Quote:
Calvin Kline would play more next year. His niche hasn't come around yet. It's just the way the offense is built right now.
Huh?
Kevin Sumlin
John Chavis
Noel Mazzone
Trevor Knight
Justin Evans
Claude George
Connor Lanfear
Hardreck Walker
Shane Tripucka
Texas A&M Football
Texas A&M Football weekly press conference: New Mexico State
The following are live, paraphrased notes from Texas A&M's weekly
press conference. Videos of the interviews will be added to the story as
they are rendered.
• I would say that Claude George has been up and down all year. If he were more consistent, he would play a lot more. He's made some huge plays but has been responsible for some serious issues. Consistency has been his issue. I think he played more snaps than people think. If you learn anything about us defensively this year, it's that you don't play the most snaps just because you start. It's hit or miss with him. He does great things and some things that can cost you. Justin Evans is the exception to the rule. Junior college players – just about the time they figure it out, they're out the door. We were fortunate to redshirt Avery Gennesy and Jermaine Eluemunor. Don't get me wrong, Claude is a good player. He's a great pass-rusher. That's when he's at his best.
• I don't think we were missing anything without Keith Ford. I think we were running the ball well. I think this was Keith Ford's type of football game. He's a different back than Trayveon Williams. He likes the physical games, but let's not say we were missing anything when we just had Trayveon.
• I've had a couple guys that graduated from here and went to other schools to play. Jameil Showers did it. Matt Joeckel did it. I've seen both sides of it. To me, if a young man has come to your university and done everything you've asked him to do and graduated, why not give him a chance to go somewhere and give him a chance to live out his dream? If someone needs an older guy, a quarterback, why not? Matt graduated as an Aggie and wanted to finish closer to home. Jameil got beat out by the best player in the country. What do you tell him? I think his family appreciated that, and it helped him in the long run. Our situation with Trevor is a good one. We have him another shot at things. He filled a void for us. I don't know that there are many bad things about graduate transfers. The new discipline policy solves some problems in our league with transfers. If a guy has graduated and someone wants him, I don't see anything wrong with that.
• I used to listen to Notre Dame basketball, so I heard about Shane Tripucka's family. He's done a great job. We're at the point in the year when we expect him to be good. We expect that of all our specialists. We aren't worried about them anymore. Shane has proven himself. Last week we did some directional punting. He landed a couple punts inside the 20. His average might not be as high as we're used to, but his accuracy and the fact that he's limited returned and pinned people deep have been good.
• We talked about the loss yesterday. Now we have to focus on the game this weekend. We aren't looking at the national picture. Six weeks ago that wasn't a conversation, and now it is? We don't forget that. We'll focus on this week, but we don't worry about the big picture.
• NMSU is going to throw it around a bunch. He's going to sling it around. He has a guy that can do that. They'll play zone read and take shots down the field. They have nothing to lose. Watching tape, you just have to go back and watch their game against Kentucky. They're no stranger to SEC opponents. They'll try to expose you and hit big plays deep. Defensively, the linebackers are the core of their unit. They've played a lot of different styles of football and seen a lot of teams. They won't be shy to throw the football around.
• I did talk to the SEC about the hit on Speedy Noil. I had a conversation with Steve Shaw and asked why play wasn't stopped.
• I think Alabama has had an effect on everybody. We want to be better. We're young on the offensive interior. Coach Turner has done a great job with them. That's a great front that Alabama has. They were better. That game is that game. They played as hard as they could play. I think you'll continue to see Alabama do that to people. You'll see a lot of those guys drafted. We'll get better. Those guys will be here for the next three or four years. We talked to those guys after the game. They're sophomores and redshirt freshmen. It was an eye-opening experience for them. We have a year to get bigger and stronger. They've done a good job this year. We have young guys, but the good news is they'll be back. We're about getting better this week and addressing those issues. We've got things that we've got to continue to fix. I think Jim Turner has done a great job with the line, but Noel Mazzone has done a good job masking some of the things that came about Saturday. With Alabama, we had matchup issues. We got behind and struggled. We had two issues we knew about going into the game. We've known about them for a while, but we've been able to get around them. Whenever you're able to use just four, five or six on the defensive line, it makes it difficult in the passing game. When you play a team like that, you've got to be efficient. You can't make the mistakes we did. We've gotten away with them this year, but you can't do that against a team like that.
• We've got options at safety. Armani is still an option. Donovan Wilson can play back there. We have options to look at if we need to.
• I'm not ready to say Claude George is ready to be a starter. Alaka played well. Dodson played well. I might need to play the freshmen a little bit more. George is fighting for a starting job. I like what he's getting done.
• We've been better against the run. In the last two games – when there's a mistake, I'm not going to jump on a kid if we haven't put him in position to succeed. We gave up a big play because we got someone out of a gap. We have to grow, get bigger and stronger. I like the fight in our football team. We need to continue to get better.
• I think we were much better early in the game at tackling. We gave up big plays, but when we got to him, we got him down. I'm not saying we're waiting around to fix it. We were better, but we need to conitnue to work.
• Looking at the number of plays and production, it's simple. Dodson played fifteen plays and made four tackles. He's a young kid. We want him to grow with experience. I don't want to put him out there without knowing what he's doing. I probably need to rotate Alaka more to give him a breather. The three guys at that position were pretty productive.
• NMSU is averaging around 500 yards a game. That's spooky. They have a senior quarterback. He knows the scheme and how to deliver the football. He does a good job with his reads. He can run the football. They'll play some zone read. I'm not going to change our standards. College football is getting more explosive offensively.
• I've never really considered kickoffs being eliminated. I don't have anything to do with the rules. We'll play how they tell us to play.
• The running back at NMSU isn't as big as some backs, but he's impressive.
• I thought Trevor Knight played well. He was under duress at times. I think if you take our sacks away – that was the things we talked about. We had 50 or 60 yards of sacks. They kill you. If you look at the film, he hung in there a lot of times and made some big throws. We didn't play well enough or coach well enough to win. That's the bottom line. He keeps improving every week though. I'm fired up to move on to the next game.
• Keith Ford is your older guy. He's a physical, downhill runner. Trayveon makes you miss and accelerates away from you. Keith tries to make a hole if there isn't one. It was cool to see him get out. He's been knicked up. It was good for him to have some good carries for us.
• I see the running backs splitting carries as they were earlier in the season. He tweaked his ankle and is starting to feel good again. Those guys have to feel right to play to their ability.
• Kids want to play college football to play college football. If things don't work out at a place and you graduate, the transfer is great. The key word is 'graduate.' If you put in the work and things down work out, it's a good system.
• Calvin Kline would play more next year. His niche hasn't come around yet. It's just the way the offense is built right now.
• I don't think there are any new concerns for us. That's a good football team. Momentum can shift from one team to another instantly. If you give Alabama the momentum, it's hard to stop it. Our guys did some good things. We'll fix the problems. As coaches, we have to do a better job. We'll fix those and move on. It was a good learning experience as a team and an offense.
• Coach Sumlin has done a great job all year with our mantra. It's about us. The kids have really bought into it. We have to go out every day in practice. You have to win Saturday's game in practice. I think these kids will do that.
• I didn't put the guys in a great position before that fumble. I try to put them in a good position. I should have done a better job. Everything happened just right. It was the exchange, the end coming off the edge and the blocking scheme we had on that play. It just all came together at once.
• All I know is that we have to be 1-0 this weekend. We need to have a good practice today to fix our issues from Saturday. That's what I'm focused on. I don't care who we play this weekend. We have to go out and play Aggie football. I'm not looking past today.
• Alabama was playing split safties in a cover 2. The defender did a good job breaking back. I don't think Knight was trying to force the ball to Josh Reynolds. I think things just happen sometimes.
• The defensive lines you worry about can run over and go around you. I think our tackles have had solid seasons up to this point. I think they're doing a pretty good job. In the SEC, they play against some pretty good defensive linemen. You worry about the speed rush. Once you worry about that, they keep changing it up. It's hard to play tackle in this league.
Kevin Sumlin
• I would say that Claude George has been up and down all year. If he were more consistent, he would play a lot more. He's made some huge plays but has been responsible for some serious issues. Consistency has been his issue. I think he played more snaps than people think. If you learn anything about us defensively this year, it's that you don't play the most snaps just because you start. It's hit or miss with him. He does great things and some things that can cost you. Justin Evans is the exception to the rule. Junior college players – just about the time they figure it out, they're out the door. We were fortunate to redshirt Avery Gennesy and Jermaine Eluemunor. Don't get me wrong, Claude is a good player. He's a great pass-rusher. That's when he's at his best.
• I don't think we were missing anything without Keith Ford. I think we were running the ball well. I think this was Keith Ford's type of football game. He's a different back than Trayveon Williams. He likes the physical games, but let's not say we were missing anything when we just had Trayveon.
• I've had a couple guys that graduated from here and went to other schools to play. Jameil Showers did it. Matt Joeckel did it. I've seen both sides of it. To me, if a young man has come to your university and done everything you've asked him to do and graduated, why not give him a chance to go somewhere and give him a chance to live out his dream? If someone needs an older guy, a quarterback, why not? Matt graduated as an Aggie and wanted to finish closer to home. Jameil got beat out by the best player in the country. What do you tell him? I think his family appreciated that, and it helped him in the long run. Our situation with Trevor is a good one. We have him another shot at things. He filled a void for us. I don't know that there are many bad things about graduate transfers. The new discipline policy solves some problems in our league with transfers. If a guy has graduated and someone wants him, I don't see anything wrong with that.
• I used to listen to Notre Dame basketball, so I heard about Shane Tripucka's family. He's done a great job. We're at the point in the year when we expect him to be good. We expect that of all our specialists. We aren't worried about them anymore. Shane has proven himself. Last week we did some directional punting. He landed a couple punts inside the 20. His average might not be as high as we're used to, but his accuracy and the fact that he's limited returned and pinned people deep have been good.
• We talked about the loss yesterday. Now we have to focus on the game this weekend. We aren't looking at the national picture. Six weeks ago that wasn't a conversation, and now it is? We don't forget that. We'll focus on this week, but we don't worry about the big picture.
• NMSU is going to throw it around a bunch. He's going to sling it around. He has a guy that can do that. They'll play zone read and take shots down the field. They have nothing to lose. Watching tape, you just have to go back and watch their game against Kentucky. They're no stranger to SEC opponents. They'll try to expose you and hit big plays deep. Defensively, the linebackers are the core of their unit. They've played a lot of different styles of football and seen a lot of teams. They won't be shy to throw the football around.
• I did talk to the SEC about the hit on Speedy Noil. I had a conversation with Steve Shaw and asked why play wasn't stopped.
• I think Alabama has had an effect on everybody. We want to be better. We're young on the offensive interior. Coach Turner has done a great job with them. That's a great front that Alabama has. They were better. That game is that game. They played as hard as they could play. I think you'll continue to see Alabama do that to people. You'll see a lot of those guys drafted. We'll get better. Those guys will be here for the next three or four years. We talked to those guys after the game. They're sophomores and redshirt freshmen. It was an eye-opening experience for them. We have a year to get bigger and stronger. They've done a good job this year. We have young guys, but the good news is they'll be back. We're about getting better this week and addressing those issues. We've got things that we've got to continue to fix. I think Jim Turner has done a great job with the line, but Noel Mazzone has done a good job masking some of the things that came about Saturday. With Alabama, we had matchup issues. We got behind and struggled. We had two issues we knew about going into the game. We've known about them for a while, but we've been able to get around them. Whenever you're able to use just four, five or six on the defensive line, it makes it difficult in the passing game. When you play a team like that, you've got to be efficient. You can't make the mistakes we did. We've gotten away with them this year, but you can't do that against a team like that.
John Chavis
• We've got options at safety. Armani is still an option. Donovan Wilson can play back there. We have options to look at if we need to.
• I'm not ready to say Claude George is ready to be a starter. Alaka played well. Dodson played well. I might need to play the freshmen a little bit more. George is fighting for a starting job. I like what he's getting done.
• We've been better against the run. In the last two games – when there's a mistake, I'm not going to jump on a kid if we haven't put him in position to succeed. We gave up a big play because we got someone out of a gap. We have to grow, get bigger and stronger. I like the fight in our football team. We need to continue to get better.
• I think we were much better early in the game at tackling. We gave up big plays, but when we got to him, we got him down. I'm not saying we're waiting around to fix it. We were better, but we need to conitnue to work.
• Looking at the number of plays and production, it's simple. Dodson played fifteen plays and made four tackles. He's a young kid. We want him to grow with experience. I don't want to put him out there without knowing what he's doing. I probably need to rotate Alaka more to give him a breather. The three guys at that position were pretty productive.
• NMSU is averaging around 500 yards a game. That's spooky. They have a senior quarterback. He knows the scheme and how to deliver the football. He does a good job with his reads. He can run the football. They'll play some zone read. I'm not going to change our standards. College football is getting more explosive offensively.
• I've never really considered kickoffs being eliminated. I don't have anything to do with the rules. We'll play how they tell us to play.
• The running back at NMSU isn't as big as some backs, but he's impressive.
Noel Mazzone
• I thought Trevor Knight played well. He was under duress at times. I think if you take our sacks away – that was the things we talked about. We had 50 or 60 yards of sacks. They kill you. If you look at the film, he hung in there a lot of times and made some big throws. We didn't play well enough or coach well enough to win. That's the bottom line. He keeps improving every week though. I'm fired up to move on to the next game.
• Keith Ford is your older guy. He's a physical, downhill runner. Trayveon makes you miss and accelerates away from you. Keith tries to make a hole if there isn't one. It was cool to see him get out. He's been knicked up. It was good for him to have some good carries for us.
• I see the running backs splitting carries as they were earlier in the season. He tweaked his ankle and is starting to feel good again. Those guys have to feel right to play to their ability.
• Kids want to play college football to play college football. If things don't work out at a place and you graduate, the transfer is great. The key word is 'graduate.' If you put in the work and things down work out, it's a good system.
• Calvin Kline would play more next year. His niche hasn't come around yet. It's just the way the offense is built right now.
• I don't think there are any new concerns for us. That's a good football team. Momentum can shift from one team to another instantly. If you give Alabama the momentum, it's hard to stop it. Our guys did some good things. We'll fix the problems. As coaches, we have to do a better job. We'll fix those and move on. It was a good learning experience as a team and an offense.
• Coach Sumlin has done a great job all year with our mantra. It's about us. The kids have really bought into it. We have to go out every day in practice. You have to win Saturday's game in practice. I think these kids will do that.
• I didn't put the guys in a great position before that fumble. I try to put them in a good position. I should have done a better job. Everything happened just right. It was the exchange, the end coming off the edge and the blocking scheme we had on that play. It just all came together at once.
• All I know is that we have to be 1-0 this weekend. We need to have a good practice today to fix our issues from Saturday. That's what I'm focused on. I don't care who we play this weekend. We have to go out and play Aggie football. I'm not looking past today.
• Alabama was playing split safties in a cover 2. The defender did a good job breaking back. I don't think Knight was trying to force the ball to Josh Reynolds. I think things just happen sometimes.
• The defensive lines you worry about can run over and go around you. I think our tackles have had solid seasons up to this point. I think they're doing a pretty good job. In the SEC, they play against some pretty good defensive linemen. You worry about the speed rush. Once you worry about that, they keep changing it up. It's hard to play tackle in this league.
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