Texas A&M Football weekly press conference: Arkansas

The following are live, paraphrased notes from Texas A&M's weekly press conference. Videos of the interviews will be added to the story as they are rendered.

Kevin Sumlin

• Bye weeks come at certain times. When things are going well, you want to keep playing. When they aren't, you want to fix things. We knew coming into this week that we're opening SEC play. You'll see both young guys and veterans, depending on the position. Some guys made plays for us last week and will see the field. We played a lot of snaps at UCLA and not as many the last two weeks. There are some guys that have earned more time. Our running backs will all be ready. The four guys you saw did a nice job. Due to Donovan Wilson's injury, we've been toying this some things in the secondary. We got Derrick Tucker back last week. A lot of these guys are playing big roles on special teams. Coverage units have been really solid. Shane Tripucka is punting the heck out of the ball. A lot of those guys are getting experience on coverage units. Getting them game experience has been good. It'll depend on the position, but you'll see a lot of young guys.

• Bret Bielema is a good friend. We were in the Big 12 together. We've known each other for a long time. I have a lot of respect for the way he does things. They're a well-coached team. Sometimes the ball bounces your way. These games have been close. We've played overtimes. We found a way to win them, but each game is mutually exclusive. It's a different game.

• I'm pleased with the way Tyrel Dodson has played at MIKE. Alaka looks a lot more comfortable. Anthony Hines came in and gave us some flexibility. Alaka left the game Saturday, but he'll be fine. He can play MIKE too. Hines gives us some juice. He made some big plays and nice speed tackles. You have to live with some things. He got beat on a crossing route. His aggressiveness is a plus, but he's got to be more patient sometimes. That comes with the territory. He's covering kicks and doing a nice job in protection. That helps with the speed of the game. These guys have to make decisions on the fly. Buddy Johnson has earned his way onto the field through special teams. He had a big hit against UCLA. He's made big tackles covering kickoffs. He shows up every week on special teams. Those guys have continued to improve. Alaka and Tyrel have certainly improved, too.

• We didn't just throw Kellen Mond in there in the first week. He knew he'd play. With the last couple of weeks of snaps, consistency is something we've been fighting. You learn more about quarterbacks as you go on. He stood in and threw some really good balls. He took some hits instead of just bailing and running. We want him to get a little bit better. The competition will pick up this week. Paul Rhodes knows what he's doing. Arkansas has given up three plays of over 20 yards. They keep things in front of them. You have to throw into tight windows. They don't give up the big play. We have to be patient. We talked about that yesterday and will continue that today. They're opportunistic. I also believe that the receivers made plays last week, which didn't happen during week one. Kendrick Rogers caught a ball down the field. It's not all on the quarterback. We have to make plays for him.

• Trayveon Williams will be available Saturday.

• I think we've got a pretty good handle on the best five guys on the offensive line. We did the same thing last year. You've got to develop an emergency plan. There have been some growing pains. You'll see a more experienced group this week. Connor Lanfear will be available this week, along with Sutherland. We're a better team with Erik McCoy playing center. He's probably our best and most versatile lineman. Now that we're in conference play, we'll have experienced players to start the game. You'll probably see Koda Martin, Colton Prater, Erik McCoy, Connor Lanfear and Keaton Sutherland.

• Austin Allen is one of those guys. He runs around and makes plays. He comes from a classic football family. He's a baller. He moves around, is tough and can throw it. You have to be able to keep him in the pocket and cover guys. He can throw in to tight windows. He does a good job hiding the ball on play-action. It makes you hold your breath. He's accurate on those throws. He's experienced and one of the better quarterbacks in this league. If he stands there, he's going to find a window and fit it in. We've got our hands full.

• Our first year at Houston we played a lot of freshman. I don't know if it's the most I've ever played.

• You've had a couple different schemes that have doubled Christian Kirk. They bracket him. We've seen that. The misnomer is that you have to have a receiver take his place because he's being doubled. We've been able to take advantage of that in the running game because he's drawing attention. You've seen us get him the ball early in games. They adjust. The defensive shifts he causes have created other opportunities for us.

• We signed 29 guys. It's a large class. They're talented. The advantage for some of these guys is that 9 of them were here in January. They went through spring football. The early enrollees last year made a big impact. A spring and a summer really help these guys. We've got some talented guys. Defensively, the plan was always to play these talented guys. We were going to use them on special teams. They got to scrimmage and play. They didn't come here to stand next to me. They want to play. It was not about playing freshmen but about what we'd do differently for depth. We need to get better throughout the year. Playing more people instead of having our starters play 70 snaps per game – it doesn't seem like a big deal right now, but down the line it should pay off. We don't want a drop-off in production, so the only way is to let those guys play in meaningful moments.

• I think Alabama has done a great job in three areas. Recruiting speaks for itself. Nick Saban has done a great job with third-year players. Those guys are in a bubble window for the draft. He gets them to come back and play. Retention and recruiting have been great. Tim Williams is a great example. He came back. That helps them develop depth with the younger players. How they play their players goes with that. They don't have to play their older players as much because of the young guys that have been developed. The drop-off each year isn't that big. There are more guys drafted from our league than any other. You don't see fifth-year seniors in the draft. It's not like it used to be. The game has changed. You redshirt a guy, and you have him for two years. Or you play him, and you get three years from him. Playing young guys is part of it. Alabama does as good a job of it as anyone. The freshmen are involved. When you redshirt guys, they're running the other team's offense or defense. They aren't involved in what you want to do. They're scout team. Their development with your schemes isn't the same as a guy that's involved every week. The sense of urgency for a young guy that's playing for you is different then a redshirt guy.