Bjork: Even without Ole Miss, A&M's resume is strong in committee's eyes

Key notes from Ross Bjork interview

• We have a lot to be thankful for. We need to commend our student-athletes for what they've gone through this year. Going on the road and winning that basketball game on Sunday night. Playing eight football games this year. They've gone through a lot this year.
   
• We knew this postponement was coming. We got an update from Ole Miss on Friday that didn't sound good. We knew we needed to go to Auburn and take care of business to stay in the conversation there. My mind was constantly spinning, and I was constantly churning out messages to people. I was hoping to get this announced earlier on Monday, but we had to wait for Ole Miss and a decision from their state health department. They weren't going to be able to practice until Friday, so they couldn't play Saturday, Sunday or Monday. It's unfortunate, but I'm thankful that we could control the controllable, as Jimbo says.
   
• The goal for Commissioner Sankey is to play the games that are scheduled. If you have to move things around, you can move them around. When they moved Georgia-Vanderbilt to the 19th, I knew the likelihood of moving the Tennessee game was remote. All of those things were coming into play. I knew that was going to throw a wrench into trying to move things around. The SEC is highly involved in all of these things. We have had tons of conversations with them as we've kept an eye on these moving parts.
   
• You have to look at how the BYU-Coastal thing came together. BYU was open, and Coastal's game vs. Liberty was canceled. You have to have a perfect scenario and a willing opponent. We did look at some other options. We had dialogue with the SEC about that, and if it were helpful to our resume and were a worthy and willing opponent, we would have received clearance from Commissioner Sankey. They had to be a willing opponent coming to Kyle Field.
   
• We need some help ahead of us. We know for sure that the committee thinks highly of our football team. We looked at it and said that our body of work should speak for itself at 7-1. We need to finish strong against Tennessee, and I like that it's on selection weekend. Nobody is ready to spike the football. We still have work to do. Jimbo and the team know it. There just wasn't a worthy, willing opponent to replace Ole Miss this weekend. We're going to play nine SEC football games this season. That's a strong argument, and we need to finish strong.
   
• I believe the committee will look at a nine-game schedule and understand that this was beyond our control. They will look at our resume, see that win over a top-six opponent and some other convincing SEC and road wins. We held LSU scoreless until the final 30 seconds. I love that I can talk about this, and Jimbo can focus on the next game. We've played a lot of football this year, and we have a heck of a resume.
   
• If you look at the SEC, it's a line of scrimmage league. There are high-powered offenses, but if you look at our offensive and defensive lines that Jimbo has built, that's where it starts. We're also very balanced. Who do you stop? Is it Ainias in the backfield or in the slot? Is it Isaiah? What about Jalen Wydermyer? Kellen in the running game is something you have to worry about. Also, don't forget about our ball control. There's a lot of different ways this team can beat you.
   
• You have to count on the committee members putting a lot of work into this. I personally know eight of the 13 committee members as athletic directors. One is an A&M employee in coach Slocum, who obviously has to recuse himself from those conversations.
   
• This year, it's all about the eye test because you don't have those metrics that you usually do. Football people who look at our football team see that we have that game control. We're right there. Right now, we're not spiking the football. We're not finished. We have to control what we can control, but the people in that room, I think they're looking at everything and understand how good of a football team we have.
   
• We talked about needing some help in front of us. We need some help in the Clemson-Notre Dame game or from Ohio State. However, it's not too farfetched. You still have to control what you can control. You have to focus on ourselves, follow our protocols and stay healthy. We have to go to Knoxville and do our part to control what we can control.
   
• Our Sunday tests this week came back with no positive cases. Everything was negative across the board; players and staff. We had a road trip, so if you had come back with positive cases, you would definitely have some contact tracing issues. We spaced out the dining room better and changed some seats on the plane around. We limited any possible contact tracing issues. Now that we're home, we can limit contact tracing issues much better than we can on the road.
   
• If someone tests positive, you go back 48 hours and look at their contacts. Our next round of testing is Tuesday afternoon, so you’d go back to Sunday afternoon if there were any positives. Unless it's a roommate, the close contacts from now on would be minimal.
   
• The senior day and senior night would've been different anyway because of the protocols. We will come up with a way to honor our seniors, but we have to stay in the protocols. We will be smart and finish this season. We have many ways we can honor our seniors, and we will find a way to do so. Some of the guys may come back because they have their eligibility extended.