Quotes, Notes & Video: Texas A&M 58, Arkansas 10

Head Coach Kevin Sumlin

On the keys to today’s win...

"We had tremendous focus this week and great senior leadership. They led us and I'm really happy for them as a group.”

On Johnny Manziel and the overall score...

"Johnny needs to continue to develop as a player. For the most part he is making strides every week. He threw some good balls and created some offense on his own. He continues to get better as we get a feel for him as coaches and he gets a feel for us. It goes back to our seniors. Older guys really led the way."

On the Aggies’ first SEC win...

"We got the money off our back today. These guys were determined all week to play. Our players and coaching staff did a nice job. Execution is the key anytime you win a game in that fashion and we took care of the ball on offense. We are getting great effort out of our guys."

On Ben Malena...

"We have three running backs, all three are going to play. Ben has been playing very well. There is great competition at that position and when you get in there you have to do your job. All three are playing well and we are going to need them throughout the season. They need each other, there is a long way to go and we will need all three of them."

On Manziel's performance...

"He is a different guy in the fact that he is such a good athlete. His ability to create offense is what makes him different. Our receivers are getting a feel for him and he continues to progress as a quarterback not just a guy who is out there. For the fourth straight week he has done a really good job taking care of the football."

On the program’s capability...

"We have got to continue to improve. It’s not about the opponent, it’s about us. How we can get better, how we can eliminate mistakes, and become a smarter team. Our guys are listening and trying to do what we ask. We are capable of a lot, and confidence is a big part of that. Walking off after Florida was a bad feeling, but Monday we looked at film and saw how we could get better."

Offensive Coordinator Kliff Kingsbury

On Manziel’s performance...

“I felt like it was the best game he has played in the pocket. He still got out the same when it wasn’t there, but he really studied the film all week and knew the game plan. It was nice to see him be confident in his throws and be accurate.”

On the rushing game...

“I thought the O-Line just kept pounding. They are a group that wanted to get six or seven guys in the box so we knew that it would be up to the O-Line to create some holes because we knew we wouldn’t have good numbers in that deal. They kept leaning on them, kept pounding and I think they did a great job creating holes for those backs.”

On defeating Arkansas...

“I think they’ve had a tough stretch, obviously. I thought they played hard. It wasn’t a lack of effort. They just had some tough breaks. They were preseason top 10 for a reason. I’m sure they’re going to turn it around.”

On Manziel’s improvisation...

 “He’s done it a long time. He feels comfortable doing it. You don’t want him to get hit but he’s been pretty conservative with the football when he does make those plays, so it’s not either get rid of the football or get it out of his hands and not take a sack. Like I said, I thought improvisation was down a lot this week, which is good. He made a bunch of throws from the pocket when it was there so hopefully we can keep progressing that way. You don’t want him taking shots. It comes with the territory.”

Junior RB Ben Malena

On quarterback Johnny Manziel...

“When you’ve got a quarterback like Johnny, you’ve got to stay on your toes. He does a great job of extending the play, but he also does a great job of running the offense and setting the tempo for us.”

On what went right today...

“The offensive line is doing an excellent job for us. When you’ve got an offensive line like that, all you have to do is follow your keys and stay behind them.”

On beating Arkansas...

“It was just the mindset. This win was for the seniors. Since I’ve been a part of this program, we haven’t beat Arkansas. The seniors hadn’t beat Arkansas so we really came in with something to prove and we really just wanted to get this win for the seniors.”

Senior WR Ryan Swope

On the 80 yard touchdown...

"That was a double move and a great call by Coach Kingsbury, I knew it was my time. Johnny made a great pass. The line gave great protection. It really got us moving."

On meshing with Manziel...

"It really reflected the way we practiced this week. Johnny had a great week of practice. I tip my hat to these coaches who are pushing us in practice."

On the Arkansas defense...

"They were a good defense, I feel like we executed really well today. There is always room for improvement. We will take this win but have to get better."

On Manziel’s performance...

"He did some special things for us today. He is really positive on the field and has a competitive nature. We need to keep practicing hard, are going to really need him."

"It’s really big and will give us confidence going into next week. We need to look at film and keep moving forward."

Senior OL Patrick Lewis

On the game’s importance...

“This game was really important. The last three years we haven't fared to well against Arkansas, so it was important. We really wanted to prove a point, get our first SEC win, and beat Arkansas with something we haven't done in the past."

On giving Manziel time...

“Communication was a big factor. It was something that we have been lacking in the past weeks so we put a big emphasis on it. The more we communicate the better we play. We had a lot of communication today and that was a big part of our success."

On Manziel's running...

“The longer you play with him you start to see that every day. When there is nothing else to make a play with he will make a play with his feet. He is a special football player. He is like the kid in the neighborhood that no one can stop, nobody run with him, nobody can jump with him, catch or throw with him. He is just that special player for this offense."

Junior DL Damontre Moore

On the play against Knile Davis before the fumble...

“It happened so fast. I got back there and thought I should have had a TFL but I let him slip out and he bounced out to the right. I was so determined, since I missed that tackle, that I needed to go back and make something happen and be a 'difference maker.' Our coaches preach about how we need to be difference makers and get our turnover margins up. I saw the perfect opportunity. They already had some fumble issues earlier in the game and he didn’t see me. I came from behind and just punched the ball out.”

On the feeling after winning against Arkansas...

“Right now, I’m speechless. I’m excited and overwhelmed. Everybody was overwhelmed. It felt like the Nebraska or Oklahoma games all over again because we all came into the locker room, whooping and hollering, splashing Gatorade all over the place. The seniors are in the middle and everybody is just coming close together. It just felt like a big relief. Coach has been telling us that stuff like this can happen anytime if we put our minds to it and we just stick to the scheme. Just to see it all come in to play and work out like the coaches said, everybody is overwhelmed.

"This is a great field win, especially for some of these seniors that I’m pretty sure were crying, though I can’t remember exactly. Everybody’s excited because the last three years, they’ve been beating us. The past two years, we’ve been up and they came back at half time and beat us. Just to get this win for all these seniors that have been through the Arkansas rivalry, it was an overwhelming experience.”

On not getting a sack this game...

“When the coaches took us out, I was a little sad because I was so close. We had been telling them about the holding and getting there just a half second late. We talked about all this. When I thought about it when he took me out, I thought, 'Oh, I didn’t get my sack today.' At the same time, it plays a factor in the maturity thing. I don’t care about the sacks. The coaches put me in the best position that’s possible. Me doing my scheme and the other players doing what they do allows me to get one-on-one match-ups or free releases to get the sack.

"I’m happy I get them, but I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about what I can do. If I do my assignment right and I just hold them and one of the other guys gets the sack, I’m just as happy because it’s not about me, it’s about the team. It’s about getting the win. It’s selfishness like that, when you’re worried about the sack. At the end of the day, you wouldn’t be happy about the sack if you come up with a loss.”

Senior LB Jonathan Stewart

On what adjustments the team made at the half...

“Really, we didn’t make any big adjustments in the second half. It was just guys keeping to the gap and taking it in. Just doing what we need to do.”

On this game compared to last year...

“We didn’t even really mention last year at halftime. We knew that in that locker room, probably they were like ‘OK last year, we were down by 17 or 18 and we can come back’. Defensively if we stop them, their offense is going to stop fighting. They’re going to start giving up and that’s what we want them to do.”

On causing turnovers...

“Getting turnovers has been our focus all season long. We didn’t get very many in the first three games, but today we made them. We still missed too many opportunities. There are still more opportunities. We’re not happy with how many turnovers we got today – three – because we left opportunities right there on the table and in a close game, we have to make them if we’re going to win those games.”

Senior LB Sean Porter

On beating Arkansas...

“This felt good for our seniors. We had to beat them. This was our first time ever beating them. It was a rainy day at Kyle Field — football weather. Arkansas came here and we got them finally. I’m just proud of all of the guys and I think we played good defense today.”

On Manziel’s performance...

“That reminded me of high school. I played against Johnny in high school and he put up ridiculous numbers like that every week. I was like, ‘Man, I can’t believe he’s doing the same thing in high school.’ It was a flashback today.”

Senior DB Steven Terrell

On creating turnovers...

“This whole week we have emphasized turnovers. As great as our offense is if we get any turn overs, they want to turn it into points. All we've been working on is trying to get turn overs and luckily we finally got some this week."

On Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson...

"With their offense we knew they were going to do a lot of short underneath routes, so the biggest thing was not giving up the deep ball and making sure he is not getting behind us. I really don't think he had that many deep passes, overall we did a pretty good job containing him."

On his two interceptions...

"The first on they had been getting us on the curl route so I just sat in the zone and he threw it right to me. On the second one they had been setting us up and I knew it was coming eventually so I acted like I wasn't coming for it and he threw it right to me again."

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Postgame notes

* Today's 58-10 victory over Arkansas marked the first-ever Southeastern Conference win for Texas A&M.

* It is the third-straight victory for the Aggies, who improved to 3-1.

* In just his fourth game, redshirt freshman QB Johnny Manziel broke school records for passing yards and total offense with a huge day against the Hogs. Manziel finished with 453 passing yards and three TDs on 29-of-38 attempts. Coupled with his 104 rushing yards, Manziel generated a whopping 557 total yards. The previous records were 449 passing yards by Ryan Tannehill vs. Texas Tech in 2010 and 487 total offense by Jerrod Johnson vs. Kansas State in 2008.

* Manziel's 557 total yards also broke the old SEC record of 540 by Archie Manning of Ole Miss vs. Alabama in 1969 and Rohan Davey of LSU vs. Alabama in 2001. The NCAA freshman record for total offense is 582 by David Neill of Nevada vs. New Mexico State in 1998.

* Manziel also continues to get the Aggies into the endzone. He entered the game ranked No. 2 nationally in Points Responsible For and he had four more touchdowns today against the Razorbacks. For the season, Manziel has produced 16 touchdowns — 10 passing and six rushing.

* Manziel is the first Aggie QB with two 100-yard rushing games in a season since Stephen McGee had four in 2007. He's the first freshman to log two century games in season since Bucky Richarson had two in 1987.

* Through the first four games (all starts) of his career, Manziel has attempted 124 passes without an interception. The last QB to do this was Bucky Richardson, who made five starts as a true freshman without an interception for the season.

* The 58 points scored by the Aggies is the most they've ever scored in the 69-game series between Texas A&M and Arkansas. The previous high scoring game was 42 points in a 42-13 win in College Station in 1950.

* It was the most points by the Aggies against any conference foe since last year's 61-7 win over Kansas.

* The Aggies generated 716 total yards, which is the third-highest output in program history behind the 774 vs. Louisiana-Lafayette in 1990 and 719 vs. Baylor in 2003. It was A&M's sixth 700 total offense effort in its history.

* A&M's 498 passing yards were a team record, breaking the old mark of 449 vs. Texas Tech in 2010 (Ryan Tannehill's first-ever start).

* Senior preseason All-SEC WR Ryan Swope had his first 100-yard game of the season with 141 yards and a touchdown on five catches. It was Swope's 10th career game with 100 or more receiving yards, a school record. Swope was tied with all-time leading receiver Jeff Fuller at nine. The Aggies are 8-2 in Swope's 100-yard games.

* Two Aggie receivers had 100-yard receiving games in a same contest for the first time since Swope and Jeff Fuller did it against Northwestern in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas in 2011. Swope had a team-high 141 yards on five catches, while freshman Thomas Johnson had five catches for 108 yards. It was Johnson's first 100-yard game of his career.

* Texas A&M was one of just seven teams in NCAA FBS without a recovered fumble for the season, but that all changed when junior DE Damontre Moore forced a Knile Davis fumble and junior CB Tramain Jacobs returned it 24 yards for a touchdown. It was A&M's first fumble return for a score since DL Paul Freeney returned one 58 yards for a score against Army in 2008.

* Senior safety Steven Terrell had two pickoffs for the second time in his career. He also had a two-interception game against Kanas in 2011. In his last seven games, all starts, Terrell has grabbed four pickoffs.

* It was another big game from junior DE Damontre Moore, who filled the stat sheet with five tackles, including 2.5 for loss of yardage with a forced fumble and a QB pressure.

* Junior safety Toney Hurd Jr. had a game-high and career-high 12 tackles against Arkansas.

* Punter Ryan Epperson averaged 42.3 yards on three punts, and deposited two boots inside the Arkansas 20. He now has eight coffin corner kicks in 17 tries this season.

* The Aggies posted their three longest offensive plays of 2012 against the Hogs — an 80-yard TD catch and run by Swope, a 58-yard catch by Johnson and a 52-yard run by Manziel. Coming into today's game, A&M's long offensive play was a 50-yard TD run by Ben Malena vs. South Carolina State.

* The Aggies scored 17 points off three takeaways against Arkansas. For the season, A&M has scored after every takeaway with four TDs and a field goal on five takeaways.

* Aggies scored 20 points in the second quarter and have now outscored opponents 89-3 in the second stanza.

* Game captains for the Aggies were: senior center PATRICK LEWIS, senior safety STEVEN TERRELL, senior linebacker SEAN PORTER and senior wide receiver RYAN SWOPE. Arkansas won the toss and deferred to the second half. A&M received and defended the north goal.

* Making his 2012 debut at 12th Man is defensive back C.J. JONES, a senior from Klein Forest HS in Houston. A veteran 12th Man, it will be Jones' 13 career starting assignment.