Postgame Quotes
Head coach Skip Holtz
Opening comments:
"It is nice to win and it is nice to win at home. Last week, we lost Game 6 on the road, but this week we had the opportunity to play Game 7 at home and finish this thing. I am really proud of the way this team answered the challenge. I cannot say enough positive things about these players, the heart that they have and the way they compete. I am blessed to have the opportunity to coach such a great group of men. We talked early in the year about the beginning of the schedule, four of the first five on the road against bowl teams. We talked about how challenging it was going to be playing on the road against Oklahoma and Auburn, two Top 5-ranked teams. We knew we were going to learn a lot about our football team. The way that this team has evolved and the way they have come together, I am just really proud with what they have been able to accomplish on the field. To be able to win the west is a huge feather in the cap of these players and this school in only our second year in Conference USA. I am just really proud of this group of young men."
"I cannot say enough positive things about the football team we just played. David Bailiff is an excellent football coach. Rice has done an incredible job. They beat us last year, 52-14. They graduated a bunch of seniors and here they are in the final game of the year with an opportunity to play for the championship again. I have great respect for them. They will bounce back and be strong. I think he does a great job. This has the chance to become a really special rivalry. A lot of those will be formulated in the new conference when you start to play each other every year. I can assure you, the whooping we took last year and the whooping they took this year is definitely going to linger on both sides for a long time. I think this is going to be a great battle."
"I cannot say enough positive things about Cody Sokol. He never ceases to amaze me with what he has been able to do in such a short period of time. He has a great grasp of the offense and sits back there and operates. The difference in this football game was we went the first series saying we were going to run the football. They put everyone up on the line of scrimmage. We tried the quarterback sneak and did not make it. When we did not make that, we knew where it was going. They were going to put everyone in the box, so we were going to throw it and throw it deep. We were trying to get chunks of yardage if they were going to play man coverage. Any time you rob Peter to pay Paul by putting everyone in the box, we have a few guys that have the ability to take the top off of it. I thought Cody was the guy that made it all work. The other thing that went with that was having the running game with Kenneth Dixon and the way that offensive line protected Cody. I cannot say enough positive things about the entire offense and the effort that went into it."
"Defensively, we had four turnovers against a team that had three turnovers in seven conference games. For the defense to go out there and get those turnovers and give us the opportunity to take some big play shots was the difference in this football game. I thought the defense played an excellent football game."
"I am proud of these seniors and proud of this football team with what they were able to accomplish."
On his 100th win with family present:
"It is pretty special. I told my mom that we had to get it today because she flew to Virginia last week and flew here this week. She was going to put some serious air miles on the card flying around trying to make sure she was here for it. Having my mom, wife, son and dear friends in for the game was special. It brings back not just this win, but memories of so many great teams, players and coaches that I have been blessed to have the opportunity to be around. One hundred wins is huge. This football team is really special to me because I do not know that I have had a football team that has had to overcome so much, with the schedule, new faces, new coaches and everything to make this year work. This group of guys is really special. They will always have a special place in my heart."
On responding to a stop on the first drive:
"I was asked this week if I script plays. The game for me is at the start, taking a deep breath and figuring out what they are giving us. At that point, it is like a three hour auction. You are on those head sets and it is back in forth constantly trying to figure out what is going on. I could not do what I am able to do without Tony Petersen upstairs with his eyes in the box. With the offensive coaches, the game plan is a group effort. Everybody has some great ideas but we have a good team - team of coaches and a team of players. I feel very comfortable that if we had to get in two tight ends and grind it out, that we have an offensive line and running game that could do that. I also feel that if we have to spread it out and have to throw it 60 times a game to put up points and win, I feel we would have an opportunity to do just that. That balance is one of those things that gives us the opportunity to have some success on offense."
On Western Kentucky and Marshall:
"I am really impressed with their offense, with the way they can run it and throw it. Rakeem Cato is special. Every film that we get, if they have played Marshall, we watch it because their offense is somewhat similar to ours as far as what we do with the spread. We have watched a lot of football on them. Cato is a special quarterback. They are a really special team. They are explosive. I think Western Kentucky went in there and was able to hit some big plays. They really challenged their team and played a heck of a football game. Western Kentucky has a really good football team as well. I know that Marshall is going to be fired up. They are going to be excited. They get the opportunity to host, with us going over there to play. It has all the makings to be what a championship game should be."
On keeping focus after the ODU loss:
"I think the focus became Game 7 at home. We told our team that right now Rice has something that we want. Rice is the defending champion. In the team meeting last night, I put up a picture in a power point presentation of Rice holding up the trophy last year. I said they have what we want. It is not that we need to go protect anything if we want it, we have to go earn it. We have to go get it done on the field. Another question I got was, 'do you feel like it is slipping away?' If Rice would have lost last week, we would have won it. If we had won at Old Dominion, we would have sealed the West. All I would say is that it is Game 7 at home. This is what you want right here. We did not lose anything last week, other than a game. We did lose the opportunity to win the west, but these players went out there and got it done. I cannot say enough positive things about them."
On the leadership council helping to overcome tough losses:
"It was everything I thought it would and more. It is going to be what the players make it. We talked about having a lot of underclassmen leading this team. There were a lot of underclassmen that deserved to be in that conversation. Players like Trent Taylor, Xavier Woods and other young guys that are being really productive on the field. We decided to let the team vote on the leadership council. Those guys have really taken it to heart and taken leadership on to themselves rather than just the four captains who I thought were four great picks. It is not just those captains. It is that leadership council of 21 players. They have done a phenomenal job and taken ownership of this team. That is why I keep giving the credit to them. They are out there doing it. They are determined. I am the rudder, just steering it a little bit. They are the engine room driving the boat. I am really proud of them."
On coaching experience gained from this team:
"A lot of things we have done you draw in 15 years of coaching. There is only one way to learn and that is to take the skin off the end of your nose and make some bad decisions and say, 'Okay I am not going to do that again.' There are a lot of things I have learned from a lot of great coaches, my father, Bobby Bowden and other guys I have had the opportunity to mentor under that have taught me a lot. I think you try and take every team differently. Every football team has a life expectancy of one year and you have new leaders every year, new chemistry every year and a new football team every year. Putting this one together was not easy, just because there are so many new faces and so many guys who have been brought in here in the last year with 20 seniors and 14 of them coming here in the last year and a half. I can go on and on about all the faces that are playing college football for the first time this year and trying to get them all together. There are a lot of things that I have learned from this football team. This football team has taught me a lot. I think I have drawn a lot of my experience from doing some of the things we have done. This football team has taught me more than we have taught them. The way they have come together with their hard work, attitude and unselfish play. Right now we do not have anybody on defense that is one of the lead sack guys or lead anything guys, it is a total team effort. You just watch those guys celebrate and how excited they get when the team has success. That is what brings joy to them. That makes this football team so much fun to coach year round."
On scoring 76 points:
"We felt like we could expose some things down the field if given the opportunity with some of the matchup's one on one. When they loaded the box early and took away a quarterback sneak by putting everybody on the line of scrimmage, we knew we would get the opportunity to see if we could execute. We took a lot of shots down the field, probably more than we have, but I thought our players executed it. I felt like we could score some points and I am not going to sit here and say I thought we could score 76, because the only way you can score that many is if your offense is humming, your defense is playing well and you are getting turnovers and creating short fields. Your kicking game has to be getting you scoring opportunities. It takes a team effort to score that many points."
On LA Tech playing its best football of the season:
"We have gotten better as the year has gone on. Some guys have stepped up, for example Carlos Henderson who early on was dropping some balls. Now his presence is felt. Paul Turner has done a great job. So many guys are playing well, including Cody and the offensive line. I think we have improved. I told Manny Diaz when we met about this in the offseason, defensively with so many familiar faces and upperclassmen on that side of the ball, they were going to have to carry this team early while we tried to figure out what we have on offense. Early, I was ready to say let's run the ball, punt it away and say, 'Defense go win it.' You have to go 80 yards against our defense which is not easy to do. As the year goes on, you feel more and more confident that we can open some holes, run the ball and have the opportunity to outscore some people if that is what we need to do. I am just really proud of the players with the way they have come along. That was our most complete football game today."
On Hunter Lee:
"Getting Hunter Lee back was huge. Hunter is a great person. He is a captain that has an incredible amount of respect from these football players. They respect toughness. A great football team will respect toughness and commitment. I think that is what Hunter Lee is. That is why he has so much respect on this football team. To have him back is huge. Everyone was glad to get him back. Even though he has not played, he has been travelling with us and been an emotional part of this football team the last couple of weeks."
RB Kenneth Dixon
On if you dreamed you would have the career that you have had in three years:
"No sir, I never really dreamed of it. I knew that if I ever got the opportunity that I was going to take it and never look back. First of all I want to thank the coaches for allowing me to come here to Louisiana Tech. I want to thank the fans for everything. We have such great coaches here. We had a great offensive line today and we ran the ball well."
On the ups and downs of the team this year:
"At the beginning of the season coach Holtz got a leadership council together. He let the team choose who was on the council. To see the guys that they relied on do such a great job was good. I never really had a leadership council from each position in there. You get a chance to get hands on with everything and with the different leaders in different groups. With us losing and then having meetings was a big turning point for us. Cody is such a great leader, and he always comes in never satisfied. We are always pushing and working to get better."
On going out there today after you missed this game last year due to injury:
"You always want to play with an edge. I did not get to play last year because of some of my injuries. Coming into the game I knew that I did not perform well last year so I had to play with an edge. Our offensive line did a great job blocking and everything, and they opened up some holes and allowed us to hit them. Cody was throwing the ball down the field and loosening the defense up, so I took what I could get."
On what the win meant going into the title game against Marshall:
"It put us in the championship."
On what he thought about the Marshall-Western Kentucky game:
"I feel like both teams competed very well."
On what has to be duplicated against Marshall from this game:
"We have to go play Louisiana Tech football. Coach says it week in and week out that we do not really focus on our opponent as much as we focus on ourselves. We have to do what we can do to make Louisiana Tech football good."
On if he thought that they would put up 76 points on Rice after last year:
"The sign of the score has been up ever since January of last year. Coach Holtz put the sign up and told us that they were the ones we were going to have to beat. I liked our focus and how we came into the game and we played really hard."
On the feeling of knowing that you have two games left:
"It is a good feeling, but we are just focused on the next one and that is Marshall. The celebration is for coach Holtz because he is such a great coach. He got to his 100th win this week. That is a great celebration and we were also celebrating the West [Division] Conference Championship. You know we were turnt up."
On if there was a message on the sideline of not letting the second half get away like last week:
"We said that we had to answer the bell. Every time they scored, we were going to have to score. Even if they only scored three points, we tried to go score seven."
QB Cody Sokol
On the performance of the offense:
"Early in the week I think our coaches did a great job of game-planning for this team and we had a bunch of guys step up and make some plays. We talked about this before with Kenneth (Dixon) and I really complementing each other. He had a great game offensively. Credit our line, they really stepped up today and took on the challenge. They kind of set the tone. That is why we were able to put up so many points today, because of our offensive line."
On if his junior college team ever scored 76 points:
"No, we have never done that."
On LA Tech's performance vs. Rice last season compared to this season:
"I was not here last season for the Rice game, but I know a lot of people in this locker room were. I know they wanted to go out there today and put some points up on the board. I think they got embarrassed last year and it was important for us to go out there and show we can play with them too. I think it was a really special game for our seniors with this being Senior Day and our last home game. It was special. We were really fired up and excited for this game and we did a really good job."
On continuing to score points late in the game:
"I think as an offense we are always pushing. We expect that. Coach always talks about no matter what the other team is doing, we keep sawing wood. When they put up points, like Kenneth said, we have to put up points too. We are not worried about the score. We are just worried about one drive and one play at a time and I think we did that today."
It is fun to put up that many points. It does not happen a whole lot. That just goes to show you our preparation for this week, the preparation the coaches had this week and how hard are players played today."
On having so many weapons at wide receiver:
"We had a lot of guys step up and have big games. We have a lot of playmakers on this offense. It is my job to get it in their hands and be the facilitator of the offense and get K.D. the ball, get the ball to receivers like Carlos Henderson, Trent Taylor, Paul Turner and those guys and create opportunities to score. I think as an offense, we excelled at that today."
On this win possibly effecting future bowl games:
"I think it is really cool for our team to get some national exposure and possibly get seeded into a high bowl, but we just have to keep taking our next-game approach. I think that has worked for us and we have done a good job of that. We just take our next game and next week we have to beat Marshall. That is the one goal we have and we are going to prepare to do that."
On keeping up with Marshall as an offense:
"I think our offense has done a great job this year of stepping up when we needed to. They take on the challenge and it all starts with our offensive line. I think they played really well today."
On wanting to get the win for Skip Holtz, who won his 100th game as a head coach:
"It was really important. It was his 100th win. That is special. I am just happy for him. He has done a great job this year coaching and he is just a great person."
On scoring 50-plus points in three of the five home games this season:
"I don't know about that. We just have to continue to do what we do. When we get both the run game and pass game going, we are hard to stop. We just have to keep at it and go into next week thinking the same thing."
On the team's ability to rebound from tough losses this season:
"I think our coaches do a good job of motivating us and preparing us. I think it starts with that. They have done a great job this year of getting us ready for games and putting us in a position to excel. I think we are a bounce-back team and we have handled adversity well. There have been a lot of ups and downs this season, but we handled them well and gone out the next week and really put on a show."
DB Le'Vander Liggins:
On if he knew the interceptions stat was up as high as it is:
"We just try to be the best defense we can be. We do not focus on statistics, we just handle our business and let every thing else handle itself."
On the balance of the team and is it the most balanced he has been a part of:
"I would say it is because we have the leadership at the quarterback position as well as on defense. We have to zone in on everyone and make sure they have their head on straight. We feel if we do our jobs than we are playing against ourselves and not the competition."
On how nice it was to come out today and have a good game after last week's injury:
"For us to come our here after a heart breaking loss like last week was nice. We handled our business. We did everything that we needed to do. Coaches brought us life and we had to life up and it feels good."
On what it means for the seniors in this program to have a year like this:
"It means a lot because we saw the seniors that came before us and what they did. We tried to tell ourselves no matter whether it was positive or negative, we were going to do things our way. We were going to bring the team together the way we wanted it. It feels great."
On if the team takes pride in the success in just the second year in C-USA:
"We do not really talk about it. We try to go out every game and play with a chip on our shoulder. We always try to keep that edge about ourselves. We are a hard-nosed football team and we play physical and tough and mentally correct. I feel like we should be okay."
WR Trent Taylor
On whether the high-scoring offense reminded him of his high school days at Evangel:
"That is a rare game to put up 76 points like that. I know those were fun days back at Evangel and we would do that every now and then. To come to college and be able to do the same things, it is a lot of fun and I love it."
On whether the team expected to score as many points in the win over Rice:
"We knew going in when the coaches showed us film, we watched a bunch of film on them, that those big play opportunities were going to be there. The coaches just kind of put it on our backs that we had to go make the plays out there. All those great plays the whole receiving core made, I think we met that standard."
On having Hunter Lee back from injury:
"It was wonderful just having him back as a leader and competitive. He is just a great guy to have next to you out there on the field because you know he will fight for you until it says zero on the clock and that is just the kind of player you need out there on the field."
On the performance of Cody Sokol:
"[The deep balls] have been a strength of Cody's all season. I remember watching him at the beginning of the season just hit those deep balls like it was nothing. I am sure his shoulder was feeling healthy and he just did what he has done all season, just hit the right spots."
On stretching the lead after halftime:
"I would say it was kind of a relief at that point. The whole game up to then had been neck-and-neck. Every time we would score, they scored. We missed a couple drives and they kept scoring. We were prepared for the game to go down to the fourth quarter and we just kept fighting. They finally flinched and we were able to carry away with it."
On wanting to get back on the field after the game at ODU last week:
"I remember on Sunday after the game and we were in the locker room ready to get it going hoping it was already Saturday. All week, it felt like the clock was moving slower. We were all ready for it. We all came into this game prepared and ready to make up for our mistakes last week and that is exactly what we did."
Rice head coach David Bailiff:
Opening statement:
"You have to give credit where credit is due and that is to Skip Holtz and his staff. His team outplayed us today. It was a game that I really thought when we went in down 11 at halftime and the way we came out at the start of the third quarter and scored to cut it to a four-point game, I thought that it was a game we were about to take over. Then there was a series of mistakes and all of a sudden we lost control of it and could never regain control. We could not regain momentum."
On the difficulty of stopping LA Tech's momentum in the third quarter:
"Man, zone, blitz, we tried everything and we could not get them stopped. [Cody] Sokol was incredible today. [Kenneth] Dixon had a big day. We just did not play well. This game does not define this season. We are going to our third straight bowl. I think what we are the product of right now is our successes a year ago. We have go to learn that when you beat a Marshall a year ago and you beat a LA Tech a year ago, we are not the old Rice. We are a new Rice. People are really preparing for us. You have some of those big wins like we did a year ago, we have to learn from those as a team to continue to improve and understand the demeanor and the attitude that we are going to have to have on the road to win these big games."
On the three interceptions by Driphus Jackson:
"I think we had four turnovers on the day which here we have been averaging about one a game. Not only turnovers, but they were getting points off of those turnovers. It was a deflected ball, a strip of the ball. We did some things offensively, defensively and on special teams that we had not done which got us to this point."
On giving up long pass plays:
"The fundamentals had gotten us here. We did not play with good fundamentals today. To have things go well, you have to rely on your fundamentals and we did not do that. [Cody] Sokol completed them into double coverage. We went through the entire game of trying to slow them down, but we just could not get them slowed down. To go on the road, you just have to be consistent. We were not really consistent today."
On going to a third bowl game in three years:
"We are going to give this team a couple of days off to refresh and refocus, get some bumps and bruises heeled. We are looking forward to the bowl game. We have had a great year and we are looking forward to the bowl game."
This post was edited on 11/30 8:30 AM by J. Ford
Watch the presser
Head coach Skip Holtz
Opening comments:
"It is nice to win and it is nice to win at home. Last week, we lost Game 6 on the road, but this week we had the opportunity to play Game 7 at home and finish this thing. I am really proud of the way this team answered the challenge. I cannot say enough positive things about these players, the heart that they have and the way they compete. I am blessed to have the opportunity to coach such a great group of men. We talked early in the year about the beginning of the schedule, four of the first five on the road against bowl teams. We talked about how challenging it was going to be playing on the road against Oklahoma and Auburn, two Top 5-ranked teams. We knew we were going to learn a lot about our football team. The way that this team has evolved and the way they have come together, I am just really proud with what they have been able to accomplish on the field. To be able to win the west is a huge feather in the cap of these players and this school in only our second year in Conference USA. I am just really proud of this group of young men."
"I cannot say enough positive things about the football team we just played. David Bailiff is an excellent football coach. Rice has done an incredible job. They beat us last year, 52-14. They graduated a bunch of seniors and here they are in the final game of the year with an opportunity to play for the championship again. I have great respect for them. They will bounce back and be strong. I think he does a great job. This has the chance to become a really special rivalry. A lot of those will be formulated in the new conference when you start to play each other every year. I can assure you, the whooping we took last year and the whooping they took this year is definitely going to linger on both sides for a long time. I think this is going to be a great battle."
"I cannot say enough positive things about Cody Sokol. He never ceases to amaze me with what he has been able to do in such a short period of time. He has a great grasp of the offense and sits back there and operates. The difference in this football game was we went the first series saying we were going to run the football. They put everyone up on the line of scrimmage. We tried the quarterback sneak and did not make it. When we did not make that, we knew where it was going. They were going to put everyone in the box, so we were going to throw it and throw it deep. We were trying to get chunks of yardage if they were going to play man coverage. Any time you rob Peter to pay Paul by putting everyone in the box, we have a few guys that have the ability to take the top off of it. I thought Cody was the guy that made it all work. The other thing that went with that was having the running game with Kenneth Dixon and the way that offensive line protected Cody. I cannot say enough positive things about the entire offense and the effort that went into it."
"Defensively, we had four turnovers against a team that had three turnovers in seven conference games. For the defense to go out there and get those turnovers and give us the opportunity to take some big play shots was the difference in this football game. I thought the defense played an excellent football game."
"I am proud of these seniors and proud of this football team with what they were able to accomplish."
On his 100th win with family present:
"It is pretty special. I told my mom that we had to get it today because she flew to Virginia last week and flew here this week. She was going to put some serious air miles on the card flying around trying to make sure she was here for it. Having my mom, wife, son and dear friends in for the game was special. It brings back not just this win, but memories of so many great teams, players and coaches that I have been blessed to have the opportunity to be around. One hundred wins is huge. This football team is really special to me because I do not know that I have had a football team that has had to overcome so much, with the schedule, new faces, new coaches and everything to make this year work. This group of guys is really special. They will always have a special place in my heart."
On responding to a stop on the first drive:
"I was asked this week if I script plays. The game for me is at the start, taking a deep breath and figuring out what they are giving us. At that point, it is like a three hour auction. You are on those head sets and it is back in forth constantly trying to figure out what is going on. I could not do what I am able to do without Tony Petersen upstairs with his eyes in the box. With the offensive coaches, the game plan is a group effort. Everybody has some great ideas but we have a good team - team of coaches and a team of players. I feel very comfortable that if we had to get in two tight ends and grind it out, that we have an offensive line and running game that could do that. I also feel that if we have to spread it out and have to throw it 60 times a game to put up points and win, I feel we would have an opportunity to do just that. That balance is one of those things that gives us the opportunity to have some success on offense."
On Western Kentucky and Marshall:
"I am really impressed with their offense, with the way they can run it and throw it. Rakeem Cato is special. Every film that we get, if they have played Marshall, we watch it because their offense is somewhat similar to ours as far as what we do with the spread. We have watched a lot of football on them. Cato is a special quarterback. They are a really special team. They are explosive. I think Western Kentucky went in there and was able to hit some big plays. They really challenged their team and played a heck of a football game. Western Kentucky has a really good football team as well. I know that Marshall is going to be fired up. They are going to be excited. They get the opportunity to host, with us going over there to play. It has all the makings to be what a championship game should be."
On keeping focus after the ODU loss:
"I think the focus became Game 7 at home. We told our team that right now Rice has something that we want. Rice is the defending champion. In the team meeting last night, I put up a picture in a power point presentation of Rice holding up the trophy last year. I said they have what we want. It is not that we need to go protect anything if we want it, we have to go earn it. We have to go get it done on the field. Another question I got was, 'do you feel like it is slipping away?' If Rice would have lost last week, we would have won it. If we had won at Old Dominion, we would have sealed the West. All I would say is that it is Game 7 at home. This is what you want right here. We did not lose anything last week, other than a game. We did lose the opportunity to win the west, but these players went out there and got it done. I cannot say enough positive things about them."
On the leadership council helping to overcome tough losses:
"It was everything I thought it would and more. It is going to be what the players make it. We talked about having a lot of underclassmen leading this team. There were a lot of underclassmen that deserved to be in that conversation. Players like Trent Taylor, Xavier Woods and other young guys that are being really productive on the field. We decided to let the team vote on the leadership council. Those guys have really taken it to heart and taken leadership on to themselves rather than just the four captains who I thought were four great picks. It is not just those captains. It is that leadership council of 21 players. They have done a phenomenal job and taken ownership of this team. That is why I keep giving the credit to them. They are out there doing it. They are determined. I am the rudder, just steering it a little bit. They are the engine room driving the boat. I am really proud of them."
On coaching experience gained from this team:
"A lot of things we have done you draw in 15 years of coaching. There is only one way to learn and that is to take the skin off the end of your nose and make some bad decisions and say, 'Okay I am not going to do that again.' There are a lot of things I have learned from a lot of great coaches, my father, Bobby Bowden and other guys I have had the opportunity to mentor under that have taught me a lot. I think you try and take every team differently. Every football team has a life expectancy of one year and you have new leaders every year, new chemistry every year and a new football team every year. Putting this one together was not easy, just because there are so many new faces and so many guys who have been brought in here in the last year with 20 seniors and 14 of them coming here in the last year and a half. I can go on and on about all the faces that are playing college football for the first time this year and trying to get them all together. There are a lot of things that I have learned from this football team. This football team has taught me a lot. I think I have drawn a lot of my experience from doing some of the things we have done. This football team has taught me more than we have taught them. The way they have come together with their hard work, attitude and unselfish play. Right now we do not have anybody on defense that is one of the lead sack guys or lead anything guys, it is a total team effort. You just watch those guys celebrate and how excited they get when the team has success. That is what brings joy to them. That makes this football team so much fun to coach year round."
On scoring 76 points:
"We felt like we could expose some things down the field if given the opportunity with some of the matchup's one on one. When they loaded the box early and took away a quarterback sneak by putting everybody on the line of scrimmage, we knew we would get the opportunity to see if we could execute. We took a lot of shots down the field, probably more than we have, but I thought our players executed it. I felt like we could score some points and I am not going to sit here and say I thought we could score 76, because the only way you can score that many is if your offense is humming, your defense is playing well and you are getting turnovers and creating short fields. Your kicking game has to be getting you scoring opportunities. It takes a team effort to score that many points."
On LA Tech playing its best football of the season:
"We have gotten better as the year has gone on. Some guys have stepped up, for example Carlos Henderson who early on was dropping some balls. Now his presence is felt. Paul Turner has done a great job. So many guys are playing well, including Cody and the offensive line. I think we have improved. I told Manny Diaz when we met about this in the offseason, defensively with so many familiar faces and upperclassmen on that side of the ball, they were going to have to carry this team early while we tried to figure out what we have on offense. Early, I was ready to say let's run the ball, punt it away and say, 'Defense go win it.' You have to go 80 yards against our defense which is not easy to do. As the year goes on, you feel more and more confident that we can open some holes, run the ball and have the opportunity to outscore some people if that is what we need to do. I am just really proud of the players with the way they have come along. That was our most complete football game today."
On Hunter Lee:
"Getting Hunter Lee back was huge. Hunter is a great person. He is a captain that has an incredible amount of respect from these football players. They respect toughness. A great football team will respect toughness and commitment. I think that is what Hunter Lee is. That is why he has so much respect on this football team. To have him back is huge. Everyone was glad to get him back. Even though he has not played, he has been travelling with us and been an emotional part of this football team the last couple of weeks."
RB Kenneth Dixon
On if you dreamed you would have the career that you have had in three years:
"No sir, I never really dreamed of it. I knew that if I ever got the opportunity that I was going to take it and never look back. First of all I want to thank the coaches for allowing me to come here to Louisiana Tech. I want to thank the fans for everything. We have such great coaches here. We had a great offensive line today and we ran the ball well."
On the ups and downs of the team this year:
"At the beginning of the season coach Holtz got a leadership council together. He let the team choose who was on the council. To see the guys that they relied on do such a great job was good. I never really had a leadership council from each position in there. You get a chance to get hands on with everything and with the different leaders in different groups. With us losing and then having meetings was a big turning point for us. Cody is such a great leader, and he always comes in never satisfied. We are always pushing and working to get better."
On going out there today after you missed this game last year due to injury:
"You always want to play with an edge. I did not get to play last year because of some of my injuries. Coming into the game I knew that I did not perform well last year so I had to play with an edge. Our offensive line did a great job blocking and everything, and they opened up some holes and allowed us to hit them. Cody was throwing the ball down the field and loosening the defense up, so I took what I could get."
On what the win meant going into the title game against Marshall:
"It put us in the championship."
On what he thought about the Marshall-Western Kentucky game:
"I feel like both teams competed very well."
On what has to be duplicated against Marshall from this game:
"We have to go play Louisiana Tech football. Coach says it week in and week out that we do not really focus on our opponent as much as we focus on ourselves. We have to do what we can do to make Louisiana Tech football good."
On if he thought that they would put up 76 points on Rice after last year:
"The sign of the score has been up ever since January of last year. Coach Holtz put the sign up and told us that they were the ones we were going to have to beat. I liked our focus and how we came into the game and we played really hard."
On the feeling of knowing that you have two games left:
"It is a good feeling, but we are just focused on the next one and that is Marshall. The celebration is for coach Holtz because he is such a great coach. He got to his 100th win this week. That is a great celebration and we were also celebrating the West [Division] Conference Championship. You know we were turnt up."
On if there was a message on the sideline of not letting the second half get away like last week:
"We said that we had to answer the bell. Every time they scored, we were going to have to score. Even if they only scored three points, we tried to go score seven."
QB Cody Sokol
On the performance of the offense:
"Early in the week I think our coaches did a great job of game-planning for this team and we had a bunch of guys step up and make some plays. We talked about this before with Kenneth (Dixon) and I really complementing each other. He had a great game offensively. Credit our line, they really stepped up today and took on the challenge. They kind of set the tone. That is why we were able to put up so many points today, because of our offensive line."
On if his junior college team ever scored 76 points:
"No, we have never done that."
On LA Tech's performance vs. Rice last season compared to this season:
"I was not here last season for the Rice game, but I know a lot of people in this locker room were. I know they wanted to go out there today and put some points up on the board. I think they got embarrassed last year and it was important for us to go out there and show we can play with them too. I think it was a really special game for our seniors with this being Senior Day and our last home game. It was special. We were really fired up and excited for this game and we did a really good job."
On continuing to score points late in the game:
"I think as an offense we are always pushing. We expect that. Coach always talks about no matter what the other team is doing, we keep sawing wood. When they put up points, like Kenneth said, we have to put up points too. We are not worried about the score. We are just worried about one drive and one play at a time and I think we did that today."
It is fun to put up that many points. It does not happen a whole lot. That just goes to show you our preparation for this week, the preparation the coaches had this week and how hard are players played today."
On having so many weapons at wide receiver:
"We had a lot of guys step up and have big games. We have a lot of playmakers on this offense. It is my job to get it in their hands and be the facilitator of the offense and get K.D. the ball, get the ball to receivers like Carlos Henderson, Trent Taylor, Paul Turner and those guys and create opportunities to score. I think as an offense, we excelled at that today."
On this win possibly effecting future bowl games:
"I think it is really cool for our team to get some national exposure and possibly get seeded into a high bowl, but we just have to keep taking our next-game approach. I think that has worked for us and we have done a good job of that. We just take our next game and next week we have to beat Marshall. That is the one goal we have and we are going to prepare to do that."
On keeping up with Marshall as an offense:
"I think our offense has done a great job this year of stepping up when we needed to. They take on the challenge and it all starts with our offensive line. I think they played really well today."
On wanting to get the win for Skip Holtz, who won his 100th game as a head coach:
"It was really important. It was his 100th win. That is special. I am just happy for him. He has done a great job this year coaching and he is just a great person."
On scoring 50-plus points in three of the five home games this season:
"I don't know about that. We just have to continue to do what we do. When we get both the run game and pass game going, we are hard to stop. We just have to keep at it and go into next week thinking the same thing."
On the team's ability to rebound from tough losses this season:
"I think our coaches do a good job of motivating us and preparing us. I think it starts with that. They have done a great job this year of getting us ready for games and putting us in a position to excel. I think we are a bounce-back team and we have handled adversity well. There have been a lot of ups and downs this season, but we handled them well and gone out the next week and really put on a show."
DB Le'Vander Liggins:
On if he knew the interceptions stat was up as high as it is:
"We just try to be the best defense we can be. We do not focus on statistics, we just handle our business and let every thing else handle itself."
On the balance of the team and is it the most balanced he has been a part of:
"I would say it is because we have the leadership at the quarterback position as well as on defense. We have to zone in on everyone and make sure they have their head on straight. We feel if we do our jobs than we are playing against ourselves and not the competition."
On how nice it was to come out today and have a good game after last week's injury:
"For us to come our here after a heart breaking loss like last week was nice. We handled our business. We did everything that we needed to do. Coaches brought us life and we had to life up and it feels good."
On what it means for the seniors in this program to have a year like this:
"It means a lot because we saw the seniors that came before us and what they did. We tried to tell ourselves no matter whether it was positive or negative, we were going to do things our way. We were going to bring the team together the way we wanted it. It feels great."
On if the team takes pride in the success in just the second year in C-USA:
"We do not really talk about it. We try to go out every game and play with a chip on our shoulder. We always try to keep that edge about ourselves. We are a hard-nosed football team and we play physical and tough and mentally correct. I feel like we should be okay."
WR Trent Taylor
On whether the high-scoring offense reminded him of his high school days at Evangel:
"That is a rare game to put up 76 points like that. I know those were fun days back at Evangel and we would do that every now and then. To come to college and be able to do the same things, it is a lot of fun and I love it."
On whether the team expected to score as many points in the win over Rice:
"We knew going in when the coaches showed us film, we watched a bunch of film on them, that those big play opportunities were going to be there. The coaches just kind of put it on our backs that we had to go make the plays out there. All those great plays the whole receiving core made, I think we met that standard."
On having Hunter Lee back from injury:
"It was wonderful just having him back as a leader and competitive. He is just a great guy to have next to you out there on the field because you know he will fight for you until it says zero on the clock and that is just the kind of player you need out there on the field."
On the performance of Cody Sokol:
"[The deep balls] have been a strength of Cody's all season. I remember watching him at the beginning of the season just hit those deep balls like it was nothing. I am sure his shoulder was feeling healthy and he just did what he has done all season, just hit the right spots."
On stretching the lead after halftime:
"I would say it was kind of a relief at that point. The whole game up to then had been neck-and-neck. Every time we would score, they scored. We missed a couple drives and they kept scoring. We were prepared for the game to go down to the fourth quarter and we just kept fighting. They finally flinched and we were able to carry away with it."
On wanting to get back on the field after the game at ODU last week:
"I remember on Sunday after the game and we were in the locker room ready to get it going hoping it was already Saturday. All week, it felt like the clock was moving slower. We were all ready for it. We all came into this game prepared and ready to make up for our mistakes last week and that is exactly what we did."
Rice head coach David Bailiff:
Opening statement:
"You have to give credit where credit is due and that is to Skip Holtz and his staff. His team outplayed us today. It was a game that I really thought when we went in down 11 at halftime and the way we came out at the start of the third quarter and scored to cut it to a four-point game, I thought that it was a game we were about to take over. Then there was a series of mistakes and all of a sudden we lost control of it and could never regain control. We could not regain momentum."
On the difficulty of stopping LA Tech's momentum in the third quarter:
"Man, zone, blitz, we tried everything and we could not get them stopped. [Cody] Sokol was incredible today. [Kenneth] Dixon had a big day. We just did not play well. This game does not define this season. We are going to our third straight bowl. I think what we are the product of right now is our successes a year ago. We have go to learn that when you beat a Marshall a year ago and you beat a LA Tech a year ago, we are not the old Rice. We are a new Rice. People are really preparing for us. You have some of those big wins like we did a year ago, we have to learn from those as a team to continue to improve and understand the demeanor and the attitude that we are going to have to have on the road to win these big games."
On the three interceptions by Driphus Jackson:
"I think we had four turnovers on the day which here we have been averaging about one a game. Not only turnovers, but they were getting points off of those turnovers. It was a deflected ball, a strip of the ball. We did some things offensively, defensively and on special teams that we had not done which got us to this point."
On giving up long pass plays:
"The fundamentals had gotten us here. We did not play with good fundamentals today. To have things go well, you have to rely on your fundamentals and we did not do that. [Cody] Sokol completed them into double coverage. We went through the entire game of trying to slow them down, but we just could not get them slowed down. To go on the road, you just have to be consistent. We were not really consistent today."
On going to a third bowl game in three years:
"We are going to give this team a couple of days off to refresh and refocus, get some bumps and bruises heeled. We are looking forward to the bowl game. We have had a great year and we are looking forward to the bowl game."
This post was edited on 11/30 8:30 AM by J. Ford
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