Texas A&M Football weekly press conference: Ole Miss

Kevin Sumlin

On the o-line's play against Bama...

"I think there was some good and some bad. Everyone's had problems running the ball on Alabama. Tra Carson's per-carry average wasn't that bad. We didn't give it to him a lot; the game dictated that. We got behind due to turnovers. We didn't have enough rushes, but there are mid-game factors involved in that like being behind by a couple scores.

"That front is exceptional, we knew that going into it. They hadn't given up a 100-yard rushing game to anybody. We were determined to be efficient with our rushes and we didn't do that. ... Are we there yet, no. Are we working at it, yes. Give credit where credit's due, but we certainly need to improve in that area."

On the running back position's injuries and lack of depth...

"We've redshirted Kendall (Bussey). I couldn't be happier with Tra Carson's effort. Tra has been awesome this year, as far as a leader and a guy who's run the ball and taken a lot of shots. Tra has really put things on his back and handled this whole deal with Brandon moving to corner. That's (the 'snake-bit' RB position) more about James White, just trying to get him back and get him healthy."

On the interceptions...

"In a game like that, for young quarterbacks it's important to know that we're not going to score every time. I know our fans want us to. Against that defense, flipping the field and playing a field-position game is OK. You talk to our guys, they pressed a bit trying to make things happen and forcing things that weren't there. It's a terrible time for it, but it's a learning experience and these two guys will learn from it."

On trying Brandon Williams at running back again...

"We'll continue to use him. Those are decisions we've made and we have to look at the defense, like what's going on over there? That's a decision we made. There's a chemistry that lets Nick Harvey come into the rotation and not have to be the guy, and Nick's comfortable with that. He's going to be a great player here, but he doesn't have to be an every-down corner right now. Brandon has given us that, with Nick rotating in to shore it up and get those guys off the field. We need him (Williams)."

On injuries...

"I'll say this: Otaro Alaka is out for the season. It's been a tough time for him. He dislocated an elbow in fall camp, had a serious illness in the family, came back and ... had a torn labrum, about three quarters of it. The decision was made to just have him have surgery and he'll fall under the time frame that we'll apply for a medical redshirt, I think he'll get this year back and it's a time for him to get better mentally and physically. With the surgery being this early, we'll have the opportunity to get him back for spring ball and we'll need him."

On the linebackers without Alaka...

"Richard Moore came in and I thought did a pretty good job. He gave us some juice. Everybody was a little bit nervous, I was a little bit nervous, obviously Richard wasn't. He flew around, he made some mistakes, but he made his presence known. Had some solo tackles, chased some guys down from behind. You worry about young guys being overwhelmed, he was not overwhelmed by the atmosphere. He was excited to play.

"And good for him. That gives another guy that can get in there with A.J. and Shaan. I think you saw Claude George is getting better. The guy can run. The transition from junior college to here, the processing has been a little slower for him, but Coach Chavis has given us the best opportunity with certain people on the field at certain times. ... Richard Moore brings us a little more pop and a little more size at that position than Donovan Wilson. Those guys are coming along. The guys I just mentioned, hardly any of them played last year. They're getting better, are they there yet, no, but with the exception of Shaan Washington, A.J. is the only guy that played in part of a game a year ago."

On Ole Miss' offense...

"Chad Kelly is a big, strong guy who has a great arm, live arm, and their perimeter guys are fabulous. They've got exceptional talent on the outside, you look at what they've done, they had a couple 70-point games early in the year that drives that average up, but he's got quality receivers across the board, one of the best in the country, three or four or five other guys, a couple guys we tried to recruit, and one of the best hybrid tight ends in the conference.

"They've got players on the perimeter and a running back that is a live wire back there, he can find holes and skip around and return kicks too. Their quarterback has the arm to get the ball down the field to his guys that can really scoot. They've been putting up a lot of points and you can see why on tape."

On whether he's satisfied with the tempo on his offense...

"It's funny, we got here and everybody said, 'You're going too fast.' Now they're saying, 'You're going too slow.' We had 70 plays on Saturday; Bama had 70 plays, and they've gone no-huddle. Tempo is great when you're making first downs. When you're not...

"What you've seen from us is a little different style of offense. The tempo changes during the game. We'll go as fast as anybody at times, and we'll slow it down at other points. Average plays per game, we're still up there. Unlike teams that will try to hold the ball, like Arkansas. When you have more personnel than just four wide receivers on the field, your tempo is going to change. That's a decision that we've made, and the decision was based on this: when your defense is better, you slow down.

"You can always slow down. Most teams can't speed up when they need to. We practice at that tempo, we have the ability to do that, but we also want to get it right. We're right there where we need to be play-wise. We got enough plays. To me, the big factor was turnovers. You put 24 points on the other team's scoreboard, that's the issue. We've been really good in that area coming into the week, two weeks in a row plus-two, plus-two (in turnovers). Then we come back and give away four and get one and give away 24 points. Offensively it was about efficiency, and tempo is a part of that — and being able to use it back and forth is a part of that too."

On playing on the road...

"We've been on the road. We've been in Houston, we've been in Dallas. So when we cross the state line, we're on the road?" (Laughing.) "We've been there three times in four years, so we're used to going over there. How about that? I don't know how that schedule worked, but that's how it worked. And every time it's been cold and rainy like it will this Saturday, so it won't be any different."

On whether A&M practices falling on the ball on a bad punt late like Michigan failed to...

"No." (Smiling.) "And I don't think any of the other 128 teams do either. What always comes up is, 'What would your guy do?' When you're in that situation, it's easy for you to say, 'Well, I told you that,' but there are decisions being made and just because you told him that doesn't mean it happens."

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John Chavis

On the depth at defensive end...

"We're fine. We've got five guys we feel very comfortable putting in the game at any time. We've been trying all year, not just at defensive end, to develop depth — because when you get into SEC play you've got to have guys who can go in and play. Eleven guys are not going to start and finish the game. We feel good about depth there and inside at the tackle position. It's important for this football program that we build depth and get them game experience."

On Henderson and Mack on the field together...

"We talked about it even before, in terms of getting those guys in. Because both are physical, big, explosive, and they have fast-twitch other guys may not. Both of those guys played well for us and they'll continue to grow. Coach Hagen has done a great job preparing those guys and they showed up big for us. We get in some situations where we fit a run or two better, we eliminate big plays. And we need to do that. But those guys give you some activity up front that makes it hard on some blocking schemes."

On the defensive breakdowns against Bama...

"In some of their double-tight formations we didn't get to some checks we had built in. That's communication, that's me. We let them get on the perimeter in there. We didn't fit a run or two good. You take away three or four of those plays I'm talking about, we don't have that first quarter. But those three or four plays maybe got you beat. ...

"But I'm proud of our football team. I've been in this league for a long time, and for three quarters I don't know if I've seen a defense fly around and compete as well as we did for the final three quarters. These kids, they've got something to them."

On whether the lack of linebacker depth makes him have to be more creative...

"To get our best playmakers on the field, that's what we're going to do. We're going to take what we've got. We're going to be creative, do what we need to do, adjust when we need to adjust. Maybe be more aggressive, which helped us in the game as we went on. We've got what we've got, a great group of young men, and we're going to improve and play better. And that's what we expect."

On A.J. Hilliard's progress...

"He's doing some things real good. And obviously, I'm not trying to avoid answering your question, there's things he's got to improve on. But he's got a great physical set of tools he's got to work with. The key thing is the mental part. There's several positions we've got to get better, understanding the scheme, 'doing my job,' and when we've got 11 guys doing that we can play good defense."

On Richard Moore and Claude George...

"That certainly gave me more confidence in them. They understand that if they're going to play they've got to be productive and understand what they're doing. We can't just put them out there and let them do their own thing. Richard missed a lot of practice time. Coming into the fall I thought he could make a strong contribution to this football team and Saturday was the first time he was healthy enough to play. And we're glad to have him back."

On Chad Kelly...

"He's got a strong arm, good stature. For a guy that this being his first season in the SEC, in my opinion he's the best new starting quarterback that we've seen to this point. He's got all the skill set it takes to be a great one in this league. He can play on the next level. He gets rid of the ball quickly, it doesn't take him long to load it and get it out. He does a good job of that and he's very accurate. He can throw the ball 65 or 70 yards down the field. He's got that kind of arm."

On whether he expects his defense to have a bigger chip now...

"First of all, and I don't mean this wrong, I don't care what anybody thinks. It's about us. It's about our football team. They've all had the ability to sit down and watch that film. Give Alabama credit, they're a very good football team, no question. But we showed that we can play. Now we have to do it consistently, and if having a chip is what it takes, then we'll make sure. We'll put those chips there. Because that's the way you play defense."

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Jake Spavital

On where Kyle Allen is physically and mentally after Saturday...

"Physically, he's dinged up. Everybody saw that. He took some shots out there, and that's going to happen in big games. But he knows this is the SEC and he's going to take some shots, he's just got to get as much treatment and recovery as possible and be ready for Ole Miss.

"Emotionally, that's hard ... I told him after the game, 'You can't let this define you. It's not going to be the last time you throw three interceptions in a game.' And of course you don't want that to happen, you don't want to turn the ball over, but I told him on Sunday someone was going to throw three interceptions and sure enough Peyton Manning did. ... He takes it hard, it means a lot to him, but he's not going to dwell on it now. It's time to move on and correct the mistakes and get this offense back to where it should be."

On still addressing how the INTs happened...

"You have to address the problems and understand why it happened, that's a huge part to it. The first two interceptions, a lot of it was just bad balls. That's going to happen at times. He was upset, he said, 'I should've set my feet longer on this one,' or 'I should've waited longer in the hole.' The third one, he was just pressing. You could see the frustration.

"Anybody wants to naturally just breeze through those plays, but we focused in on them and he knows why he threw them. It's going to sit in his head, but you can't let that affect the rest of the season. How mature of a kid he is, I think he's ready to move on and have a good week of preparation this week."

On Kyler Murray needing more work to get ready for SEC defenses...

"Kyler's got to keep coming along, but I think he gets better every day in practices. He's got to realize that SEC defenses are going to play him differently than they do with Kyle Allen. With him in the game they put three linemen in and dropped eight just trying to contain the quarterback. With a kid who can make plays outside the pocket you try to keep him in the pocket and make him beat you that way. He's got to keep learning and getting better with more experience."

On Ole Miss...

"The thing about Ole Miss' defense is they're very talented. They've got a lot of great, highly rated recruits on that end and the thing they do a great job of is turnovers. Especially with what happened to us this week, we have to take advantage of ball security. ... We've got to get this offense back to moving the ball and finishing consistently, especially when we get to the red zone."

On looking forward to James White's return...

"That would be huge. That just adds to the depth. It really kind of effects the momentum at times when you're running Tra in the SEC and he's running into a good defensive front and we've got to get him out of the game for a play, and with James we can put him in instead of changing the entire personnel out there. It's going to be huge to get James back."

On Robert Nkemdiche...

"He's a force in the trenches, that's for sure. I don't even know how big he is, probably 6-5, 300, and he can run really fast. They move him all over the place. He'll be in a head-up nose to a three-technique to a defensive end, and they'll try to create a mismatch and put him on who they believe is our least talented offensive lineman. He can wreck things up front for you. Whether he plays or not, you've got to prepare for the guy."

On where the switch flipped for Ricky Seals-Jones...

"I thought he was coming along in Mississippi State. But all year I've talked about how he doesn't get the credit he deserves at times because he's downfield blocking and he's helped tremendously with the toughness on the perimeter and he's gotten much better in that regard. ... He became a comfort zone for Kyle because he made tough catches and was physical on the perimeter."

On practicing tackling on offense...

"We emphasized that yesterday. We have so many points of emphasis that we do each week, obviously ball security is one of them, but now the emphasis is that if at any time there's an interception or fumble, you have to react and I want to see all 11 guys trying to run it down. ... The emphasis we put on Monday now in practice is if there are turnovers or ball security issues, we'll address that after practice — but in practice, if it happens I need to see all 11 running after the ball."