The Athletic had a good write-up on the Bulldogs this week:
Entering Saturday, it was unclear what to make of Louisiana Tech. Its 5-1 record was notable, but the Bulldogs didn’t have a win against a team with a winning record.
That changed with an impressive 45-30 victory over Southern Miss, and suddenly Louisiana Tech looks like a real threat to win the West division and the conference.
Southern Miss had come into the game with recent wins against Troy and division favorite North Texas, and the Golden Eagles took a 14-0 lead early. But the Bulldogs fought back and flustered USM quarterback Jack Abraham, who had been the best offensive player in the league halfway through the season. He was intercepted four times – as many times as he’d been all season. Three of those came from star cornerback Amik Robertson.
“We found ourselves down 14-0. Nobody panicked, Holtz said at his news conference this week. “Nobody flinched. There was nothing negative on the sideline. Nobody was pointing fingers. Truly, it was a ho-hum ‘Let’s go get this.’ I never felt any negativity on the sideline. I never felt like there was a threat of losing the game. I was just really proud of the focus of this football team. We were down 14-0 and ended up winning the game by 15, which I think speaks volumes for our leadership.”
Holtz’s tenure has been incredibly consistent. Other than his 4-8 debut in 2013, Louisiana Tech has won between seven and nine games in five consecutive seasons. The Bulldogs have also won five consecutive bowl games. But there have been only two division championships and no conference titles. They haven’t gotten over that final hump.
It wasn’t expected to be this year, especially after losing the FBS all-time sack leader Jaylon Ferguson. The Bulldogs were picked to finish third in the division, with no first place votes. But North Texas has stumbled at times, and the Bulldogs are one of only two undefeated teams in C-USA play. If they beat UTEP as expected this Saturday, they’ll be halfway there with games against North Texas, UAB, Marshall and UTSA remaining.
“Somebody (asked me) the other day if this is the best team I’ve had, and I said I’m not sure; because we’re still writing that book,” Holtz said. “But there have been games where we needed our defense to show up because our offense wasn’t playing at the expectation level we have for ourselves. There have been games where our offense had to score 40 points to give us an opportunity to win. I don’t know if it’s our best team, but right now, they complement each other very well. That’s the ultimate goal. You want to score one more point than your opponent. Whether that’s 10-9 or 43-42, you just want to find a way to score one more point than they do and right now, that’s what this team has been able to do.”
Entering Saturday, it was unclear what to make of Louisiana Tech. Its 5-1 record was notable, but the Bulldogs didn’t have a win against a team with a winning record.
That changed with an impressive 45-30 victory over Southern Miss, and suddenly Louisiana Tech looks like a real threat to win the West division and the conference.
Southern Miss had come into the game with recent wins against Troy and division favorite North Texas, and the Golden Eagles took a 14-0 lead early. But the Bulldogs fought back and flustered USM quarterback Jack Abraham, who had been the best offensive player in the league halfway through the season. He was intercepted four times – as many times as he’d been all season. Three of those came from star cornerback Amik Robertson.
“We found ourselves down 14-0. Nobody panicked, Holtz said at his news conference this week. “Nobody flinched. There was nothing negative on the sideline. Nobody was pointing fingers. Truly, it was a ho-hum ‘Let’s go get this.’ I never felt any negativity on the sideline. I never felt like there was a threat of losing the game. I was just really proud of the focus of this football team. We were down 14-0 and ended up winning the game by 15, which I think speaks volumes for our leadership.”
Holtz’s tenure has been incredibly consistent. Other than his 4-8 debut in 2013, Louisiana Tech has won between seven and nine games in five consecutive seasons. The Bulldogs have also won five consecutive bowl games. But there have been only two division championships and no conference titles. They haven’t gotten over that final hump.
It wasn’t expected to be this year, especially after losing the FBS all-time sack leader Jaylon Ferguson. The Bulldogs were picked to finish third in the division, with no first place votes. But North Texas has stumbled at times, and the Bulldogs are one of only two undefeated teams in C-USA play. If they beat UTEP as expected this Saturday, they’ll be halfway there with games against North Texas, UAB, Marshall and UTSA remaining.
“Somebody (asked me) the other day if this is the best team I’ve had, and I said I’m not sure; because we’re still writing that book,” Holtz said. “But there have been games where we needed our defense to show up because our offense wasn’t playing at the expectation level we have for ourselves. There have been games where our offense had to score 40 points to give us an opportunity to win. I don’t know if it’s our best team, but right now, they complement each other very well. That’s the ultimate goal. You want to score one more point than your opponent. Whether that’s 10-9 or 43-42, you just want to find a way to score one more point than they do and right now, that’s what this team has been able to do.”