Texas A&M Football weekly press conference: Arkansas

The coaches have finished and the transcripts are presented here. Coach and player video interviews will be added to this story as they are rendered.

Kevin Sumlin

On his reaction to Kliff Kingsbury's comments...

"I talk to Kliff and it shouldn't surprise anybody since we spent five years together and he did a great job for us here and at Houston. It's not uncommon to have a conversation with the opponents' and next opponent's head coach. What's going on between those two guys is going on between those two guys. That's OK. I'll just be at the Texas High School Coaches' thing this year so I can referee. I've known both of those guys a while."

On Arkansas...

"That was an overtime game last year that took a lot out of our football team, and they took it and moved forward and they were a really good football team at the end of the year. For us, this is the beginning of conference play and that's the reality of it. Nothing's changed from our point of view about how we view Arkansas. The first game in the SEC and playing where we play, it's going to be a big-time atmosphere and a game that both of us need to win."

On the West race having favorites...

"You tell me. No, it's not for me to ... I go through everything week to week. Y'all were the ones telling us who was going to win before the year. All we do is play. I don't set up a board and rank the SEC West every week. I worry about who we're playing."

On the team's practice schedule and rest days...

"We've changed some things. Not a lot. We've made some changes defensively, offensive line-wise, our approach in the offseason has been different and our approach to what we're doing during the season has been different. Any time as a coach when you go through what we went through last year, to go five straight weeks and win and then have the drop-off we had in the middle of the season, come back and win big ball games, my job is to assess where the program is all the time.

"You want to improve things and stay ahead of the curve, and things that aren't working, you need to figure out where the issue is. We've done research, looked at our practice schedule, where we are in this league depth-wise. We feel better about where we are from a depth standpoint defensive line-wise, now that we've gotten A.J. back we've got depth at linebacker, our offensive line is the same way. We've built to that.

"Right or wrong, what you have to do is be honest and say, 'Whatever we did last year, we need to give our guys a chance."

On A.J. Hilliard...

"You've got to remember, this guy hasn't played since the second or third quarter of South Carolina a year ago. So he missed the whole season, gruesome injury. He broke a wrist toward the the end of the summer. To get him to play last week was a big deal. He made some plays, and did some things that were rusty. Going into this week he's been able to watch video of the game, understand the game, played more snaps Saturday. You look back at really the two guys who had cramping problems or were tired, it was he and Myles. And Zaycoven, who didn't play as many snaps. It's to be expected, because there's shape and then there's football shape. And it was hot Saturday.

"It was important to get him out there. ... We're going to benefit from him being able to play Saturday, going forward."

On Arkansas not giving up a sack being used as motivation...

"Not using that at all. Nope. We don't put that up there. We've got guys rushing the passer who want to get a sack regardless of what the stats say."

On Brandon Allen...

"Brandon Allen has been a good quarterback. Last year, he was one of the few guys who had a low interception-to-touchdown ratio, one of the lowest in the country. He's been efficient as a quarterback. A lot of what they do comes off play-action, they've got a great running game as you know, the biggest offensive lines in the country, one of if not the best tight ends in the country — they get him loose on crossing routes, deep routes. They've got weapons. He's been efficient, that hasn't been an issue.

"They've had issues in the red zone, but they've gone up and down between the 20s. He's not turning the ball over. He was a better quarterback last year and he's a better quarterback this year."

On Taylor Bertolet's evolution...

"One thing is it's been three years. He was replaced by the all-time leading percentage kicker in the history of Texas A&M in Josh Lambo. A guy who, from a percentage standpoint, was the best kicker to ever play here. So, over the course of the last two or three years he (Bertolet) has worked at it, had an opportunity to grow up, mature physically and mentally. You would hope a guy isn't the same guy two or three years later that he was as a freshman.

"Drew Kaser is the same. Brian Polian will tell you, Drew is a guy who redshirted, had a hamstring problem, wasn't punting at all, and now he's leading the country. With specialists, with anybody, you'd hope as they grow they mature physically and mentally. And that's where he is right now. He was 3-for-3 field goals, 5-for-5 extra points, seven touchbacks last week. That's not a good performance, that's a great performance. And we're going to need him to keep playing at that level. It's going to be hard to do that, but that was an outstanding effort by him last week."

On playing the game in Arlington every year and any recruiting advantage...

"As a coach, you don't make the schedule. This was made a long time ago. You play the schedule you have. If you're going to leave, you're playing in arguably the best venue in the country as far as professional stadiums. We'd love to play the game at home in our new stadium, I don't think there's anybody who wouldn't as a player or coach. But that was decided a long time ago, before I got here. You get the schedule, you play it. We'll have a lot of people there; last year the atmosphere was a really good one. It was good at NRG, it'll be good there.

"The overall schedule this year, seven games here and to play at NRG and there, is good for our fans and our players. I don't think you can play in any better stadiums than we're playing in now."

On being in the adidas commercial...

"It was an opportunity with adidas, who's been a great partner with us, and our athletics department. A situation where they were going to shoot a commercial for the new Speed presentation, and they called and asked if I wanted to do it. I said, 'Tell me a little bit about it.' They said the guys that were going to be in there were Sammy Watkins, Jimmy Graham, DeMarco Murray, and you. I said, 'Ok.'

"It was during the summer, on vacation time. I don't dress that way at football games. But I figured no one would know who I was if I didn't dress that way. To expose the brand like that, it does nothing but help us. With adidas, where they are right now with us as an athletic department, they've been a great partner with us and hopefully will continue to be. Because that's great exposure for us — the product, everything."

On the game time the twos have gotten and where they are...

"Shoot, we've got stuff to work on with the ones. If you're happy with the twos being out there, that means that you're in control of the football game. I think the bigger part of the picture is that we've been able to rotate guys in meaningful situations, instead of just clearing the field and putting guys out there and it becoming a sloppier football game. The ability to rotate the twos and make them 1b's instead of twos is big for them and for the program. Playing on first downs in meaningful situations is better than playing with guys that may or may not play.

"The biggest step has been, particularly defensively, for the Qualen Cunninghams and Jarrett Johnsons to rotate with Myles and Daeshon. And the confidence to put those guys out there and get those other guys off the field. And to get Zaycoven Henderson and Daylon Mack out there in meaningful situations and get Alonzo Williams and Julien Obioha off the field. Noel Ellis and Donovan Wilson, just rotating basically series. That's more important to me than getting the twos out there as backups — getting a depth rotation that we can have confidence putting in the game and they can have confidence in that situation."

On whether the team has stepped up its intensity and focus for this week...

"I don't know. You'd like to think that, from where we are, what we try to do is get better every week regardless of opponent. Correct the mistakes of a week ago, get rid of the bad football, hold guys accountable, make guys better individually because if they do, we get better as a team. So I don't know if that's the case. We've got a lot of guys playing and a lot of guys understanding what's at stake. We've got the tools to be a good football team and we've got to get better as a team (starting this week)."

On Caden Smith...

"I met with him yesterday and said, 'Do you want to do some media tomorrow?' He said, 'Are you kidding? People don't even know who I am.' He's a walk-on from Rosco, Texas — we had to find out where that was — and he's a heck of a football player. He's really developed into a vocal leader on the sideline and in the game. Yesterday he was a little shy about doing media today, but I kind of forced him. Usually it's the shy guys that become the loud guys, so just, be nice to him."

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John Chavis

On last week's game...

"It was good to get some guys back out there. That was the good part. The thing we didn't do a good enough job of from a coaching standpoint was managing some of the positions we put them in. Had a couple busts. When you see those things occur, that's coaching. It's not a lack of effort, it's us not making sure they're prepared to do the things we need them to do. The fourth down, we had a re-call we didn't get in, we have to eliminate those things entering SEC play. Proud of the effort and we look forward to stepping into SEC play."

On physicality in the SEC...

"I've got to say yes. Obviously there's other teams that are very physical, and they play that way and coach that way and that's the way football should be played. But when you get into the SEC, it's the best conference in the country and there's no doubt about that. Look at the NFL, the players are coming from the SEC. ... I'm excited about my first conference game with Texas A&M."

On Myles Garrett...

"Nothing we don't already know. The thing where Myles has really grown is his leadership ability, and he should be. He's a great player. You don't have to talk to be a great leader, you have to be about your work and get it done. We were in a situation after the pooch kick they recovered and we had to go get a stop. Any time there's sudden change, we've talked about it and we've worked it, and there's no doubt that unit went out in the right frame of mind. And he was a big part of that. He's a great player, better person. He's a great player."

On the matchup of A&M's DEs vs. Arkansas' OL...

"We build our defense the way we want to play defense, and we certainly know we're going to see some big offensive lines. They're big, but they're not much bigger than the rest of the SEC. On defense it's really about us and how we play."

On the D-line's development against the run...

"That was one of the biggest things when we started looking at how we were going to structure this staff. I and Coach Sumlin felt like to win in this league, you need to be the best up front. That's why we have a defensive ends coach and a defensive tackles coach, because we wanted to improve quickly. And it's become one of the strengths of our football team. And I don't want to take away from the secondary, they've played well. We've gotten some linebackers back. We'll continue to improve at that position."

On Arkansas not allowing any sacks yet this season...

"I think there's a lot of factors. Obviously they do a great job protecting. Their passing scheme allows them to get the ball out of his hands quickly. I'll tell you after the game Saturday if we had the right idea. I'm not going to give them anything to think on."

On A.J. Hilliard...

"Two things, and this is not a negative: he got tired. Think about it, he's got a great skill set but in two years has played very little football. On Saturday he played more than he has in a long time, and he's going to get better with reps."

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Jake Spavital

On the run game's progression going into Arkansas...

"The run game's been great. I thought we've shown huge improvement from last season, and I think you'll continue to see that evolve a bit. Everyone's concerned about the depth, but Tra Carson is a workhorse in there. With James and Brandon Williams and I still feel confident in Brice and Kwame Etwi coming in to spell, we've got a plan and I feel pretty confident in the run game right now."

On the offensive line play overall at this stage...

"I'm comfortable with it right now. Obviously we've got to continue to improve. There are protection issues, but those are fixable. What we're doing offensively with mixing it up and play-action and getting the quarterback out of the pocket, we can mix and match. I'm pleased with where the offensive line is right now."

On Arkansas' game against Texas Tech...

"You can definitely take a lot. The personnel between Texas A&M and Texas Tech are a bit different; Kliff has a lot of speed on the field. You can see how he tried to expose Arkansas in a lot of different ways. They're a real base defense. They're going to play sound, a quarters team. They play sound football and they'll be in the right spots at the right time, so you've got to create mismatches with personnel to take advantage of these guys."

On Damion Ratley...

"He's improved every single day. What people haven't seen is the strides he's taken from spring practice all the way til now. It's a tremendous improvement. The kid, he's competitive, he plays hard, the effort's never an issue, he's just getting more comfortable with the system and you're starting to see him gain confidence. ... He's shown great improvement."

On Kyle Allen...

"He's very poised back in that pocket. He's not getting as flustered, especially in this Nevada game where he stepped up into the pocket and delivered the ball down the field. How comfortable he is running the offense and the checks he can make, each week he takes that mindset to come in and get better and you can see that out on the field. In the eight games he's started for us, you can just see him continuing to improve each week."

On taking things from the last two games to Arkansas...

"Ball State and Nevada played a lot of zone. Arkansas, they're a quarters team and they'll mix in man on certain situations. The thing they pride themselves on is keeping the ball in front of them and playing sound. We've got to take advantage of every possession because they're a ball control offense. ... Last week our first down efficiency was great, we started fast, but I thought we stalled out and we can't afford to do that this week."

On philosophical differences between the Tech and A&M offenses...

"Not really. They run the same sets we do. It's just about confidence in your personnel, and Kliff, he got the ball to his playmaker as much as he could. That's what you have to do against these teams."

On improvements to the offense...

"We preached to the team about avoiding negative plays, and we did that. We moved the ball well on first downs. It was just when we got in third down situations, we couldn't capitalize. We did some things out of our nature and that's fixable, we can talk about it on tape. We can't settle for field goals. Ball security has been an issue as well and we've addressed it all week. You can't turn the ball over twice per game and expect to win in this league. We've got to finish. We can start fast, but we need to finish and take care of the football."