April 6, 2010

Quotes following Louisiana Tech's 11th practice of the spring.

"I thought the defense did a really good job today. It was one of their better practices. They flew around, really played well and did a good job of creating a lot of turnovers. They really looked sharp and it was probably their best day. They are really starting to gel together as a unit."

On the three defensive touchdowns:
"Those guys have been doing a good job of playing the football in the air and creating turnovers, gang tackling and stripping the ball out. They are doing a great job of making plays."

"However, it is like anything else in the spring, when the defense does a great job then you worry a lot about the offense. We have to do a better job of improving our ball security. We’re losing the football and we have to do a better job of competing. I felt like the defense just handed it to the offense today and these guys need to answer the bell."

On the defensive line:
"We did a good job of getting a pass rush today. The offensive line, up until this practice, has really played pretty solid as a group. I think a lot of that has to do with the way our defensive line is improving and getting better and playing at a high level right now."

On entering final week of spring practice:
"The thing is at this point, and it is this way with every team, you get about 11 or 12 practices into spring and you have to do a good job of focusing and concentrating and trying to grind through it. We showed some signs today of being a little softer than I wanted us to be and not competing at the level that they need to compete at. That’s the thing I was really disappointed with today."

On coming off four days off:
"That’s part of it too. Offensively, I thought those guys would struggle a little bit with being able to execute, which you expect, but the issue today was not as much execution as it was the effort. We didn’t really show any kind of leadership today and we need to develop some leaders and some toughness. I think that is a bit of a concern at this stage."

On seeing some leaders emerge:
"We have seen some leaders emerge. Leaders have to be able to come out when things are not going well and right now that is something we have to learn. That comes as you become more confident and believe in yourself and what you are doing more and more. That is still a work in progress and we have to try to develop the leadership. We also have to be able to be leaders when things aren’t going well because that is going to happen from time-to-time in ball games."

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