Texas A&M Football weekly press conference: Auburn

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

Kevin Sumlin

• We had Sunday off this week and got together for the first time yesterday. The meeting was really about – it was called "The Truth." Things said in there are critical of everybody. We had to look at those areas that didn't go well and fix them. This year, every week is about not letting the same mistake happen again. I thought that we had an execution problem Saturday. We didn't start flat. You don't start the game by creating a turnover like that. We stalled out offensively. We didn't play well on that side of the ball. It made it a difficult game. We lost the turnover battle. There were 21 points off of turnovers. We didn't convert our early turnover. That hasn't been us. We've done well in the turnover battle. We've played close games and been able to win them. The effort was great. Special teams played well, aside from one return. We blocked another punt. That was the longest punt of the day because it rolled 30 yards. I thought our execution was extrememly poor, offensively.

• We had 22 plays in the first half. We didn't have much opportunity to adjust. The first quarter was over immediately because MSU went on a long drive. Sometimes it doesn't look like it, be we adjust between every series. MSU did some things that we were able to handle better in the second half, but we had a limited number of plays in the first half.

• It starts with me. Ultimately, I'm responsible for our performance. We have to continue to get better, and we were making those steps. Internally, we have thoughts on why that happened and how to fix it. Anything like that starts with me. We're going to be in those situations because of a young quarterback and other issues. The strength of our team has been the running game. Over the course of the last few weeks, we've made plays downt the field. We took a step back on Saturday.

• When Kellen Mond was making steps, guys across the board were making plays, as well. We saw some new stuff that we had to adjust to from a protection standpoint. When he threw accurate balls, we didn't make plays for him. It's not just one guy. Our execution was poor. There were times when people that were wide open or in tight coverage that could make plays, and they didn't. It's a team sport. You have to block, get open and deliver an accurate ball. One of those three broke down most of the time. It wasn't all on the quarterback.

• We've got to be creative in what we do. We've been able to run because of that. We've run Mond effectively. We did that a little in the third quarter, but he's not Trevor Knight, who's 220 pounds. We have to pick and choose when to do that. He's an effective runner. We have to create lanes and seems for him. As a coaching staff, we have to be more creative in the running game and maybe utilize other people to do that.

• I'm not going to talk about recruiting Jarrett Stidham. He's a fabulous player, and I'm sure he's looking forward to coming back to Texas to play. There are a lot of things that go into the recruiting process. He's having a great career at Auburn.

• You're looking at one of the top red zone offenses in the country. They have a QB that's playing well, a RB that leads the league in touchdown runs and one of the best kickers in the country. The key is to keep them out of the red zone. Carlson, the kicker, is accurate and has range. Stidham can come off of play-action and make throws. It'll be a big challenge for us.

• We're not opening up the QB competition right now. Nick Starkel made some plays, but there were some issues, as well. He made a couple mistakes and a couple really nice throws. There's some rust on him right now. The situation will remain the same.

• We've known Jarrett Stidham for a long time. He's continued to develop with a year off. He's extremely talented and has always been able to throw it. He's scrambling around a bit, too. He does a lot with his vision and play-fakes. His success is not a surprise to us.

• Coming into the season, Tyrel Dodson's offseason was very important to him. He had to shed some weight and worked hard to do it. He really changed his body. He carries his weight differently now. He likes to walk around with his shirt off. He's more confident and vocal. There's no doubt he's improved. Both our linebackers have really helped the defense. He's a natural MIKE and makes a lot of plays. His growth has been physical and mental. He can direct and communicate on the field. He's a QB up front. He couldn't do that last year. He's been consistent this year after flashing that ability last year. He continues to play hard and step outside himself to be a vocal leader too. That's hard for young guy, but he's comfortable with it.

• Our guys do what they do on defense. They take a lot of pride in it. Our defense has proven they can get to the quarterback, but you have to prove it every week. The way Auburn utilizes motion and play-fakes bring extra issues. You can't just run up the field all the time. They force you to have eye discipline. They present other challenges. We've got to have a combination of things to defend this offense.

• Camron Buckley started the game on Saturday. He played a lot. He continues to develop. People see the good things. When we throw it to him, he catches it. We like that about him. We're playing him at a different position to get him on the field more. He mis-read some coverages as a young guy. It comes down to execution. He's got to continue to develop because he is talented. He's got to get better at seeing some different things. He plays really, really hard. He's got a lot of energy and talented. He'll continue to make big plays as he grows into that role. As a backup, it can be a little different. He had a week or so to get ready to start. That can have an effect on a player. He wasn't happy with his performance on Saturday, but his upside is big.

• I care about what these guys in this building think first. I think they've shown resiliency, toughness and the ability to finish before. Nobody was happy in that locker room on Saturday. There were people embarrassed by their performances, including me. The way these guys have approached this whole year leads me to believe that our whole body of work shows who we are. The history of what's gone on this year gives us the opportunity to move on to this week.

• I think Kellen Mond has been steady. His communication has gotten better with everybody. As you get in these situations, confidence is a big deal for young players. He's grown more confident every week. Because of that, his communication has improved. He can say what's on his mind instead of us finding out the hard way. That's big because most QBs want to please you. They'll say they have it when they don't. Being able to communicate that he's not comfortable sometimes is big. We've seen veteran defensive coordinators that are throwing things at him that he hasn't seen.

• Kellen is fine. I didn't like the way it looked at the time, but he's okay. I think that's why it was a personal foul, and we pulled him out because the way he reacted to the hit didn't look right to me.