Buckle Up: Aggies take new mindset to Auburn

Kevin Sumlin

On whether they'll open the playbook for Kyle Allen...

"I think so. As things progress you can be more comfortable. After watching the video, he had to develop a comfort level with just playing. Not just the offense, but playing. As a young quarterback, particularly midseason, you're going to get pressured. We'll have to develop a scheme that helps guys get open and protects him against those blitzes. But he's got to have more pocket patience. That's why we practice. But yeah, we're trying to give him more and more as we go on."

On Trey Williams' absence and Ricky Seals-Jones' zero catches...

"We've got to continue to develop Ricky and get him involved in what we're doing. It's a situation where, schematically, he's got to get open. We've got to develop routes that target him. Particularly with a new quarterback, spreading the ball around is a bit different. We wanted to protect the quarterback and throw some two- and three-receiver routes.

"Trey Williams didn't handle his business the week before the way that we wanted him to, so consequently he didn't see any action Saturday."

On Ben Compton's game ...

"He did a nice job, brought some attitude. His individual performance was really good. We need some other people to step to that performance level and he brings an attitude and a work ethic we wanted to reward. He also played at a high level, which we needed to happen. We went into the bye week and said, 'These jobs are open. Show us that you want to play.' Ben Compton was one of those guys.

"Josh Walker, the return of Armani Watts, a number of players who saw action in that game had been sporadic but played the bulk of that game. Compton was one of those, and he played well."

On Case Keenum going down in 2010 and having to prep a backup, and learning from that experience...

"We actually lost two guys in one game and we didn't even have the third guy who was going to play on the trip. You learn from all those experiences. The tough part with quarterbacks, guys that have a lot of pride, the communication of what they can do and what they can't do, you have to ascertain as a coach. Because a lot of times young guys won't tell you what they don't feel good about. You've got to see it during practice or during games and give them a plan they can execute, not necessarily what you think they can do but what they can do. That's part of coaching.

"Kyle's a very capable young man of running this offense and putting up the type of numbers that are necessary to run it."

On when he might choose to step in on play-calling...

"There've been times when I've stepped in to do things over the last seven years. ... It was going to be very difficult for me to establish a program, whether it was at Houston or here, to do that during a game. When I was a coordinator I couldn't tell you what was happening special teams- or defense-wise because we were so focused on good plays and bad plays. During the week we don't develop plays to not gain yards. So you have to figure out whether it was a bad play because of execution (or otherwise) ... between series.

"The ability to manage the game became more difficult to me by becoming a play-caller. We played a lot of close games; history will tell you we have a great track history in close games of clock management and what happens in the end, and a lot of that had to do with me and the whole staff being able to communicate and seeing the big picture instead of being myopic. That's the big picture and that's the philosophy. It depends on games and what's going on. During the week, coordinators get a lot of credit or blame. ... During a series it's not as easy as people think to just chime in when you're snapping off plays every 35 seconds or less than that.

"I can remember one time here when R.C. yelled on the headphones for everyone to shut up. If you're a guy of a certain train of thought and someone yells out something totally different, it can stop you and send you on a totally different train. We have conversations in between series, at the half, in between just about every series. The extent of those conversations can be superficial, certain people, schematic, play ideas, but depending on the situation in the game I'm moving on to something else because now we've got a special teams situation and our defense is on the field."

On Germain Ifedi or Deshazor Everett...

"Deshazor has a ruptured tendon in his elbow, a ligament actually. He's iffy for this weekend, I don't think he's going to practice this week. It's a very painful situation. I don't know where he's going to be. He's played enough football, if he can go he'll go. But we'll have to brace that to see.

"Germain Ifedi has a Grade II MCL sprain. On bigger guys that's a problem. I wouldn't look to see him for the remainder of the regular season. We'll probably get him back for the bowl game.

"So you saw us scramble last weekend, move Cedric to right tackle and Jarvis out of guard to left tackle, went with Gramling and Cheek inside there with Compton as the float-around guy at tight end or filling in inside. That's where we are, that's no different than a lot of people this time of year. We've been fortunate to have the same five guys for a while. Jarvis will have to play tackle and he'll have to play very, very well — and he's capable of that."

On whether this team has made enough progress to compete with Auburn...

"You bet. There's a lot of things you can take from that. People thought I was being sarcastic Saturday with the way we won and it being close, that was the truth. You're talking about a month of this building not experiencing a win; no matter how you experience it, that was important for this team. The bye week was about us and toughness and things that weren't reflected in points. Guys ran to the ball, we had more gang tackles than in a long time, less missed tackles, less busted coverages, setting out to run the ball even with nine or 10 guys in the box.

"Are there things we can do better? You bet. There's a lot of things. But from the bye week, internally, what we set out to do, I thought there were strides made from those things we talked about that weren't indicated necessarily in the point total but in the toughness level. Can we build on that? You bet."

On Auburn...

"I think everybody has seen Auburn play. They're a really fine football team. I think you've watched them play on the road, tough games on the road — last week, early in the year against K-State, a hard-fought game — they're another team with a veteran quarterback that has been in big ball games. Can run it, can throw it, puts pressure on your defense again. Because of the type of offense they play, we'll have to have great eye discipline on the back end. It all starts with their power run game, ability to get inside or to the perimeter with talented athletes, home-run hitters on the outside, a guy in Sammie Coates who might've been banged up earlier in the year but looks really strong to me now.

"They were down in the first half but came back the last couple weeks and came back to win games. There's a reason they're ranked where they are. For us to go over there and win, it's going to take our A-game. But we know that. Like I said, I like where we are. I like our attitude right now, I like the way we're practicing. We're in a place where we've got guys playing who haven't played a lot who are anxious to play and anxious to prove themselves."

On what Allen showed him...

"I started Saturday with, 'We didn't have a bunch of delay-of-games.' Operationally, he was good there. Which you worry about with any young quarterback. Number two, I think our communication can get better. We missed a couple signals on the perimeter; whether that's the receivers or whether that's him, that's always a worry because of a new quarterback. We need to improve there, and knowledge of the situation and ball security.

"I thought (his poise) was good at times. At some times I think he got confident when he scrambled a few times, because people were like, 'Whoa, this guy can run.' That's a good thing and that's a bad thing. He got a little confident in his ability to run and there might be some false confidence there in guys playing man to man and blitzing, and once he broke out there was nobody there. We'll play some better athletes this week. We're not taking away his ability to run, but he needs to be more aware of what he can do and what he can't do, and he understands that."

On the lack of long scoring drives...

"They played basically the same stuff. We worked on some things we hadn't worked on. You go back and look, Brandon (Williams) rushed for 71 yards — you look back at that tape, he should've had 100. That's not based on anything other than running style and where he ran with the ball. He'll be the first to tell you we left yards on the table, and points. We've been a zone team for basically the last two-and-a-half years, but we were running some man blocking situations. You saw even on Tra Carson's touchdown where he's running all over the field and scores, if he just runs straight ahead he scores anyway. It's a different scheme we're practicing and developing just to help our quarterback.

"We're going to have to be that kind of team and we'd like to be that kind of team and still increase our passing game. I think our backs and people up front are able to see, 'Hey, look, if we're playing this type of football, this is where I need to be, not trying to score every play and make guys miss.' Three, four, five yards is OK, instead of panicking and saying, 'I've got to get eight' or 'I've got to get to the edge.'"

On any talks with his coaching friends or mentors...

"The first guy that probably called me was Bob (Stoops). It was a good conversation. Everybody's been through something like this at one point or another. I talk to different people. Some I want to talk to, some I don't." (Reporter: Can you tell us who you don't?) "No." (Laughter.)

On Nick Marshall and stopping a mobile QB...

"He's a guy that can run and pass. He's an experienced quarterback. He brings a lot to the table not only from an athletic standpoint but an experience standpoint. Auburn, again, is one of the few teams on this side or in this league that has an experienced quarterback that has played well. His ability to put pressure on you, run and pass, makes them extremely difficult to defend. I think Gus (Malzahn) would tell you off the bat that they'd like to start with their run game and ability to run power football out of the spread, whether it's with the group of running backs they have or involving the quarterback, has made the play-action game extremely deadly. That's what makes them difficult to defend."

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Jake Spavital

On Kyle Allen's showing...

"I thought he operated it well. He communicated it clearly. The rest came down to execution. Positives, I thought he did a good job of keeping the play alive and making scrambles, throwing for first downs. I thought his timing was a bit off ... we've addressed it and he's going to learn from his mistakes on that, but I thought he did pretty well except for knowing the times to hand it off and when to throw it. I thought there weren't any communication errors."

On how he's improved from then to now...

"He kept working and he's working harder. A lot of it is stuff he's going to have to learn on the run once he gets in there and gets experience. That was a pretty good game for him against an aggressive scheme; you've got to know when to hand it off and when to throw it. He's getting better each week. He's his biggest critic, and it's good to see him coming in here and putting in the effort to get better."

On the offensive line play...

"We started off good for that first drive, then sputtered at times in that first half. In the second half there was a lot of uncertainty with things, we had to change things on the offensive line and move it around. It spooked Kyle in a way because he got hit on a couple balls and then he got out of the pocket when he didn't need to, and those are adjustments we've already made to protect the pocket. Moving forward it's all about confidence. We've got to get these guys in early situations to have success, and when we do they'll go forward from that."

On Allen's reaction to getting to start...

"He was definitely excited. Couldn't see much butterflies with him, I really couldn't. Normally you'd expect to see it, but he took that first drive down and scored. He's pleased with his performance, but he knows he can get a lot better."

On whether Allen will be the QB the rest of the year...

"Right now, it's his to take. I see him going forward; when Kenny goes back it's just based off performance — what Kyle's doing. Right now, it's his job to take."

On Ben Compton's role moving forward...

"I like him at that fullback because I like what he brought to our run game in the toughness area. If there are any injuries on the offensive line, then you'll see him there. Right now I have him as our backup center still."

On how Allen won the starting gig but still needed a simple game plan...

"For the four practices leading up to Louisiana-Monroe he was performing the best. It's up to us to put a plan in that surrounds him well. He and Kenny are different quarterbacks, they do things differently. It being his first start I wanted to simplify things. ... He was the guy that deserved to start."

On whether Kenny Hill is allowed in team meetings...

"He's allowed. He was in my meeting yesterday and he was practicing with us. He's just not allowed to suit out or travel to the game."

On the dynamic between he and Sumlin with play-calling...

"During the drive he doesn't really say anything. In-between drives we discuss what we need to do, and a lot of it is personnel issues and what we're capable of doing and what's going to be easiest, and what's the situation on the clock, whether we need to run the ball. He'll step in and voice his opinion if needed, but he really doesn't mess with me that often during the course of a drive."

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Mark Snyder

On Otaro Alaka and Josh Walker against ULM...

"Thought they played pretty well. The thing I was most proud of is, the things we got ready for in game week, they came out with a totally different offense. We had to adjust a bit, and I think those guys handled it very well."

On defending Nick Marshall...

"The hard part with this particular week is all the great players surrounding him. It's hard to draw a bead on one guy when you've got two good receivers and great running backs and tight ends surrounding him. It's not just Nick Marshall, it's all the people around him."

On how Kevin Sumlin has handled the difficult season stretch...

"I think he's handled it great. It's difficult, it's soul-searching. I've been there before. I think he's handled it supremely well. We went back to basics and fundamentals in the bye week, which is what needed to happen; any time you go on a losing streak, it's time to re-focus and re-examine yourself, and you open your eyes and surprise-surprise, some young guys have grown up a bit. And you move on from there."

On playing bend-don't-break D against ULM...

"The object is to win the game. With the way the game is being dictated it's hard to get on people because if one guy falls down it's six (points). We didn't have the margin this week to let that happen. Credit our players, we were able to get into our dime package and get Nick Harvey in the game and let him get on them with two guys behind him. That led to four sacks. ... Proud of our guys, being able to jump into a new package we hadn't worked on and were saving for this stretch. To be able to execute was pretty nice."

On Reggie Chevis' appearance...

"It was good. He showed us a few things in practice. He's become a faster player because we moved him down (to D-line). This was a game where they started running spread because they weren't going to run on us and we felt like it was a good time to get him out there and get his feet wet. If we see another team throwing the ball a lot, you'll see Reggie out there, yes."

On enjoying the challenge of going to Jordan-Hare...

"I think there's some of that. I saw two years ago going over there, I left saying, 'This is one of the nicer environments I've been in in my college career. It'll be interesting to see how our guys react. Young guys will play; they've earned it. We'll see if we can match them."

On the options without Deshazor Everett...

"It will be Two-Eight (Victor Davis) and One (De'Vante Harris) if Deshazor can't go. We were able to get Nick Harvey in Saturday, which was great. He only saw a few snaps against Alabama. He played really well Saturday. He's going to get more comfortable the more he plays."

On Myles Garrett...

"The challenge for Myles is, 'So we have the SEC sack record, right? Let's put it out of reach of anybody else.' A long time is a long time. He's not where he needs to be; he knows that. Great player, great talent, and he's got great work ethic, so I'm not worried about it. But why not put it out of reach? Why not smash it, not just break it?

"He's got to work on pre-snap things. When they're in wide stances he's got that. But he's got to work on other things that will make him a better player down the road. If he sees a light hand or a two-point stance, he knows, 'Sic 'em.'"

On Jarrett Johnson...

"High-effort guy. He brings all those things we want this program to stand for: play hard, play tough, be smart, give great effort, and I can live with what happens after that. When I see that motor out there, I know it's Jarrett. Because he don't stop."

On Daeshon Hall...

"He's moving along. This week was the first time I've seen him giving a flash of old Dae Dae. ... When you're sitting next to me (on the sidelines) and you see Reggie and Myles getting into the game, that's a motivating factor. He's got a smile back on his face again and he's working his trade."