From one Tiger to another, A&M pushes ahead

Kevin Sumlin

On who will start on Saturday at QB...

"Kyle Allen. Same person who started last Saturday. It's like any other position on this team, you know how that works. I don't know why he wouldn't start since he was named the starter two weeks ago and played pretty well last week."

On the season's highs and lows (USC to now) and maintaining this momentum...

"So much has happened, South Carolina seems like last year at this point for this team. We're dealing with things week-to-week. There are a lot of players who played (in Auburn) in a tremendous football environment that hardly played in Columbia or didn't play at all. What happened then seems so long ago."

On whether they've complained to the SEC offices about holds on Myles Garrett...

"We send in every week things that we have questions on or think might've been missed. Our league does a great job, we have a great relationship with Steve Shaw and he gets right back to us on things we question. The comment from the league office was that there were some things that may or may not have happened, and that's a conversation we've had with Steve Shaw. I've coached in a lot of leagues and the officials in this league do as good a job as any in the country; the key is the communication."

On Mike Matthews' statement that they play better when doubted...

"That's Mike's opinion. When our back was against the wall (a few weeks back) we didn't play very well. A lot of things the last month had a lot to do with Saturday. You don't win a game like that, on the road, in that environment, on emotion alone. There's a lot of things that took place aside from us just feeling like we had our backs against the wall, for us to play like we did last week."

On Ricky Seals-Jones and Josh Reynolds...

"They both came here to do what they're doing now — catch a lot of balls and catch touchdowns. Ricky, because of his size and his talent and his looks, a lot is expected of him. You have to remember he hasn't played a lot of football. He had a major knee injury and we didn't use him through the spring to let that knee heal, and this is his first collegiate football season. As a high school quarterback, there are things he's learning daily to become a receiver, whether it's route-running or finding holes in the defense. It takes some time, just like for Malcome Kennedy, who was a high school quarterback. You can't lose sight of that for him as a young player.

"Josh Reynolds, same. Didn't get a scholarship offer out of high school, went to junior college as a qualifier out of high school, a guy we signed last December to bolster our receiving corps, under-the-radar kind of guy. You've probably heard me talk about the comparison to him and (Derel Walker). He came in January, went through spring football, has some explosion. The offseason is going to be big for him, where he can get more strength and more size, but he definitely has potential and he's a heck of a competitor and he's doing a nice job."

On whether Kenny Hill is available this week if needed...

"Yeah."

On Kyle Allen embracing his role as a team leader now...

"Players are different. Kyle was really a type-A and he was more relaxed last week in that environment than he was the week before. We tried to keep him that way. You've got certain guys that have to have the game face — I'm not going to go into a Bobby Knight deal — but he's a guy that plays better when he's relaxed and smiling. I tried to keep him that way on the sideline and during the game. When you're young ... and it's your second start on the road against Auburn, you probably just need to worry about what you're doing that day."

On Julien Obioha's intelligence and meaning as a veteran leader...

"Julien's a guy that, I can remember in recruiting, he was really concerned about engineering. His parents were (too). He's in year three, which, anybody who knows the program here, it's kicking up a bit. He comes and goes at times in practice and other guys do too because of labs and class and things like that. He's a very mature young man. He's started from the very first game he was on campus. That part of the game, he understands. He's one of the very few veteran players we have who can understand, watch video, doesn't have to practice as much to go out and play like he does. So to balance everything he has in our engineering program and excel on and off the field, he's great for our young guys.

"He's an example of a guy who wasn't at the top of the recruiting class when he got here and he's done a great job academically and been a real solid, solid player for us on the field. He's one of the cornerstones of where we are right now."

On what's impressed him most about Allen...

"Operation. You look back at the last two weeks, things you take for granted when you watch young quarterbacks are the operational procedures — personnel, clock management, not wasting timeouts or delay-of-game penalties — particularly Saturday when we were using clock. For a young guy in that situation to not have the football move backwards before it was snapped is something you can't take for granted. A lot of young quarterbacks do, trying to process and get to the perfect play instead of just moving along with what we're doing. I think Jake's done a good job with him, what he can handle at the line of scrimmage and what he can't. I think that's continued to build, so to speak.

"Operationally, he's done a nice job. The things we talked about the week before that we wanted him to address as far as ball security, that's a habit you need to break with young quarterbacks. The things we talked about a week ago with Monroe, he's improved there. As we get a better feel for him, which we're doing, and he's getting a better feel for us and what he's comfortable with — because young guys think they can do everything and they need to be at a point where they can say, 'I'm not comfortable with that' — he understands that a lot more at this point."

On how the D stopped the run in the first half...

"We were able to get some things done. Ivan Robinson was a big part of that. When he plays, he gives us a lot up front. He's been really good when he's up there and he's healthy. He played until he couldn't play anymore and then he was out. We were rotating guys and trying to get them in that situation. I don't know if we'll have Ivan this week. The good part of that is we'll be able to practice knowing that, not doing it in the second quarter and needing a young guy to get in there. We'll have a plan for him playing and one for him not playing.

"We were able to get some negative-yardage plays early to get them off-schedule. In the second half, not so much."

On Mizzou...

"They've always had a great offensive system, been able to move the ball. Gary Pinkel has done a great job at Missouri whether it's in the Big 12 or winning the East; they're in the thick of it in the East now, they control their destiny. That tells you what kind of staff and players they have. They're not going to be intimidated coming in here. They've won four of the last five games we've played. Since we've been in the league we're 1-1 against them. They've got a lot of kids from the state of Texas and the other day Pinkel's words were that his guys enjoy playing here. So we've got a lot cut out for us this week."

On his approach with this team going forward...

"It won't be any different. It won't be any different. This team's been through all kinds of different things from the outside about opinions about us, guys quitting, being in the final four, so we've got to deal with this week. This is a good football team we're playing and our team understands that. What's important is the talk in this building, and the talk in this building gave us a chance last week. It'll have to give us a chance the rest of the year."

On the OL's performance...

"We ran the ball efficiently. ... We wouldn't have won the game last Saturday if we hadn't done what we did two weeks ago. In the second half we would've liked to have touchdowns, but to drive from the six and kick a field goal was big with the way we ran it. To win the time of possession became a big factor in winning the game, and you can't do that without running the ball. It was a different type of ball game for us to play. I said before the game, we combined offenses to win that game. We were up-tempo early and really slowed down in the second half and played a different game. We'll see where we are from that type of versatility, because you've got to score points against the people we're playing to win."

On taking two approaches in a single game...

"Prior in my coaching career, yeah. But not since I've been here. You've got new formations here at A&M for the first time. Little bit different. But we've always been pretty much a tempo team; the ability for us to be both, particularly with a young quarterback, is important and it's something that was hard to do in the middle of the season. We'll see. We've got to be able to play football and play to the strengths of who we have and not ask our players to do things, put them in positions, that put them at a disadvantage. Not just offensively, that's across the board."

On the O-line changes and how it gelled...

"We've got good players inside. Our tackles, we get thinned out. Jarvis, it's interesting, Jarvis and Ced have both been guards in this offense before and they move out to tackle, which is a difficult position to play with what we do, but we have enough players inside that we can move around. Moving Ben Compton to H-back, fullback, that helped us be more physical than we were. The rotation of the running backs, keeping them fresh, was important Saturday. And different blocking schemes. We've added some offense up front that's not dramatically different, but suddenly it is different, and it was different for our running backs two weeks ago and continues to be.

"We missed some things Saturday, but we'll have to continue to get better against this opponent. Where people are missing the boat (with Missouri) is defensively they're very, very good this year. You look at their quarterback's experience to run around and make plays, really talented running back, one of the most dangerous returners in the league, across the board — offense, defense and special teams — we'll have to bring our A-game again because there's a reason this team is tied for first in the East."

On the Tigers' losses to Indiana and UGA and their recent win streak...

"You look across this league at a lot of different teams, you've got to ask what happened. Nothing surprises me. All I know is they're playing pretty good right now, they've got a win streak going, they've got a championship in their sights and has won four of the last five games against us. It's a game we want to win and they want to win; whatever happened five, six, seven weeks ago is irrelevant for what's going to go on Saturday night."

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Jake Spavital

On any indicators that Kyle Allen was ready to break out in Auburn and happenings during the game that wowed him...

"He was real calm going in. We were all cracking jokes and trying to get him to smile and laugh and he seemed to play along, was cracking jokes on his own too. We went out there on the first drive and he hit the 60-yard touchdown to Malcome. It was on from there. He had the confidence to go out and compete.

"There was a third-down-and-two where he checked speed option off to Tra Carson, which was a big-time check, and that was something we hadn't discussed much about but said we'd need to get to if the situation arose. He saw how they adjusted their defense and made the right check. That was a big-time play, big-time check for an 18-year old going into that environment."

On the O-line...

"That was a concern going in, to protect Kyle as much as we could. They played with a lot of emotion and they were a big part of the reason we had success early and when we changed it up and tried to run the ball."

On Allen's leadership ability and the players responding to him...

"I am feeling that. I told him in the Louisiana-Monroe game, 'You don't have to be a vocal leader, you just need to go out there and execute and you'll grow into that.' Once we hit those first couple scores in Auburn he started speaking up and stepping in, communicating with the receivers, going up to the offensive line and congratulating them on their success, and he was in the defensive huddle at times as well. I was proud of how he stepped up into that role."

On mixing up tempos...

"It definitely gets the defensive coordinators thinking, I believe. I've always thought the best teams offensively can mix up their tempos. If you can play fast and at the same time slow it down and be effective with it, that has to change the thinking of defensive coordinators on certain play calls. We had to protect Kyle, we knew we had three great running backs and the offensive line could step up, so we had more run game and we tweaked a couple things up front and did different blocking schemes at times to help Kyle out. And we established the running game pretty well in that second half."

On the RB rotation...

"Brandon Williams, I've always loved the energy that kid brings. He's always laughing and joking, the loudest guy on the team. He's always bringing energy and I like that; I think energy is contagious at times. All three of those running backs played aggressively and with a lot of emotion. It's hard at times to figure out which one is going to be on; in this one all three were producing, so we tried to get them in for consecutive plays in a row. If they had success, I tried to stick to it."

On the receivers' greatly improved performance...

"That's something this offense is known for — we're always going to try to give you an opportunity to make plays in space. The last few weeks we were getting in space and just not making plays. It's the little things that matter. If we catch a five-yard slant and turn it into a 10-, 12-yard gain, that's important. What went unnoticed at times was the effort they did blocking on the perimeter. Our ability to run the ball was due in part to their blocking out there. It was good to see that these kids came to play and they made plays for Kyle and didn't put too much pressure on him. In the first half we only had two third downs, which is ideal for a rookie quarterback in that situation."

On the mentality as an underdog...

"When you attack and be physical I think it sets the tone. ... Our first play was a run play and if you look at our receivers they were going downfield looking to fight, and that's what you want to see."

On opening up the playbook against the Tigers...

"We went in in a certain set and had a lot of success in that set, so we didn't have to go to different things early and shoot all my bullets. We didn't use the entire game plan because we (had success). Kyle has the entire playbook and you'll see it evolve more based on what he can do."

On Kenny Hill's attitude during the suspension...

"He's been great. The thing is, he saw how Kyle handled the situation at the beginning of this year with such maturity and how he was wishing for the best success for Kenny no matter what, and then Kenny made a mistake and Kyle's stepped in. He's been helping out and he tries to stay positive. It's the maturity of those kids, how they wish the best for each other is pretty neat to see."

On having a huge roster if they want to be flexible offensively...

"It's huge when you start comparing rosters from the NFL to us. Most NFL rosters carry seven receivers and we'll play 10 in a game. It's pretty multiple where we can go from heavy sets to spread sets. You can be multiple and it's harder on the defensive coordinators because there's so many body types out there you can do different personnel stuff with."

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Mark Snyder

On the D-line's depth moving forward...

"It'll be the same rotation we've had. We had a couple guys banged up but we got a couple guys back today, so it'll be the same it's been."

On Otaro Alaka and Myles Garrett's performances...

"I was pleased with Otaro. He's going to make a lot of noise in this league. He's getting more comfortable each week and getting better and better each week. He's going to be a really good football player. To play in that environment the way he did, I was impressed.

"Myles played well. He helped us."

On the 'bottom of the pile'...

"I'll tell you this, it's something we talk about in fall camp. You're going to have what we call scrums, where it's a fight for the ball at the bottom of the pile, and there's some method to the madness there if you will. It's the more experienced guys that usually end up with the ball."

On whether Garrett was expressing frustration about being held...

"Nope. Players play, coaches coach. He kept playing and we kept coaching. It is what it is. He played pretty well, and we're just excited to get that win."

On Deshazor Everett playing hurt...

"It was a great example for the younger players to see. There's a difference between pain and injury. Deshazor knows we need him."

On who could fill Ivan Robinson's role...

"We'll see. We've got practice today. Off the top of my head, probably Hardreck. Zaycoven, we played a lot of people last week. We kind of took the Mississippi State approach that we were going to play a lot of guys, kept the package very simple so we could play a lot of guys, and it worked out for us."

On facing Missouri's feast-or-famine offense...

"We're going to go play. We've got to play with emotion and tackle and do all the things it takes to win. I know this, we're excited to be home. We're excited to be back home."

On forcing turnovers against Auburn...

"It was very rewarding. We know as coaches that at times they come in bunches. For whatever reason, the football gods have it that way. It was the right time for us to come up with a bunch of them. Some of our change of looks, we saved a lot of our stuff 'til late in the game and they had to do some check things. Just proud of the guys. We made plays when we needed to make plays."

On Missouri QB Maty Mauk...

"He's a gym rat. That's what Maty is. I remember him when he was a kid, coming out of high school, studied Johnny Manziel to death, watched all his film. He keeps plays alive, and when he's on, he's on. He's a very good football player."

On Julien Obioha...

"He's very impressive. He's played a lot of football around here. While other kids are studying the game he's doing logarithms this long (gestures). He can do that, because he's been around. He's a really good leader; if you had a son, you'd want your son to look at Julien Obioha and how he carries his life and the way he puts it in order. I tell Coach Price, you have to be careful what you tell him to do. Because he'll do exactly that. Not a lot of improvisation there."

On Gary Pinkel's offense and whether it's become more SEC-oriented...

"This is a great league with great coaches and Coach Pinkel is a great coach, and what he does is he takes the talent he has and asks them to do what they can do. Gus does the same thing. He takes his talent, his people, and adapts his offense to what he has. That's why I think they're making a run right now. Might've taken a while to get it figured out, but I think they've got it figured out right now."