Texas A&M Football weekly press conference: Vanderbilt

Kevin Sumlin

On the quarterback situation this week...

"We've talked about it as a staff, talked with our players and quarterbacks, we'll practice this week, evaluate where we are in practice. We've had guys have good moments, some not so good moments. We're looking for consistency out of the position and that's what this week of practice will be about and we'll name a starter as we get closer to game time."

On Speedy Noil and Josh Reynolds...

"They're back to practicing. Yes (they'll be available against Vanderbilt). (The transgressions) happened during the game week. We have team rules and they can range to all kinds of situations, from team policy to athletic department policy. Those are things that are either public or not public and things we deal with internally. As far as our guys understand what the consequences are of those transgressions ... they can get back in good standing."

On Kyler's performance...

"All of our quarterbacks who have been in the game have had some good moments and some bad moments. What we're looking for is consistency at the position, not 'here and there.' That was pretty evident Saturday. We moved the football all night; our ability to limit turnovers has been an issue throughout the year. We've put an emphasis on turnover margin. We're minus-three for the year. In the games we've won, with the exception of Saturday, we've been in the plus side of that category. The games we've lost, we (haven't). That's had to do with the people who touch the ball, offense, defense, special teams. It's been the biggest stat for us and probably the biggest stat in college football.

"We've had guys who have had their moments and also some 'want to get that back' moments, and consistency is what we're looking for at the position."

On Kyle Allen's midseason swoon...

"There are a lot of things that could happen, particularly when he's a sophomore. You're on stages that are pretty big. There's more to playing the position than just physical tools. There's a lot of pressure in that position, and when things don't go well it's the same thing as being the head coach — you get too much credit when you win and all the blame when you lose. That's part of it. As a younger player, that can be a lot.

"He's had a chance to step back and handle himself. We'll see. There's less pressure stepping in against an FCS opponent in the fourth quarter than there would be playing on the road against an SEC team. He's gotten to step back and take a breath and that may have helped him. Kyler now understands the level of preparation needed (at this level). ... It's been a learning process for all these guys. It's the old adage, 'the good news and the bad news.' The bad news is have they handled it exactly perfectly? No. The good news is they're freshmen and sophomores. That's what practice is for.

"Whether it's safety, the right tackle, a special teams guy, your job at practice is to demonstrate the ability to play your position but also to create confidence in the teammates around you that you know what you're doing and we have a reasonable expectation of what you're going to do in the game. That's why it's the best way to evaluate guys and get them ready to play. We'll evaluate that position and see where we are."

On Tra Carson coming to A&M and what he's meant this year...

"When he called I said, 'Thank you.' But I was a little worried because Brandon Williams had just called the day before. It's an interesting story. We were recruiting a guy at Blinn at the time. ... In the meantime we had Trey Williams who was committed and got a call within 48 hours of Brandon Williams coming and Tra Carson. We had to make a decision with both having to sit out ... I wanted to make sure they knew both were coming, because it would've been pretty easy not to tell them until they got here. They said, 'That's fine coach, it'll work out.' They were good players and they had both played as freshmen at Oregon and Oklahoma.

"They came in and sat out, went through scout team — and we have two guys here now in Priest Willis and Keith Ford who were highly recruited and are playing scout team, not dressing out, not hearing their name called — they went through a lot together and that brought them closer even though Brandon's moved to defense. But we couldn't be happier (with Tra). He gained a little weight that first year, but he's worked to keep it down ... he has a chance to be a 1,000-yard rusher and that's nothing to sneeze at in the SEC. He's going to get a degree from Texas A&M and four years ago that wouldn't have even been in the cards."

On inconsistency at QB affecting the offense...

"We're not putting everything on the quarterbacks. Everybody focuses on that position. You've heard me say that against Alabama and Ole Miss, the 50/50 balls, we weren't even close to making those plays on the perimeter. Even the first interception against Auburn, that was 50/50. We need to be better offensively, and it's not all on the quarterback. Whether it's been an older guy or a brand new guy, it's incumbent on the 10 other guys on that field to play at a high level and not make it all a quarterback game.

"That's not been the case all the time this year, where we've either not been able to run the ball effectively ... you get behind and have to throw it, that changes the pass rush dynamics for Ole Miss. Offensively you have to be able to adapt and execute. I've got to do a better job of putting our guys in position and giving them a chance for what they can do. And on the perimeter, we have to compete more. I think that's happened, you've seen Ricky Seals-Jones come into the Ricky we thought he could be. It's his best year, but he's had a a really good year from catching the football, using his size on the perimeter and in traffic and blocking.

"We've missed Speedy for half the year with injury and Josh Reynolds, last week we didn't have either. We need to be able to make competitive plays when we can. In this league they'll put nine guys in the box and make you throw it. We're about to play a Vanderbilt defense that's in the top five in the most critical defensive categories in this league. It'll be a challenge again for us offensively. But that's what this week is for. We'll get the right 11 on the field and try to go get (win) No. 8."

On Vanderbilt RB Ralph Webb...

"He's got a couple back-to-back 100-yard games, and you combine that with a defense that has really done a good job of stopping people, limiting possessions. They pride themselves on three-and-outs. Last week they had 6 on 15 possessions the other team had. We'll have to be efficient, and you combine that with a west coast-style offense and a running back creeping up on 1,000 yards, they're going to try to control the ball. They make it hard to score, they're going to hold people to field goals, control the clock and the game and play good defense. That's been their formula.

"Derek's been doing a great job, he wasn't joking when he said he interviewed a bunch of guys for the D-coordinator job and the best he interviewed was himself. The numbers back that up. ... We've got a challenge ahead of us going on the road, it'll be senior night for them, an emotional night, but it'll be emotional for us to because we want to get No. 8 as bad as everybody."

On Kyle Allen's toughness...

"That's what he's done. There's a lot of things people don't see about any of these quarterbacks. What you don't see is the human element that goes on through the week, the conversations they have and things they have to listen to, things that are true or maybe untrue, speculation, crazy stuff. That's the part of it that guys have to handle and it's particularly harder when they're younger. They've got a lot of different things coming at them from social media, television, all over the place. I tell him, 'You signed up for this. We're going to do our best to help you, to put you in the right position, but when you're a quarterback you get a lot of credit and a lot of blame.' It comes with the territory.

"He's a guy who's been through that; Kyler is learning that. We'll see where we are. You come in against an FCS opponent at home, there's not a lot of pressure there. But going 6-for-6, strolling up the field the way he did it, maybe he did get some confidence back."

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John Chavis

On whether he saw the improvement on D he wanted to see...

"Well, we saw a win. That was the first thing we wanted to see. We saw some guys grow a little bit. That was not SEC football, and there's a lot of things you can't measure but there are things you can see. We had a couple guys unable to go and hopefully they'll be healthy this week; they're on their way to doing that. We saw some guys compete and we saw some mistakes. It's a simple formula to winning football: the team that makes fewer mistakes will win ninety-nine percent of the time.

"Western Carolina ... came in with a good idea and a good scheme and you've got to get that fixed in the game, and I saw us be able to do that. So yeah, we're growing a little bit."

On Justin Dunning...

"He's a big body that has the speed to play safety, 4.4 guy with a lot of range who can cover ground. A lot of times what it takes is for guys to get in those games and play more football and then you're comfortable putting them in bigger games. He's a guy who can play winning football here at Texas A&M. We're excited about that. Occasionally you get that big safety that can be 220 and 6-4, and he may very well have a future at safety."

On Vanderbilt...

"What you see is a team that has a formula they think is a winning formula. They went from throwing the ball 60 percent of the time to running it 60 percent of the time in the last four ball games. They're protecting the football and they have two running backs that are good players and a good SEC offensive line. They had one play in the Florida game that looked like it may hold up where they busted a 65-, 70-yard run and neither team scored much. They want to run the football and let their defense play, and that puts a burden on us because we can't give up the big plays. You can't do that in the SEC and win.

"Their offensive coordinator does a great job with multiple shifts, multiple formations trying to get you out of your gap."

On Richard Moore's progression...

"You go back first half of the season, he's hurt, can't play. He came out of the spring feeling really good; Alabama was the first game he was physically able to play and he came in and made plays. We've got to expand his role and we made the decision to make that move (naming him starter ahead of Claude George) and we feel like it's going to make us better on defense. He's got great instincts and that's something you can't teach and something you can't coach. That's a coach's best friend. He enjoys playing football and we feel like we need him on the field."

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Jake Spavital

On Kyle Allen...

"He did pretty good. I gave him one opportunity to go with the 'one' offensive line before we started pulling them and he went out and cut it loose. He's getting better each week, his confidence is building back and he's ready to get back to work and have a good week of preparation."

On the Vanderbilt run D...

"Coach Mason's done a great job. The energy and effort they play with for Vanderbilt is impressive. They do a great job of sound defense and putting themselves in position to win each week."

On Kyler Murray...

"He's getting better each week. He is. The focus was he has to get out there and play a complete game as a quarterback. I said, 'I don't want to see you just running around there the whole time, we know you're a player; I want to see you operate the offense from from the pocket.' He was throwing screens, taking deep shots ... wanted him to work on going through his progressions, not just revert to his athletic ability. I called a lot of 'progression' plays and there were times he got through it and times he didn't, but I thought he did a good job of staying in the pocket and distributing it when he needed to."

On Tra Carson...

"I told him before the game, 'We're going to get you your touches early and set the tone.' He went out there and did a great job, played a little longer than we wanted him to, but he's setting the tone for us offensively and we want him to get that 1,000 yards because that's a great accomplishment for that kid."

On whether Kyler's size is a problem on his overthrows...

"No, I wouldn't say that. We've deepened him back in the pocket. You can look at successful quarterbacks from Drew Brees to Russell Wilson to even Johnny, they find ways to make it happen."

On what needs to improve...

"We've got to continue getting better, not just the quarterback position but all of them. We need to protect better, make contested catches on the perimeter — the best teams improve each week. Right now Tra Carson is our most consistent player and you've got to put the game plan on his shoulders. That's the emphasis we started with and one of our strong points right now."

On Speedy Noil and Josh Reynolds...

"I hope so. I hope they're very hungry and motivated. They made a mistake and learned from it and I think they're both ready to get out there and play. I'm excited for them to be out there and I know they're excited to be there as well."

On whether putting Allen in had anything to do with Murray's play...

"No. The hardest decision was who we were going to put in, if it was going to be Jake or Kyle. I thought Kyler had three great quarters and got a lot of quality reps and got a lot better as a quarterback from this game."