Sumlin, Aggies talk Manziel, SHSU & more prior to Week 2

Kevin Sumlin

Opening statement...

"Just to recap last week, I thought offensively we did some really good things, just what we expected from our offensive line. I think one of the positives of the whole game was Mike Matthews, him being able to start his first game, get his targeting, make some adjustments in the game. He handled them really well after the first series, played extremely well; I think that was evident by our ability to rush the ball effectively. We rushed a lot of different running backs.

"Tra Carson, we all saw he's a great addition to this football team. I was looking forward to seeing him play. Just short of 80 yards, I think Ben was at 80 yards ... Matt Joeckel has separated himself from being Luke Joeckel's little brother to a guy who can play. He moved the football, threw it well, distributed well, did not give the football to the other team.

"Are we where we want to be? No, but we played 16 true freshmen, 11 on defense, and you saw that. Those guys played and played with great effort, not always where they wanted to be, but it was a real, real learning experience for those guys and it'll pay off down the road. The kicking game, I don't know that there's been a better performance here. Taylor made all his kicks and we had a punter in Drew Kaser who averaged about 67 yards. We were working on coverage and now you see why. I'm worried that he's kicking so far that we have to get down in coverage. I was very pleased there.

"You try as a coach after Week 1 to evaluate everything and keep it in perspective, moving on to Week 2. We've got a real chance as a football team to improve this week. I think it's obvious from the video that the guys who came in here yesterday, some guys looked at it as a learning experience and are taking that. Others are looking to get better. But as a team, we focused yesterday on an opportunity for us to get better as a team moving forward this week. That's one of the good things about playing at home the first couple weeks, familiarity is good. Particularly for 16 new guys.

"Just leaving yesterday, our discussions about what we have to do as a team moving forward in the next week to get better, our guys have a good grasp of that and that's what first games are all about.

"The other thing I wanted to mention is, for many people in this room they know what Silver Taps is all about, but nationally it may not be recognized. The first Tuesday of the month, Silver Taps is a ceremony that recognizes (students) that have passed away. Tonight at 10:30 is Silver Taps for Polo and his family. At the game there were 30 to 50 family members. As I expressed to his family and his mother, once you're part of the Aggie Family you're always part of the Aggie Family. And Silver Taps will recognize that tonight."

On the targeting/ejection issue...

Sumlin: "I talked to Steve Shaw about that. Let me explain how it works. The targeting rule, the penalty is assessed and then it goes to a review booth. The review booth looks to see if the player will be ejected or not. The penalty stands. They make a determination at that point whether the player is ejected or not. Once the player is ejected, it's not appealable. That's the way the rule works. Deshazor will be out for the first half this week.

"It doesn't matter what I feel about it. I challenged the call right there on the field. That's my feeling. But our officials do as good a job as anybody in the country. In 30 seconds, to make a decision on whether a player has to leave the game or not, that's another issue. But that's the rules we have right now. Any time a new rule goes into effect, there's always going to be 'Ooh, we didn't think of that.' What comes out of it is, you have to target lower. That's just the way it is.

"Sometimes the natural progression for a receiver is also to crouch and prepare themselves for a hit. The determination was made. That is not appealable once the ruling has been made on the field."

On the impact Jeff Banks has had...

Sumlin: "With an inexperienced punter and a kicker who struggled last year, I think he's really helped them technique-wise. Taylor's going to continue to get better coming off a sports hernia surgery this summer. He's not at 100 percent yet. The field goal he made was a high snap where he stopped and one-stepped it and made it from 44 yards. That's a strong leg. He's easing into (kickoffs), not kicking the ball as deep because we didn't want to strain him too much. As the season goes on, Taylor will get stronger. We've done a good job from a stretching and kicking standpoint and we don't want to push it too much."

On Brandon Williams and the other injuries...

Sumlin: "Day-to-day."

On the purpose behind keeping Johnny from the media...

Sumlin: "There's a lot to it. It's not just my decision, what goes on with that. We haven't talked about it. I feel like now is not the time. Will there be a time? Sure, there will be. I think you look back at the events of Saturday in a volatile situation and the way the game ended, and I don't think that's a time for him or Deshazor or anybody. Will there be time for him to talk? You bet.

"He's done a lot of media, December, January, SEC Media Days in the biggest media — I won't say circus — deal there is and talked like he did ... it's important now based on where he is that his focus is to be our quarterback and a student athlete. That's his biggest challenge right now, not to be here. That's me. This is college football, not pro football. That will be coming, but certainly right now I don't think — we don't think — it's the right time."

On the differences between Joeckel and Johnny...

Sumlin: "I don't know that it's a different team. All the quarterbacks are different. That's why you never hear me — guys ask me all the time to compare quarterbacks — you never hear me compare quarterbacks. They're all different and they play differently. Some guys are 5-11, some are 6-5. Personalities are different. Matt is an example of a guy who has waited his turn, who has just toiled away and really, the week before, earned the right to start ahead of Kenny. I sat both of those dudes down as late as Friday at 5:00 and in my mind I knew what was going on, but I wanted them both competing that whole time.

"I brought both he and Kenny in, explained the process for who was going to start the game and explained the process for going forward in the year. They need to keep competing and keeping the edge because they're one play from playing. That doesn't mean Kenny Hill isn't going to play; the plan was for both of them to play in the first half, Matt just did really well. And he earned the right to keep playing. In Kenny you've got a freshman walking through the door saying, 'You've gotta ball, man. You've gotta ball.' That's the energy as a team.

"You don't see that. Anybody who watches Johnny knows he plays with a lot of passion and emotion in this game. Because of that, he gets into a grey area. As coaches its our job to keep that energy going, but keep it positive. That's a discussion we had yesterday, not just with him but with a lot of players. What you don't want to do is kill that passion, because it separates Johnny from a lot of players. But you can sit down and say, 'That passion can be used positively.'"

On Sam Houston...

Sumlin: "They're well-coached. Anybody watch North Dakota State last week? That'll get your attention in a hurry, going to Kansas State and winning. Then you turn on last year's NDSU-Sam Houston game and it was a great game. Our players get that. Last year our first team played well. The second guys lost that second half, in my opinion. You saw a lot of those guys playing last Saturday. That gets our attention. Willie Fritz is a heck of a coach there, back-to-back championship appearances ... they're not going to be intimidated coming in here, just like they weren't last year."

On Ben Malena's attitude...

Sumlin: "I think what you don't see is the amount of emotion and passion that Ben Malena plays with. But you don't see it from the stands. He talks constantly. He is a talker during the game. Coaches, players, everybody. He plays with emotion, he cares and I think you see that in his play. He's a leader by example, whether he's carrying the ball, punt team, returning kicks, he just wants to play. He's a great example to the younger players on this team, to the older players on this team ... this guy's doing whatever he can to help us win. Because of that, he's a great leader."

On the suspensions and practice changes...

Sumlin: "The announcement of the guys Saturday, we knew about that two weeks beforehand. There's been a plan in place to handle that. There was a practice plan in place for the young guys and for the guys coming back. We had plenty of time to get those guys ready and get them lined up as young players, but there's no way to duplicate the tempo and the emotion. You know what you're doing, but the pressure to perform in that environment can be very difficult on a young guy and that's what experience is all about.

"We'll work through that and we get Kirby back this week, which will help us in the rotation in the middle. Those guys are still practicing with us and still engaged and with our defense. That way they're still able to get their mental reps, their technique and be ready when we need them to go."

On Johnny being vilified by the media...

Sumlin: "It's kind of amazing to me. He came off the field and I made two statements to him, neither one of which should he have responded to. They weren't questions. (Laughter.) They were direct statements that I can't repeat right now. What amazes me is the perception that he ignored me. The worst thing that could have happened is for him to reply, based on what I told him. People saying he doesn't listen to his coach and there's no discipline in this program, they're not around this program.

"I haven't heard one person who was on the sideline when it happened speak up about what happened. You can get a different perspective sitting in a studio than you could have gotten live. We met as a team, which we do every Monday, and the three things that I talk about are play hard, play smart and be physical. Those are three things I quantify every Saturday. We talk about the first one, playing hard and evaluating players every Saturday on their effort. Some guys, on Saturday, played great on effort. Other guys didn't.

"Playing smart, that was addressed yesterday. Championship teams and great teams play smart. My exact words Saturday night were, 'That wasn't very smart.' To Daeshon Hall (too). We had five penalties the entire football game — an undisciplined team doesn't have only five penalties. It's the not-smart football that got two guys ejected. But I wouldn't have challenged Deshazor's hit if I didn't think it was a good hit. You have to put things in perspective ... we can definitely be a smarter football team.

"But five penalties a game, you can live with that. We're playing football. We're not playing badminton out here. There's going to be aggressiveness and things that happen. In the grand scheme of things, that's where we are. All three of those areas are areas we evaluate every Monday. The discussion we had both in here and on the field, our players understand that and there's not much confusion on what happens in this program."

On addressing the media vilification...

Sumlin: "I think I did. I said Saturday that he was antsy, he was pressing — he wanted to play. The thing that makes him who he is is his passion and emotion. He is trying to do something every play to score, whether it's him, his teammates ... I think that's why his teammates enjoy playing with him. In fact, I know. Is it a challenge at times? You bet it's a challenge. But at some point, it's our challenge to keep that energy positive. A lot of things are being made out of some things that went on last year. I had somebody come in and ask me about some money signal, whatever. Same thing he did last year.

"A couple other players around the country are doing that. But when he does it? It's an issue. Has he painted himself into a box with things like that? Probably. But at some point his actions on the field have to show where he is, and nobody wants to be successful as much as he does. Nobody's going to practice harder than he is. These guys understand that.

"Why isn't he talking? Coming in here and saying words isn't going to change some people's opinions about who he is. That's my job as a coach, to prepare him and keep his energy positive, channel that energy and that emotion and make it positive. At the appropriate time he'll be able to speak for himself."

On whether he feels disrespected by analysts...

Sumlin: "I don't have to elaborate more, I just told the whole story. Like I said, I'm shocked. I shouldn't be shocked by anything anymore. But people have got to talk about something. Of all the things there are to talk about in this program, that is probably the last thing that needs to be talked about. I just told you what happened — and I didn't think twice about it.

"It doesn't surprise me. I think where we are is where we are. Obviously after last Saturday, people want to make a story out of anything that happens on this team right now. In a way, right now, for me as a coach, I'm not going to complain about it (smirk). It's kind of putting a wall up between us and everybody."

On whether this team needs more leaders...

Sumlin: "I think what you're looking at is, from a release standpoint, it probably looks like it just happened. From a timing standpoint, it happened a couple weeks ago. For us and the team, we had moved on. For everybody else, it all looked like it happened at one time. There's two different areas you're talking about — to get that communicated and fixed among the players, I think we've done a good job about that.

"Deshazor's deal, that's an unfortunate situation. Could've gone either way. Daeshon, that's a learning experience, a true freshman who just got here and is trying to make plays and play with emotion. We'll get that handled. Leadership comes in many forms. You've got a great example of that in Ben Malena and across our team, the offensive line and Mike Evans. Do we need to develop more leaders? You bet. But that's not easy with 16 true freshmen. They're not worried about leading, they're just worried about getting lined up.

"We'll need some guys to step outside of themselves, some older players, not necessarily starters but guys that have played."

Clarence McKinney

On Brandon Williams and the running back rotation...

McKinney: "We're excited about Brandon coming back. He's definitely a ball of energy. He's been harrassing us the past few weeks to play. He's excited, we're excited. We'll definitely get him out there."

On Ben Malena's improvement...

McKinney: "I think the biggest improvement with Ben is his body. He's really worked hard in the weight room to get his body prepared for all the things he's doing for us on offense and special teams and things of that nature. From the day we got here and started installing the offense, Ben Malena displayed that he's a smart football player. He's the one guy in my meeting room that never writes stuff down, but he never forgets it when he goes out there."

On Johnny's pocket presence...

McKinney: "I think Johnny is being Johnny. He's not the tallest quarterback so, sometimes, when you've got those 6-5 guys in front of you, you can't see and he tends to get out of the pocket. He's great at throwing on the run. Coach Sumlin has done a great job this fall camp of getting him to throw from the pocket. We're trying to make him throw from the pocket a bit, but he does a great job whether he's inside or outside the pocket."

On Matt Joeckel's showing...

McKinney: "I think he did great. We didn't ask him to go out and win the game. He did a great job of managing the game, operating the offense, getting us in the best play possible. He displayed that, when he's needed, we can depend on him to lead our offense."

On what went into preparing for a new QB at the half...

McKinney: "There was nothing different on our part, what we did. The offense, we run our plays no matter which quarterback's out there. From a receiver standpoint, when Johnny's back there the scramble drill goes into effect more than with other guys. But from a game plan standpoint, we didn't change anything."

On which freshmen stood out...

McKinney: "It's kind of hard to say. Ricky had a big catch in there but didn't finish the game, so you'd like to see more from him. Jeremy Tabuyo had a couple catches in there. We would've liked to get Quiv the ball more but we weren't able to do that. Those three, we're really impressed with them. The future is bright for them, and for the other three guys."

On whether he thought Johnny was pressing...

McKinney: "I just think it was a lot of pressure with the whole offseason and things of that nature, coming in the middle of the game and not having the first quarter to calm down. That was kind of different for a guy who's used to starting games and getting butterflies out early before you can get into your rhythm."

On the offensive line's performance...

McKinney: "The offensive line played great. Mike Matthews really impressed us. There were some things that, from a game plan stand point, we hadn't talked about leading up to the game and had to make an adjustment early in the game with him. He took that adjustment and made our protections. He targets it all, so he made us go."

Mark Snyder

On which freshmen stood out most...

Snyder: "They all had good and bads, all the guys that played. You could tell pregame that there was a bit of nervousness. You can imagine being 18 and being in front of all those people. I thought they handled it pretty well. The thing that was most pleasing to me was the emotion they were playing with. To me that's what defense is all about, playing with enthusiasm and emotion. You can tell they love to play the game. They all had goods and bads, all of them. About what we expected."

On dealing with the suspensions and worrying about Bama being the first live action for many...

Snyder: "The good thing is we'll be fresh, that's for sure (laughter). We're going to be injury-free, we'll be fresh! You think about it, but what hurts is now is going to help us in the long run. We're going to have them healthy, they'll be fresh, and we're building depth for the rest of the season. What's hurting us now will help us. We've just got to live with that. Got to deal with that."

On takeaways from Rice...

Snyder: "David's a good football coach and that's a good football team. They have a chance to win that league. They came out and showed us some things we had not practiced, had not seen. Not having a veteran group, I can't call a timeout and run on the field and tell them (what's going on plainly). I wasn't excited about the look of the locker room at halftime, but they took the coaching and adjusted and came out a bit. That was good to see. The game started to slow down for them as it went on, and that was good to see."

On talking to the players about targeting...

Snyder: "We've talked at length. It's the world we live in. We've told the kids, 'That is the rule. Like it or not, that's the rules.' We've talked about lowering your target and bringing your arms. If you do that, you won't get those penalties."

On working on tackling...

Snyder: "We've been focusing quite a bit on it already. Obviously it'll be a point of emphasis. But when guys are trying to get lined up, strike a target, disengage ... I'm not making excuses for them, but there was a lot going on. Their back was pretty big — and we'll see big backs this week. Some of it will come. Everybody was missing tackles across college football. It's the evil of early games because you don't tackle a lot in practice. Will we work on it? Without a doubt."

On having to dumb it down with younger guys...

Snyder: "You do. You do. I'm a rhythm guy and Saturday I couldn't get into a rhythm on the field. We had a lot of moving parts and different pieces. Just felt like we couldn't get in a rhythm."

On the suspended players and his disappointment...

Snyder: "I think that's more of a question for Coach Sumlin than it is for me, but I'll say this: there have been increased standards and expectations around here and there's a learning curve. I've had two weeks to know about this thing here. Alabama has played one game, those guys have played none. Maybe there's a bit of an advantage for them there. But those guys are still practicing with the twos."

On handling targeting in the moment...

Snyder: "We just had this conversation 15 minutes ago watching last year's film. I played free safety and I said to Coach Yates, 'It happens so fast sometimes and you've been doing it since you were little.' It's hard to lower your target. There's a degree of difficulty there. But it's the rule. Like our increased standards and expectations for the players, it's a rule. But it's difficult, no doubt."

On Sam Houston...

Snyder: "They've got a quarterback and tailback with a chance to be pretty good. They are all about making you think, and if they make you think, they have success on offense. Us being as young as we are, we'll have our work cut out for us."

On how to tackle in light of the targeting rule...

Snyder: "It's the sternum. I'm not a coach that's going to ask players to blow guys' knees out. That's what scares me about this rule."

On whether the rule will lead to more arm tackles...

Snyder: "I look at the positives of it. College football has gotten away from tackling. Everybody's looking for the SportsCenter hit, nobody wraps up. That kills me, being an old-school defensive coach. We've always taught wrapping, but we're really teaching wrapping now. I think they won't call targeting if they see the arms coming up."

Matt Joeckel

On when he found out he would start against Rice...

Joeckel: "I found out on Friday afternoon. I guess I was more nervous about starting or not than I was about being in the game. I was hoping I did enough in practice that week to get the start. It was awesome that I did. Being out there I wasn't too nervous because I knew I had the support of my team. My brother was there, my family was there. I didn't have to do too much because of the talent around me."

On Luke's visit...

Joeckel: "It would have been cooler if we had been playing together. I'm sure that would have been a better story for all y'all. He completely surprised me. I thought he was going to be in Jacksonville for the weekend. I was on the phone with him after we watched a movie as a team and he was asking me weird questions like what room I was in, what movie I was watching. I guess I'm not too smart, I didn't catch on. I got a knock on my door and Luke was there. It wasn't what I expected but it was cool having him there. He got me pumped up and we were so excited I could barely sleep."

On Johnny talking to him in the first half...

Joeckel: "He was really helpful. There's a relationship with the quarterbacks and Coach Spav where we're all extremely close, get input to each other. He was giving me tips and he helped me a lot. So did Coach Spav, so did Kenny Hill, Connor McQueen. We're all a team."

On his first start...

Joeckel: "I'm glad I got my opportunity to do well and I'm glad I did well. I hope I showed my team I can do it. I do it a bit differently than Johnny, I'm not flashy. But I hope I showed my team and my coaches I can do it."

On the toughest part of the game...

Joeckel: "Probably the mental part. I haven't played that much in a few years. Physically, it was hot out there, but I probably got the most tired after celebrating a touchdown. The physical part wasn't too much because I pretty much just handed off to Ben and Tra. I could see they were getting tired because they were running the heck out of the ball."

On his performance...

Joeckel: "I had some good throws out there. I thought I did well moving the ball and just running the offense. We have a great offense here. The scheme is great; I think I did a good job just running the scheme. Some of those throws I just wanted to do for my confidence. I wanted to go deep early in the game to get that out of the way. There were some plays I did well and some that surprised me."

On his touchdown pass to Ricky Seals-Jones...

Joeckel: "It was third-and-1, third-and-2 and they were probably expecting the run. We flashed it, Ricky had man-on-man, he beat his guy and he did a great job by taking him deep. I just had to toss it to him and he made the rest happen."

On his quick exit from Saturday's post-game press conference...

Joeckel: "My stomach just started killing me. I'm glad it didn't happen out on the field. It just started killing me and I needed some medicine and to go rest for a bit."

On his playing time going forward...

Joeckel: "I guess we'll just see what Coach Sumlin wants me to do. I'll talk to him. I know me and Kenny will be competing all year and try to get each other better. We're also pushing Johnny, hopefully, so Johnny's getting better. I don't have much expectations; if I get the opportunity to go in, I'll be ready for it."

On going back in in the fourth...

Joeckel: "I felt like I was ready, but there's not much stress when it's that late. You just get the ball and hand it off a few times. Me and Coach were talking about doing something, but it's just 'finish the game.'"

On the offense not missing a beat...

Joeckel: "I think it just proves that we have a bunch of talent on our offense. Our offensive line is spectacular. Those are five big guys that can flat-out play. What you saw in the first half with the running backs we have, the receivers, there's a lot of support on that offense. They leaned on me but I probably leaned on them even more. They actually helped out a lot. Johnny going in, it's the same Johnny. He's a Heisman Trophy winner."

Ben Malena

On having Brandon Williams back this week...

Malena: "I think it's a great thing that he's finally back. He brings a dynamic to the game you can't coach, and that's speed. With our offense and the running backs we have, it'll be good to have him back."

On the other two running backs and the unit as a whole...

Malena: "I think we work well together. One thing we have in common is our work ethic. All of us go out there competing because it is a competition. Brandon Williams brings an element that's hard to coach, and that's speed. Tra Carson is a big back and in this league you need a back that can get short yardage. Trey Williams is electric and returning kicks, and it all starts with me."

On where he's improved most...

Malena: "I think this offseason I tried to improve on every aspect you can improve on as a player, getting stronger, getting faster, getting smarter. I tried to improve on everything, and my leadership skills."

On his individual goals...

Malena: "Every players has goals they want to achieve, but I try to keep those personal and just try to work toward (them) every single game."

On whether the Johnny focus takes away from the team...

Malena: "I don't think so. What's perceived from the outside world is, nine times out of ten, a complete 360 from the way the team looks at it. The way you guys might single him out doesn't hurt us as a team because we're just getting ready for Sam Houston. It comes with it. You want to have a defending Heisman trophy winner as your quarterback. It's not a bad thing."

On Sam Houston...

Malena: "You can look at the game last year and tell they're not a team to be messed with. They went to the national championship game two years in a row and, if you're not ready for them, they'll come out and beat you. We'll be prepared."

On the hand signs the team does to celebrate...

Malena: "It doesn't have a significant meaning. It's just a fun gesture we made up and it gets everyone going. It doesn't mean (show me the money). We do it because we think it's fun."

On not looking past an FCS school...

Malena: "With North Dakota beating K-State, the defending Big 12 champion, you can't look past these schools. They have great players, some former D1 players, on their teams — they have talent. You have to prepare for them like they're a conference opponent."

Toney Hurd, Jr.

On the national media firestorm and their reaction...

Hurd: "I believe for the off-the-field issues, we don't bother ourselves with that. Johnny played great and aside from the first-game miscues our team played pretty well. I feel like Coach Sumlin put a great statement out earlier. Off-the-field issues, the staff will handle that. On the field, we're playing well and we can only get better from here."

On what will be easy to fix...

Hurd: "As a team we have a lot of things we can work on. As a defense, just getting into our gaps, our assignments, doing things assignment-sound. Doing little things like that is the difference between a big win and a big loss. It's easy to watch film after the game and fix those things. We'll get them fixed."

On whether he'll change how he tackles after Deshazor's problem...

Hurd: "As a defensive staff they've really put us in position to make the right decisions. When you're tackling, sometime you'll make a wrong decision like Deshazor did. I feel like our staff was behind him 100 percent when they threw the challenge flag. But I feel like as a team, we're working on the right way to tackle."

On how much last year's Sam game will apply...

Hurd: "We'll always take that film and try to learn from it. I'm sure they'll come in with the same attack and I'm sure the coaches will take our same game plan and make a few adjustments. I've been watching to try and take any cues to make my play better this weekend."

On seeing the FCS upsets...

Hurd: "We take every game one game at a time. Every school has their flaws and they also have their strong points. We don't take any team lightly. Every week we focus up and get ready for the game. We will not overlook this team. Coach Sumlin and his staff will have us ready."

Drew Kaser

On the impact Jeff Banks has made...

Kaser: "He's helped tremendously with both me and Taylor. He just gets us right mentally, physically and has a great game plan for us. He's been through it. It's helped me out, having two different special teams coaches before and now having Coach Banks, I think it gets me more ready and it's helped me out."

On whether he surprised himself with the 76-yard punt...

Kaser: "No. I know I'm capable of doing things. I've done them in practice. I was game-hyped and had some adrenaline going too. I don't think it was too much of a shock, but it definitely felt great."

On the key to consistency...

Kaser: "What I've worked on is my drop and my steps. The past couple years I've been a little inconsistent, but every offseason I've been getting better. I've worked with some kicking coaches and Coach Banks on flattening my drop and becoming more consistent."

On whether he considers himself an offensive or defensive player...

Kaser: "I have to consider myself a defensive player. I like to go out on the field and help my defense out as much as I can. I'd like to pin them inside the 20 on every punt. That's my objective."

On his football story...

Kaser: "I didn't start playing football until I was a sophomore in high school. I went to a camp and placed second in the nation and that's when I realized I was pretty good."

On kicking to explosive returners...

Kaser: "I'm aware. We get the stats and everything of the team we're facing. I'm not too sure about Sam Houston's returner yet, but I know from watching the game this past weekend that Alabama's Christion Jones is one I have to keep my eye on. I'll have to hang the ball longer."

On whether there's more to his repertoire...

Kaser: "I consider myself a hybrid. A lot of guys are typical punters with their leg over their head and my style is a little different than most. It allows me to be more explosive and get through the ball a little more. I've never done rugby punting, in high school or whatnot, but with Coach Banks there's a little different punt we do that allows me to get my leg through it."

On whether he has any hand signs he does...

Kaser: "(Laughs.) No. I do a little shake-and-bake with Taylor. It hasn't come out yet. We're waiting for the right moment for it to come out. A little magic man, El Diablo action there. It's going to come out, I guarantee you."