Aggies welcome season, challenge in Columbia

Kevin Sumlin

"We're anxious to get things kicked off just like you guys are. We've had a really competitive and productive fall camp. Little different vibe because it's the first time in a long time we've gotten going so early — school's not in session — so it's really been about training football. Usually the week of the first game, the last couple seasons, school has started. That's not the case because of playing early (this year), so that's a bit of a benefit for us to get some young guys ready to play a quality opponent and go on the road. It's given us the opportunity as a team to be together with less people on campus, keep them focused on what we're trying to do. It doesn't need to be overkill, but it's been unique. We've done some things differently as far as meeting time and camp schedule.

"We've got a lot of competition across the board. I know the depth chart was released this morning, you guys know me — that's a fluid situation. Wait to see who runs out there in Columbia. I put that out because AC said you guys needed one. That's the truth. We're going to rotate guys on the defensive line, there are young guys who are going to play and that gives us depth, our running back situation, does it matter who runs out on the first snap? They're going to play. A bunch of receivers are going to play. That's basically a list of who's going to get into the game.

"Schedule-wise, it's all over the place. People have criticized our schedule and then we look up the next day and it's been ranked one of the five toughest schedules in the country. Six ranked opponents, playing four on the road, that's pretty significant for us. Our team is in a place right now where they're excited to play. There's been enough said outside the program about what we are and the guys are anxious to get on the field."

"De'Vante Harris, when I gave his injury report earlier — which some people really kind of screwed up — it's a serious injury. Earlier it was four to six weeks. He's a couple weeks into that. Without going into detail, I'd say he's probably still a month away."

"There were a number of things he (Victor Davis) had to do to get back into good graces and there are still things. We have a system in place that has a punishment component, an educational component, and he's still involved in all those but he's completed all the things necessary to get back and be a part of this football team."

"I think Armani (Watts) has really gotten better. It was a situation where he was taking steps day by day and Floyd Raven missed a couple practices, which gave him the opportunity to take a lot of reps. Suddenly he starts feeling comfortable out there and making calls. Having Howard (Matthews) out there, who's played a lot of football, having (Watts) be able to play rather than be a quarterback has helped him too. He's still on a learning curve as a young guy, but I've been pleased with how he approached camp.

"You're always worried about guys on big stages, but we've put ourselves in more situational football to get some of the young guys ready to go instead of not knowing what they're doing. Putting them in situations they'll face early in this season, particularly on the road, so they're not thinking so much as reacting. You look up in practice the next day, he's not making the same mistake twice. That's what you want in a young guy."

"We recruited Josh (Reynolds), I had the privilege of watching him practice live, and I looked at Coach David Beaty and said, 'This guy is Derel Walker, only he's where Derel Walker is right now.' ... He's a JC guy who has three years. He's a bit taller, bit longer, and Derel had 700 or 800 yards last year; if we can get that much production out of him in year one, that's a lot of pressure on him, but nobody thought we'd get that out of Derel. He's got that skill set."

"Most guys would rather play at home in their first game. Whether it's a top-10 opponent or an FCS opponent, preparation is preparation. The way we do things is we're worried about us. We try to focus on us more than we focus on the opponent in our preparation and level of performance. The challenging part in this deal, with a number of young players, is not knowing how they're going to react in a hostile environment. That's hard to duplicate."

"All three (running backs) are going to play. Whoever runs out there the first time, it doesn't mean they're going to play the whole game. Since I've been here, we had a favorite running back when I got here and he didn't play as much as some other guys. Last year Ben Malena played because he knew more about the offense than anybody. What I've seen happen is Trey Williams and Brandon Williams have matured and understand now that there's more to the running back position than just running the ball. Ball security, we will audible, and when we do, your ability to block and pick up people is important because you can have a direct effect on the quarterback getting sacked or injured if you don't know what you're doing. So it's hard for us to put you in the game and not audible.

"Brandon Williams has had as good a camp as anybody and shown maturity he hasn't shown since he's been here. He's shown the ability to be trustworthy at anything from running the ball to catching the ball, running the ball and protection. Brandon has been a slight-built guy, that's why they call him Slim. He eats like crazy down there and I wish I had his metabolism. He's got three plates and he's 190, 195 and that's it. His strength has improved, and that's what's important."

"Speedy has a skill set that we think we need to utilize and he's demonstrated in practice that he can handle it (punt return duties). ... We've done it before. Trey Williams was out there for kickoff against Florida, doing his little dance or whatever he does. I was a little worried, but he was in his own world and the rest is history. Experience is all relative. If you've never done it and you're a junior, unless you've been back there by yourself, what's the difference between that and doing it as a (freshman)? It gets back to what we talked about with practice — your ability to demonstrate to the staff and your teammates that you're trustworthy and the best guy for the job. Last year we made some decisions based on ball security. That's why you saw Travis (Labhart) back there that much. The main thing is to possess the ball. Anything after that is great."

"Look at what Coach Spurrier has done, three straight 11-win seasons. There's not any question based on his track record of not just the player but the system being able to work, and him being able to work his quarterbacks into systems. They're going to be good at what they do, and that's never going to change. Mike Davis is an exceptional running back and he's proven he can run with power. He's shorter but he's got strength and he's a home-run threat at any time. Great tight ends, experienced offensive line, big ol' offensive line, they've got some real weapons and some things that I think, a skill set that will help their quarterback play, kind of like ours. Defensively, I don't look for them to drop off at all."

"We've got a system that's in place that we believe in. Each (offensive coordinator) puts his own personality on it. We had discussions about where we're headed, what kind of ideas they individually want to implement, and that's good. Any time it's all coming from one person and you only see things a certain way, you can get stagnant and stale. In situations where a guy has some personality to put into ideas, that's great. It's good to keep things that way. Each guy has had different spins on what we're doing. That's an ongoing conversation.

"But I think the transition (to Jake Spavital) has been good. A little more variety right now because of personnel — last year people asked why Cam Clear wasn't playing as much and a lot of it had to do with spreading the field for Johnny. The more people that were spread out, the more space there was and the better he operated. That's not the case right now. Cam is an exceptional player and we'll use him."

"Jarvis (Harrison) had a tough offseason. He missed the end of the bowl game with a calf, popped that deal, that's not easy. He had offseason shoulder surgery, really played the last three or four games with a bad shoulder, and missed parts of the offseason and that doesn't allow a big guy to be in the kind of shape he needs to be. We'll see where he is."

"Joe (Cheek) played before we got here more than he's played since I've been here. He easily could have been bitter about this whole thing. He's an example of a guy that really worked at it, has taken coaching, and said, 'I want to play.' He's moved from tackle to guard, where he's probably better suited, and he's a big ol' guy. He probably looks good getting off the bus, but now he looks better because he can play. He walked by me the other day and I said, 'Cheek, I haven't yelled at you in a long time.' He said, 'Then I must be doing pretty good, Coach.' I used to yell at him a lot. But he was playing tackle then. He was a backup to Luke and Jake and then there's Cheek and Damontre runs right around him. We didn't know what we had there, we just knew Cheek couldn't block Damontre. I didn't know Damontre was going to go do all that.

"Cheek is a guy who is part of a player development situation and finding a place for him, but he's also a guy who didn't bury himself or put his head down, he said, 'What can I do to get better?' He — and Gramling, by the way — were guys who had a hard time getting on the field when we first got here. They've worked themselves into being really good players and that's really a good example for a lot of players on this team based on where they are right now. There are guys who aren't going to play on the 28th who we have to continue to develop in this program and who have to continue to develop to be like Joe Cheek."

"I see a (USC) defense that has been excellent. The D-coordinator does a great job of getting personnel, guys in the right spot, you here a lot of different things coming out of there about whether they're going odd front or even front and you've got to prepare for it all. They've shown the ability to be a top-notch defense. They know what they're doing. You don't win 11 games three years in a row in this league without being pretty good across the board. This will be a great test for us. ... It's a great stage for us to start the season, and if you can't be excited about that you're in the wrong business."

"We're right where we were last year (on the OL). Last year we had a new piece in Mike Matthews and a new situation in moving Jake from right to left. That's a different post foot, different lead hands, it's different. It's been the same with Cedric. We've moved (Ifedi) from guard to tackle. It's really a similar situation. We've got guys who played substantially — Jarvis got hurt and Cedric missed two games last year and we played Gramling and Cheek — so we're about where we were last year, because Mike is the only guy that's returning at the same spot. We've got six guys who have played significant minutes on the offensive line, they're just in different positions.

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Mark Snyder

"A bunch of the freshmen are going to play. We're looking at probably seven guys that have a chance to see the field on this side of the ball, true freshmen. We'll try to do our best as we sub and get them in that they're in next to an older guy, a bit like we did with Julien and De'Vante two years ago. These guys won't go in unless an older guy is beside them. We didn't have that luxury last year, we just had to play them. All together."

"Deshazor is on the opposite side of the other corner, so he won't have a chance to talk to that guy. It's the safety play, where Howard can help get Armani lined up. He's going to be crucial for us this game."

"Donnie Baggs is back at SAM where he was. He was an edge guy and that's where he plays and feels comfortable. We tried to force it on him at MIKE last year because we had no other option. He's back in his comfort level, comfort role, and that'll be good for him. Donnie's had a good camp, a good spring and a really good camp. But Otaro (Alaka) is one of the guys that will see the field."

"Myles is about what we thought when we recruited him. He'll play (against South Carolina)."

"The maturation process just happened (with Alonzo Williams), he's a year older and he's been with LJ for a year, we've got this beautiful nutrition center and yes he does (look like an SEC DT now). A lot of guys are looking good. As you stay in the program a while, that's what happens. Guys get bigger, faster, stronger."

"Daeshon is still defending off Garrett. His lower body has really, really improved. He looks like the guy. We still have upper body work to do because he had two shoulder injuries, but once that catches up with his lower half, he has a chance to do some things for us."

"We feel a lot better about them (the DTs). Zaycoven has some beef and he's got to go because he's big and strong in there, him and Ivan. We're loaded at defensive tackle right now, numbers-wise."

"The kid at Georgia and (Mike Davis) are probably the two best backs in the country, based on what I've seen. He's a spinner, he makes people miss, and when he's in the open field he can run. Total package. He's Tra and Trey combined. (On preparing for Davis...) Run to the ball. Run to the ball. Did I say that? Run to the ball."

"When I say young, it's the thought process, the academic side of football. Man to man, there's none of that. It's one on one. The one thing you'll see about Victor (Davis) this year is he has no pulse. It's a beautiful thing to have at corner. He has a short memory and he doesn't panic. He doesn't throw his arms up. It's almost like he doesn't have a pulse. Sometimes that's good, sometimes that's bad. On deep balls, it's a good thing. He's got a ways to go (on tackling), got to get bigger and stronger to go against a guy like we're going to face."

"Armani's got range and I feel like I can trust him. He's a pretty good tackler."

"(Mastrogiovanni) is still in the growing process. We talk every day about him being the coordinator on the field. That comes as you play a lot. That's one of those positions you have to play to learn. That's why we've got Justin Bass backing him up. He learned under Sean and Stew and he knows the defense. But I've been pleased with Jordan."

"You watch South Carolina, they're not in a bunch of third and shorts. They're pretty efficient. This game's going to come down to turnovers. You'll turn on the TV and see a lot of penalties, a lot of tackling and a lot of turnovers (across the country). It's the first game of the year — it's been that way for a long time."

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Jake Spavital

"Malcome stays consistent on a daily basis. He's been the one guy that has made plays in many guys and is the vocal leader of our team and our offense. He's a person these quarterbacks look toward in times of need and they can rely on him making the consistent catch."

"Josh is coming along. There is no game experience yet with him, but I'm very excited to get him out there. He's done great throughout the spring and fall camp and he's earned the right to be that starter."

"(My approach is) the same. It's a bit different situation with Johnny being there, but we're dealing with two inexperienced quarterbacks and there's going to be a bit more coaching involved. There'll be a lot less repeating myself than last year with Johnny, but these guys will be (coached)."

"It is (picking up). That's just the continuity of things. Now that we're going to consistent practices where Kenny is running with the ones, the consistency of it all has picked up the rhythm."

"You've seen (Hill) play already. He's been in four games and has that game experience. The experience of being here and watching how we do offensively and seeing Johnny play has helped him. He's seen more than Kyle (Allen) has right now and that was important. He's our guy and we're putting all our eggs in that basket."

"Ricky's had a great fall camp. Going through spring ball he was a little rusty, still not a hundred percent healthy, but he's been moving around with a great sense of urgency and he'll be a big target like Mike. Those (tall) guys are more comfortable for quarterbacks because they don't have to be as accurate with the ball."

"You can be more unique with body types like Cam Clear and the amount of receivers we have and the amount of running backs we have. We can be more balanced instead of just throwing it around out there."

"Kliff told me that whatever he said, just go ahead and do the exact opposite (in the QB choice). He told me to go with my gut decision, don't look back, look forward and just try to go beat South Carolina."

"Speedy is a very explosive player. You've got to realize he's never played receiver before, he was a high school quarterback. When he catches the ball he has the ability to make a game-changing play. He'll be there if we need somebody to step up and make a play."

"It depends (how many receivers rotate). We mix in inside and outside receivers, but on a regular basis we usually play around eight."

"This fall camp (was when the switch turned on for Brandon Williams). He gets out here this fall, he's healthy and you can tell he worked very hard during the offseason. He's still light because he has a fast metabolism, but he's extremely fast."

"Even talking with Kliff about it, what they did with Johnny was utilize a couple run plays with him in that Florida game, but you never know (how a QB can run) until you see him out there. Hopefully you can fall into a situation like that. I don't know yet (about Kenny). I don't think he's as athletic as Johnny, but he may be more athletic than Geno (Smith). Some people just have that savviness like Case Keenum, who would scramble for 200, 300 yards in a season. Kenny may have that ability."

"One of the reasons we went with Kenny is he's seen these guys run routes, he knows what they're good at and he knows which checks to use to get the ball to them."

"Sabo (Holmes) is consistent; he can play all four positions. He's definitely worked himself into that fifth or sixth receiver and, at times when we go empty, he'll be that guy on the field. They're definitely comfortable with him being out there."