Football. @LATechFB Weekly Press Conference Transcript: Sept. 29 - latechsports.com

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Louisiana Tech head coach Skip Holtz and select student-athletes met with the media Monday as they previewed the team's upcoming game against UTEP.

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Apparently no longer a work in progress.

Skip Holtz:


"Right now, this is the mark of a new season for us. We talked about the first five games, with four of them being on the road against bowl teams and the challenge that it was going to be. I am really proud of this team and the way that they competed, through a lot of these challenges. When we get to this point, we have to really start to evaluate where we are. We no longer have a bunch of rookies like we did going into that Oklahoma game."

"What is frustrating, is some of the mistakes we are making. It is about us and what we do. These are some of the growing pains that we keep talking about. Those are the things we have to eliminate and take ownership of as coaches. If we want to be a good football team, these are the things we have to do. We said at the beginning that we are inexperienced. We knew some of these mistakes were going to happen."

"For us to be a great team against Auburn, we have to eliminate five plays in that football game. The step from good to great is a huge step because it is only five plays, but you do not know when those five plays are going to come. That is what encourages me about this team. I think this football team can be really good. I see progress and attitudes. I see a lot of growth and a lot of positive things. That is where as coaches we have to keep pushing."

"In the first game of the year against Oklahoma we had 58 missed assignments. When you put that up on the board you realize that we never had a chance. That number is going way down and now we are sitting around 20. Out of those 20, we need to get that down to 10. Those are hard steps to take, but that is what we have to keep pushing for. I think our players are getting more comfortable in game atmospheres. We have one more step to take and it is eliminating turnovers and producing in the red zone. When we can do those things I think we will have a team that has a chance to be pretty good this year."

"We are not going to sit back and say `Well, it was Auburn, they have five star recruits.' When I looked out on that field, our players belonged out there on that field. It was not like our players got pushed around in the running game and could not do anything."

"The way our run defense played, without a doubt gave us confidence. I think they set a standard to show what they can do and how good they can be when they are focused and dialed in. We proved to ourselves when you can lineup and play with a top five team in the country, there will be a lot of positives to build on."

"I feel like we have grown. I feel like we are a lot better today than we were at Oklahoma. Do we feel like we have made progress? Yes, we do. I am so proud of the attitude we have had on this team. Morale comes from feeling like you are getting better. When you put the time and commitment into being a good football player and you can see the progress that is where the buy in factor comes in. That is what I think we have on this team right now. We have a huge buy in factor."

Hunter Lee:

"We have the athletes, the players, the coaches to do those things. What we really need to do is just be smarter and really stress ourselves to quit making dumb mistakes and turning the ball over. Once we do that, I really think as a team defensively and offensively, we have everything we need. We just need to bring it all together."

"Once we put it all together, I think you will see it is going to be awesome."

Houston Bates:

"I think the most important thing is coach Diaz had us amazingly prepared. We have never felt more prepared going into a game thus far. I think going into that game everyone knew their assignment. Everyone knew what they had to do. Everyone knew what they were going to do before they did it."

"We are still looking for the perfect game. We have not played it yet, but we are still in search of it. Hopefully this week will be that game where we can put offense and defense together and play phenomenal. I think once we do that the product is going to be unbelievable. We will look at it the next day and say `there is nothing we cannot do, there is no goal we cannot achieve and no conference championship we cannot win.....I think we are very close."