After a monumental upset of Alabama, the No. 21 Aggies travel to face the struggling Missouri Tigers on Saturday. Ahead of Texas A&M's Week Seven trip to CoMo, Jimbo Fisher, Antonio Johnson, Kenyon Green, Isaiah Spiller and Edgerrin Cooper spoke to the media.
The following are live, paraphrased notes from Jimbo Fisher’s Monday afternoon media availability
- After evaluating the film, very proud of our team, especially how we competed in the game. Hopefully, we can carry that forward and understand the reason why we had success. All three phases contributed highly to the win. Overall, we got out to a good start, which was important for our guys early in the game. We gained some confidence. With the number of guys we’ve had to play because of injuries, they’ve understood the preparation and the level with which you have to compete at. Some of our young guys are starting to get better. On offense and defense, all of the young guys should play. We’re still growing because there were still some mistakes in that win.
- Our defense was very aggressive. Mike Elko did an excellent job of dialing up pressures, and we were able to get home. You have to be able to affect the quarterback. We played the run well, especially early. Our guys in the secondary did a great job in coverage. We were phenomenal in the red zone, tight zone. We had a great pick by Demani Richardson in the endzone. Late in the game, we didn’t play as clean as we did early. The critical two-minute stop to get a three-and-out to give us three minutes on the clock was huge. Learning to play the critical moments is huge.
- When they hit momentum, we were able to match and go back and forth.
- Offensively, we did a great job up front. We had two true freshmen playing and Blake Trainor playing in a different spot. To not give up a sack against them was great. Our backs and tight ends did a great job in the chipping game. The running game, even though the numbers weren’t outstanding, we were able to run the ball in the situations we really needed to. Devon Achane and Isaiah Spiller were terrific in the game, running, blocking and catching. Jalen Wydermyer was excellent. We could’ve hit him a couple of times. He’s playing better and better. Our receivers did a good job. Ainias Smith caught two touchdowns. Jalen Preston and Demond Demas were good in the game. Getting Chase Lane back healthy was good in the game.
- Zach Calzada played better. He started hot. He did an excellent job of keeping his eyes up. He played with great toughness. He got banged and bruised but continued to get up off the mat. When you’re a quarterback, you get all the glory and all the blame. Right now, he’s getting all the glory, and it’s not true. You have to block it out.
- We can’t have a blocked punt. To give that up and win a game, the odds are around 13-15 percent. We have to understand why it happened and correct it.
- Give Achane a chance to return a kick, and he did it. We blocked it well. Give him grass, and he can run.
- Seth Small was critical in the game and hit that field goal at a critical moment.
- This game is over, and I’m tired of talking about it. Missouri is a tough place to play, and they’re an outstanding opponent. You have to get going for an 11 a.m. game. Nick Saban said it last week, and this is a trap game. You can’t live in the past. That’s over with. Today is all Missouri. We have to play well. We play one week, one game at a time. That will be our challenge and thought going forward.
- Everybody wanted Antonio Johnson. Those wars now are relentless. You have to trust and believe. It’s just like a game. You can be up and make a mistake. It’s a competition. You have to help somebody understand what you can do for them on the field, off the field and in life after the ball. I think he made a great decision.
- The reason for success has to change. Decision making. Keep making choices the right way.
- No issues for Calzada. He should be playing today. Jahmir Johnson should be playing today.
- Here’s what I’m going to say: People heal differently. I’ve had guys who were supposed to be a four-month deal be a three-month deal. Haynes King’s is a significant deal. I would rather err on the side of preventing him from playing until he’s 100 percent. It’s going to be a significant time because that injury takes significant time to heal.
- I’m going to focus on the reason why we had success, just like when you focus on why you had failure. I have to look at why we did good or why we did bad. We’re teachers and have to educate guys on why they did it and to keep going. We’re not going to walk around with our chest out because we beat Alabama. We’re going to understand why we did it so we can do it against everyone else on our schedule.
- We’ve been analytic for as long as football has been around. We look where our opponents are strong and weak. All of those things are taken into consideration when you call plays and draw up a game plan.
- It doesn’t matter if you play Bryan High School, College Station or Alabama. How you play and prepare is what matters. That’s what I mean when I say your opponent is faceless. Our standard with how we have to do things. The world can say you’re favored by 90, they should win, or they’re underdogs by 20, they should lose. That does not matter.
- Missouri provides different pressures. Eli Drinkwitz does a great job in his running schemes. He’s a great trick-play guy. They’re dynamic on offense and physical on defense. They play very good at home. Their special teams are good. They’re a good football team. They could be sitting at 5-1 but are instead 3-3.
- If they quit reading y’all, turn social media off and started listening to me, it would be much easier. Eliminating the clutter. It takes maturity, leadership and trust. That’s the hard part when you work with kids and even grown-ups. It’s your standard based on nothing else.
- Not having three-and-outs are critical because even if you don’t score points, it puts your defense in a great situation. When you do those things, you reward yourself more often than not. When you do the right things, you’ll get the results you want more often than not. The reasons for those successes and why you have success don’t really change. At the end of the day, you’ll be rewarded for doing the right things. Don’t go three-and-out. Force three-and-outs. Win the field position battle.
- I would’ve liked to get the young players in when I wanted to rather than when I had to. But it’s paying off.
- Kenyon Green understands the game conceptually. When I call a play, he understands what everyone is supposed to do. He understands what’s going on within the play, and that allows him to move from position to position. He’s not memorizing. He understands conceptually. He sees the big picture. He understands what he has to do across the board. He is one of the most selfless, great players I have ever been around. He will do whatever he needs to help the team win. I think he’s a tackle because of his arms, length and strength. People are going to see him as different things. You can’t find offensive linemen that can play two or three positions. His value goes through the roof.
- For Bryce Foster and Reuben Fatheree to have success in this league is unbelievable. We’ve put them in situations we’ve had to, and they’ve been mentally and physically tough. It has been amazing. Absolutely amazing. A lot of respect for those guys. It’s tough.
- Get Congress to take social media away. I think it’s the damnation of everything. I understand its value, but it hurts the players’ mental health. It matters what people say about you, but you have to eliminate it. The only answer I know is to live in a cacoon. I’ve never had any social media. Nothing. I can’t even turn a computer on. I read emails, but I don’t send emails. I get texts.
- They said before the game that we couldn’t clap. They weren’t clapping in their cadence. They were using guard taps. I’ve never had someone tell me we can’t clap before the game. Demani was trying to get somebody’s attention because it was loud. I didn’t get it. They couldn’t hear that up there. I’m going to try and get that cleared up. The chop signal wasn’t clapping. That ain’t clapping. We’ll find out.
- Turnovers and big plays are as big on the outcome of games as there are, period. Turnovers affect the outcome of the game greater than anything. We hit big plays, but they hit their’s. We hit a lot of them. We minimized the damage in the red zone and held them to field goals. Turnovers, man. We have to get more of them.
