Quotes, Notes & Video: Texas A&M 30, Ole Miss 27

Texas A&M Coach Kevin Sumlin

On turnaround of game...

“We’ve been through it a few times. The big thing is it’s not if our coaches have been in this situation, it’s the players. For them to not quit, and continue to play, was huge. For a team to have us down like that, it was huge to respond the way we did. For our football team to respond the way they did on the road in an SEC game, it was a huge thing for our team.

"Give Ole Miss a lot of credit. They did a great job. There was a lot of energy in this building and they came ready to play. For us to get out with a victory is huge. It’s going to help us down the road in tight situations.”

On how pleased he was with how his team responded...

“We have a lot of young guys that hadn’t been in that type of situation. There wasn’t a lot of heads hanging. We have a lot of good leadership. In those conditions, the way we were, I can’t be happier than I am right now for the guys.”

On if his heart skipped a beat when Texas A&M was waiting on a response to see if (Johnny) Manziel’s play was a safety or not...

“You never know. Whatever the official says when they buzz it, is one thing. But when it’s challenged, that’s another deal. We had a couple plays that we wanted to challenge in the first half, but because of the lack of timeouts we had, I chose not to challenge them. Fortunately, we had all three timeouts in the end. We didn’t need them, but they were there if we needed them. The officials do a really good job upstairs. If they have time, they review every play anyway, and the likelihood of the play being overturned is not very good.”

On if Manziel ever hung his head...

“No, we’ve been around him long enough to see that he never really hangs his head. And at this level, every situation that he’s in is new. Has gone on the road and gone four weeks without giving the ball to the other team. He was pressing a little bit. We talked to him and told him that he has 10 other guys on the team that can help him make plays and help us win games. The more he plays, the more he’ll understand that.

"He made plays to help us also. We’ve been really good with ball security up until tonight. That’s something that we’re going to have to go back and look at as a team.”

LB Jonathan Stewart

On the defense...

“The whole game, we were fighting. They were turning over the ball, but, defensively, we didn’t care. Regardless of how many times the offense turns the ball over, if we go out there and stop the other team, turnovers will be insignificant.”

On the big fourth down stop...

“It was huge. I thought the spot was a little questionable, but so be it. We thought there was going to be a quarterback sneak, but they ended up not doing it, and we just had to go out there and make a play. It was a crucial part, we knew that. If we didn’t, we were out of timeouts, and they were one play away from running the clock out.

"We made plays when we had to. We didn’t play the best game we could have played, at all. We have a lot to learn, but it’s a lot better to learn things after a win than after a loss.”

LB Sean Porter

“That was crazy, it was probably one of the best wins of my career. I love these guys. It was a great win, a great comeback.”

On Steven Jenkins' interception in the first half...

“Jenkins made a great play. The ball was tipped, the quarterback got hit. The ball went up in the air, and he made a pick and went to the house with it. As linebackers, in our room we always talk about who’s going to get the first pick, the first touchdown, and he got both of them. Jenkins is a pretty good player, and that’s a good thing for him.”

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Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze

Opening statement...

“Obviously I’m very disappointed. The kids are hurting. The coaches are hurting. It’s a game we easilycould have won. We’ve been looking at a lot of different things. We got into the 4th quarter with a very good football team. We had a chance to win it and put it away, but we didn’t get a few breaks and we didn’t make a few plays. We made some tough decisions, and I just hate that our kids are hurting so bad when we had a great chance to win the football game.”

On the fourth quarter holding call...

“I thought we had it put away. They weren’t stopping us. That holding call really killed us. The backbreaker was them going 99 yards in three plays. Denzel (Nkemdiche) is a talented kid, and it was tough tonight. I thought we made enough plays to win the game. We had another opportunity in the fourth (quarter). It was maybe an inch. It looked like if they would have rolled the ball it would have touched the chain. I think that call should have been reviewed, but it is what it is. We could have made an inch and probably put it away, but we didn’t.

“We haven’t won an SEC game in however long it’s been, but I was just going for it. Period. Everybody can sit back and second guess, but I was giving our kids what I thought was the best chance to win the game. Obviously I wish I would have called something different now, but we would go for it again.

“I definitely felt the momentum shifting. I can’t say that I felt like any of our guys had any less fight in them. We had a chance. We had a good blitz call and it came free, but we missed it.

“I thought that a lot could have been called tonight if they had wanted to, and I hate that it was called right then.”

On staying focused and preparing for Auburn...

“We’ll get them motivated. I know they’re hurting, and we all won’t sleep tonight. I know it’s disappointing. You pour your heart and soul into this. The kids have. They’ve done what we’ve asked them to do, and the coaches do. You’ll stay up all night and think of everything that you could have done different to affect the outcome, but tomorrow we’ll come back and we’ll get past it and move on to Auburn.”

DB Cody Prewitt

“We knew it was going to be a fight so we tried to take the fight to them. Without a few mistakes I feel like we would have come out on top in this one.”

On A&M QB Johnny Manziel...

“We watched film on him and knew he was going to be an athlete. We can’t take anything away from him, he was a good athlete. There were a few mistakes that would’ve changed the outcome of this game if we would have kept our eyes on him.”

On what Coach Freeze said...

“He was proud of our effort and so was everybody else. Things are going to turn around for us.”

On the SEC losing streak...

“We are definitely not the team we were last year. Anybody that we play will be in for a fight.”

QB Bo Wallace

On his touchdown pass to Donte Moncrief...

“It was a great play-call. Donte’ worked his guy and got open. He just made a great catch.”

On his touchdown run...

“It was a read option and the line did a great job of blocking for me.”

On his first interception...

“I was trying to hit my check down and it slipped out of my hands and fell right into the defensive lineman’s hands.”

On the last drive...

“I never saw the guy (A&M's Toney Hurd), I was just trying to get the ball out quick.”

On the Texas A&M defense...

“They were good. Whenever we hurt ourselves we just shot ourselves in the foot, but this offense is definitely rolling.”

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Post-game notes

* The victory was Texas A&M’s second in SEC and the Aggies’ first-ever road SEC victory.

* The Aggies rallied from 10 points down with 6:28 remaining in the fourth quarter for a 30-27 road win.

* It was the eighth straight road victory by a Kevin Sumlin-coached team. The last loss for Sumlin on the road came in the season finale of 2010 vs. Texas Tech in Lubbock.

* It was Texas A&M’s largest fourth quarter comeback since rallying from 14 down in the final stanza to beat FIU in 2010. FIU entered the fourth quarter with a 20-6 lead over the Aggies at Kyle Field.

* The Aggies’ six turnovers were the most since A&M had six turnovers in a 62-14 loss to Kansas State in Manhattan, Kan., in 2009.

* A&M hasn’t been victorious in a game with six turnovers since at least prior to the formation of the Big 12 Conference in 1996.

* Junior RB Ben Malena’s 59-yard TD run early in the first quarter was a season-long rush for the Aggies, and Malena’s career long effort.

* Malena had his career-best rushing game with 142 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. His previous high rushing game was an 88-yard game earlier this season against South Carolina State.

* Also reaching a career high in rushing was redshirt freshman QB Johnny Manziel, who gained 129 yards on 20 carries.

* It was the first time since last year’s Iowa State game that the Aggies have had a pair of 100-yard rushers in the same game. Against the Cyclones, Christine Michael gained 142 and Cyrus Gray added 125.

* Hitting the 100-yard level in receiving for the second time this year was redshirt freshman Mike Evans, who gained 105 yards on a career-high eight catches. Evans had his career-high of 123 receiving yards (on six catches) against SMU.

* A&M rushed for a season-high 290 yards on 44 carries against Ole Miss. The previous best was 265 on 39 carries against South Carolina State.

* First punt of the game for the Aggies came with 4:08 remaining in second quarter. It was downed on the Ole Miss 16 for senior Ryan Epperson’s ninth “coffin corner” boot of the season. It was Epperson’s only punt of the game.

* After having just one turnover in the first four games of the season, A&M had three giveaways in the first half against Ole Miss -- two lost fumbles and an interception. A&M finished with six turnovers.

The Aggie defense scored a touchdown for the third straight game when junior LB Steven Jenkins grabbed a deflected pass and returned it 37 yards for a touchdowns. Senior LB Sean Porter hit Ole Miss QB Bo Wallace as he was attempting a pass to cause the errant pass.

Other defensive scores this season include sophomore DB Deshazor Everett’s pick-six INT against South Carolina State and junior CB Tramain Jacobs’ fumble return against Arkansas.

The last time A&M had three defensive scores in a season was 2001 when the Aggies had two fumble returns and an INT return for TDs.

Adding in Dustin Harris’ punt return TD from South Carolina State, the Aggies have four returns for scores this season, which is the most since 2001 when they had five.

* Game captains for the Aggies were: senior center Patrick Lewis, senior safety Steven Terrell, senior linebacker Sean Porter and senior punter Ryan Epperson. Ole Miss won the toss and deferred to the second half. A&M received and defended the south goal.

* Making his second straight start at 12th Man was defensive back C.J. Jones, a senior from Klein Forest HS in Houston. A veteran 12th Man, it was Jones’ 14 career starting assignment.