Exclusive: What's next? A whole lot, Sumlin says

Sumlin tells of takeaways from Arkansas game, breaks down Ole Miss

Billy Liucci: A 58-10 win over Arkansas at Kyle Field ... pick one thing you learned about your football team on Saturday that you didn’t already know.

Kevin Sumlin: “The biggest thing I learned was how great our fans were. I looked up in the third quarter and there were still 86,000 people there and it was raining pretty good, so we appreciate the fans. We had a couple penalties on Arkansas, had a delay of game, so the 12th Man definitely came to work. I thought our team played pretty well through the course of the game. We were able to make some big plays offensively. We created some turnovers which is something we had been working on. And limited penalties, which is a key.

"We try to give our guys schemes that will work. I think our team is getting more and more confident every week. They are able to review the video instead of just making decisions on what happens in a game. We are able to say ‘Here is where we are. If you do this as a player, this is how we will be successful.’ Our guys are buying into that and I think if you combine that with their attention to detail with penalties and their attention to details with creating turnovers and limiting offensive turnovers, that means, as a coach, these guys are listening to us.”

BL: There was a moment in the game shortly before halftime that they had driven pretty quickly down the field. Knile Davis rumbles about 30 yards and then all of a sudden, it was like the whole game changed. There was almost a turnover, then a turnover, a quick touchdown, a three and out and a quick touchdown.

As a head coach, you have been trying to instill this in this group since you got here ... how good did it make you feel to see them go for the jugular right there and try to put a team with good players away as swiftly as they did?

Sumlin: “It’s not hard to talk to these guys about it, they are tired of it and a lot of guys have been on the field with Arkansas. We didn’t watch hardly any of last year’s video, let alone our game with Arkansas last year.

"The key to this deal was that we thought they were good offensively, which they are. Cobi Hamilton is a fabulous player. There are a number of guys on that team I wish we had. Knile Davis has kicked it back in a little bit. Their quarterback is a good player. They were without their tight end, but those guys can score points in bunches and we felt like we had to keep scoring.

"They were going to try to move the ball, and they did move the ball, but we were able to create turnovers. Our team understands that we have to continue to keep our foot on the gas. Our back-up players deserve the right to play, and when they do we play in that fashion because you never know when those guys are going to have to play meaningful minutes for you.”

BL: Talk about the buy in of this group. You’ve been a new coach a couple times now, it is not easy to get the kind of buy in that it appears you guys have gotten.

Sumlin: “The quicker you can get buy in from your seniors, the quicker you can have success. That was a big deal last week for those guys, and that’s why I made a big deal out of it on Saturday after the game. Those guys have never beaten Arkansas and they got killed the first year, got closer and then last year’s deal was hard on everybody. They wanted to win in the worst way. It’s one of those things you have to check off, and it just so happened to be an SEC opponent.

"For them to come into the SEC and play and really beat a team that they hadn’t beaten in their previous three years was a big deal and could be a real spring board for us. It solidified this team. I think their leadership during the week showed in how badly they wanted to win. You look at the efforts out of the seniors, and I think you could tell how badly they wanted it.”

BL: What about the freshmen? We have talked a lot about Johnny (Manziel) and his progress, but there are several true freshman and redshirts out there playing. Have any of them stood out as guys who have fast tracked it here in the last few weeks?

Sumlin: “You are looking at guys who, when you get to game five, they become veterans. Trey Williams has been playing from the beginning. De’Vante (Harris) started the first game. De’Vante and Julien Obioha have started all four games for us as true freshmen and really helped us throughout the year.

"I put junior college transfers in there too. Tramain Jacobs has had big plays when he has been in there. Every time he goes in he does something, so maybe he needs to stay out there. He has a pick against SMU and a picked up fumble for a touchdown, so he is a guy who is a first year player.

"We have a number of guys who are in that position that we are asking to do things, first time starters, like Deshazor (Everett) that are helping us. On the perimeter offensively, Mike Evans is another guy who we are expecting at this point to be playing like a fourth-year guy when it is really his fifth game. Those guys, we are getting good production out of them. They are continuing to improve and as they get a feel for the competition and the speed of the game, I look for them to get better.”

BL: You haven’t been overly concerned with the ground game but wanted to see it get better. It did on Saturday. I looked at the three tailbacks' combined average and it was 6.8 yards per carry. What was the key for you guys getting that thing going?

Sumlin: “Our line is getting used to the different looks that they are seeing based on our sets. We were able to throw the ball down the field a little bit and loosen it up which creates some other perimeter issues and loosens the box up a little bit to gives them some different looks. We got our tight ends involved, even in the passing game this week.

"We used a lot of different sets and personnel groupings and got a lot of people involved in the game plan, and that started to spread them out of the box. There was no doubt that we were able to hit some big plays, and because of that we were able to get some people out of there.”

BL: You guys really seemed to expand the playbook this past week. Johnny seems fine with the playbook and now he’s coming on in terms of throwing the ball down the field as well.

Sumlin: “It goes back to what you just said, getting people involved in the game or getting them involved in the game plan. They’ve always been involved. It’s the ability for our protection to hold up, for Johnny to feel comfortable about where he is in the pocket and for him to see them and go through his progression. I think you started to see his comfort level rise a couple weeks ago.

"It’s been a little bit better every week, and last week he was able to get the ball down the field because he stayed in their some more. That will come with where he is, but he’s doing a good job of taking care of the ball and that’s the main thing.”

BL: If you were still a Purdue linebacker, would you be able to tackle Johnny Manziel in the open field?

Sumlin: “No, I couldn’t tackle him. I wouldn’t have any opportunity to tackle him. No way. And I don’t recruit or evaluate based on the ability of me being the tackler. We wouldn’t be very good if that was the case.”

BL: You talk about the checklist, and next on the checklist is getting a road, SEC win against Ole Miss. Tough opponent there, and it seems like a team that is a lot like this team, really bought in and getting better each and every week.

Sumlin: “(Ole Miss Coach) Hugh Freeze does a great job. He’s won wherever he’s been and there’s a lot of excitement there. Nick Saban said they play with great energy, play hard and they’re tough to defend. They do a lot of different things on offense. They’re 23rd in the country rushing the football. Their statistics can say that, but they’ve been on the field with two of the best defenses in the country, Texas and Alabama, and they were able to move the football and score on them. They know what they’re doing offensively.

"I think the thing that will surprise people is their team speed. They’re really fast at their skilled positions. They have a big wide out on the outside, Donte Moncrief, they’ve got some players. Our message to our team was, ‘Hey look, we’re playing the SEC now, and regardless of what has happened in the past or what you think, there are going to be quality athletes every week.’ And this team is full of them and they’re playing with confidence.

"I look at them, and I know Hugh and I know how he does things and you listen to him talk and look at them similar to where we were after Florida. They were down after they lost to Alabama, then they go back and look at the video and they say, ‘We played pretty good against them, so if we can hold up and do those types of things in that situation, if we can get a little bit better, we can beat a bunch of people,’ and I liken that to what we took from the Florida game.

"You can gain confidence out of that situation and I kind of see that happening with what I hear coming out of Oxford.”

BL: The difference between moral victories and gaining confidence.

Sumlin: “Yeah, there is no such thing as a moral victory. We’re disappointed about how we started the year, but it’s how you approach it. It’s not what happens to you, it’s how you react to it in the end. I think our team has taken the approach, ‘Hey look, here’s why we did not win the game, and if we can do this, this, this, this, and this, then in that situation … that game is gone. We’ll never get that back, but we can’t let these types of things happen to us again and if we correct these types of things, we’ll win.’”

BL: How have they reacted these first couple days back after a big SEC win?

Sumlin: “I don’t know. We give the players Sunday off, so I’m not around them. Yesterday we watched the video. We haven’t accomplished a lot here. People ask if they’re going to be ready to play against Ole Miss, and I don’t know why we wouldn’t. That’s one of the great things about being in the SEC, we’ve never been over there.

"I’ve got fans calling me. Everybody’s excited to go to The Grove. It’s just a bunch of new places and a bunch of new things, so from where we are, being newcomers in this league, I would be shocked if we weren’t excited to play this week because it’s a place we’ve never been, it’s an SEC football game and we’re on television again. That’s five straight weeks of television. Whether we want to admit it or not, that helps a little bit.”

BL: It does, and it helps on the recruiting trail. Have you guys noticed, let’s say since August, a change in the reception from the guys? You already recruit at a high level.

Sumlin: “Yeah, we already have a pretty solid foundation in commitments. We’re trying to close some mid-year guys and get them in here and a couple real high-profile guys that everybody knows about have been here the last couple of weeks. I think the other response is moving on to 2014, and people starting to be interested in our brand and the excitement around here.

"That’s where television kicks in. Tradition to these guys, I hate to tell people that, but that’s really five years before they start getting recruited. It’s right now, and the more that you’re visible, the more that you’re on, they see the type of football that you play and the better chance you have to get them here.”