, the first is his speed. We are going to take defensive backs and put them on the edge, so our tackles can get used to the speed he comes off the ball with. He runs around Florida, Boston College and Mississippi State. We are going to have to get some work with that and that is one of the concerns I have coming into this game, is the pass rush.”
“Offensively, I think is all starts with their tailback [Marquis] Young. He rushed for 165 yards this week against ODU. He is a slasher and about 200 pounds, who is a hard-nosed runner. I think he is a really talented player. I think they have two receivers; one is Andy Isabella who is a speed guy. He is a 10.5 100-meter receiver. He is really talented. I know their tight end [Todd] Stafford has been on a number of watch lists. Who will play quarterback? They have been playing two. [Andrew] Ford finished the game last week, who was a Virginia Tech transfer. He is an upperclassmen left-hander and he throws the ball really well, a talented player. He has good size. I don’t know which one will play; we have to be ready for both.”
“Their special teams are very solid and I think it is going to be a great challenge for us. We are back on the road again and getting out of the conference this week. I think our players are really excited, after having a chance to take a deep breath and get away from it after six hard weeks. I think they are excited to get back into it and start getting ready for UMass. I am excited about where we are right now and what we have to do. We are 3-3 at the midway point. We will leave all the projections and forecasting to everyone else. We just have to find a way to go win this week. That is where our main objective is right now.”
— Matt Vautour