Exclusive interview with La Tech head coach Sonny Dykes

On the importance of this game from Louisiana Tech’s perspective…

“It’s a big game for us. We’re getting a chance to play an SEC team, a very good one in our home stadium, or close to our home stadium which is a big opportunity for us. It’s been a while since we’ve been ranked here at Louisiana Tech, so I think we’re excited about what’s going on.”

On garnering attention from this matchup…

“I think it gives us credibility because when you’re a non-BCS team, it’s hard for people to take you seriously. It’s an opportunity for us to play against a very good football team. Some people are starting to pay attention to us right now, but we hope they continue to pay attention to us after the game on Saturday. We just have to keep building our program and take steps every day to get better. We’ve had some success winning 12 regular season games in a row, but this would obviously be a big feather in our cap.”

On how the familiarity between him and Kevin Sumlin will factor into the game…

“I think it’s a big deal when you have the kind of relationships that we do. You’re going to be familiar with the coaching style and style of play that is going to occur over the course of the game. I think it does make for an interesting matchup, but a lot of that stuff gets lost once you get into the game and your players start playing, just because of the nature of the game.”

On the keys to their explosive offense…

“The big thing has been not turning the football over. That’s been a thing that we had failed to do a pretty good job of. By limiting our turnovers, it has allowed us to get a lot of possessions. I think we’re executing pretty well. We have some guys that can make some big plays. Quinton Patton is kind of a big play receiver and we have some running backs that can do some things. In addition to big plays, we’ve been able to string together some long drives, and that’s really helped us to score a bunch of points.”

On the success of the Louisiana Tech running game this year…

“Yeah, it all starts up front. We have four senior offensive linemen that have played a lot of football and have a lot of confidence. You’ve got to get continuity in that group and they believe in each other and know how to play. We also have some good backs. We lost Tevin King who was an exciting young player, but the good thing is that we have some depth at that position.

“Kenneth Dixon is a true freshman that is a big, strong and powerful back. Ray Holley has done a good job for us as well. After moving from inside receiver, he played a lot of running back last year. Then, Hunter Lee is a kid who has come in and been productive when we needed him to as well, so it’s a good group.”

On the play of the Louisiana Tech defense…

“Our guys have done a good job of getting the football away and making some timely stops when we need them. It seems like the offense has done a good job of playing off the turnovers the defense created, and the defense has done a good job of stepping up and getting stops. We’ve had 30+ point runs in the past three games, and defensively, it’s all started by those guys creating turnovers and getting the ball back to the offense and giving them a short field to work with.

“As long as they keep creating turnovers and getting timely stops, I don’t care that much about the statistics. I want us to have a great defense, but we lost a lot of personnel last year and are trying to bring some guys along. We just have to continue to get better.”

On the reasons behind A&M’s early season success…

“I think that Kevin (Sumlin) and the staff are doing a really great job. The kids are playing hard, they’re playing with a ton of enthusiasm and it looks like they’re having fun playing football. I think that’s how you judge a program. I think the big thing is if the players are playing hard. They’re doing a great job of playing hard on offense, defense and especially on special teams, and they’re having fun doing it.

“Then, it all starts at the quarterback for them offensively. Johnny Manziel is a unique talent and is a guy who can do a lot of different things and give you a lot of different problems. And then, the offensive line is probably one of the best in college football, they’re doing some great things so far. Then you have to look at the defense. Mark Snyder has done a good job with those guys, they’re very multiple. They do a good job of bringing different blitz packages every week and keeping offenses off balance.”

On defending Manziel…

“There is not much you can do, honestly. He’s a special talent. He’s a guy that when you try to play coverage on him and drop guys, he’ll just create time back in the pocket and gets you thinking he’s going to throw the ball down the field. Then, he’ll scramble out and when you come up to try and tackle him, he’ll throw it over the top of you.

“I thought Ole Miss had a good game plan last week. They tried to have some spies and do some things on him, but the only problem was that their guys weren’t as fast as he was. He’s such a dynamic runner and he can create offense. He’s definitely a unique talent.”

On the importance of getting through A&M for Louisiana Tech…

“We’re kind of a small picture outfit, honestly. We try to get a little better every week and continue to play well. Our goal is always to win our conference championship. We start conference play next week after the A&M game, so this will be our last non-conference game and then we’ll move onto conference play. This is a big game for us. Every game has been a big game for us this year because it’s an opportunity for us to build credibility within our program.

“Going on the road and playing at Illinois was a big game and playing Virginia was a big game. It’s always a big game when you have a chance to play against the BCS schools and can continue to build your resume. It’s a big game for us, but as I said, next week we start conference play and that will get our attention back very quickly.”

“We’ve got to win the turnover battle. That’s a thing that we’ve done. We’ve won 12 regular season games in a row, and we’ve won the turnover battle in every one of them. That’s going to be where it starts for us, we’ve got to create turnovers defensively and take care of the ball on offense. The big thing we have to do is play within ourselves and not try to do too much. We need to go out there and understand that if we play good football we’ll have a chance to win the game.”