Quotes, Notes & Video: Texas A&M 63, Auburn 21

Head Coach Kevin Sumlin

On the importance of a road win...

"Anytime you're on the road, that's important. I think coming off last week, which was really taxing for us physically and mentally, to come out and play with that kind of energy and excitement on the road is extremely important. We wanted to have some success early. We talked about it all week as a team---offensively and defensively, be good on special teams pretty early in the ballgame. Whenever you get on the road, that really helps your chances of winning."

On the three running backs getting involved...

"We were able to get those guys going. Ben [Malena] has been steady through the whole year. It's probably [Christine Michael's] best game this year. He was extremely effective. It was good to see Trey [Williams] do a lot of work tonight. He's been patient, and he's done a good job on kickoff returns for us. He's really been coming along in the playbook learning what he's supposed to do, and the guys put in that kind of work. As I said at the beginning of the year, we're going to need all three of them to go down through this stretch, and they all three were productive tonight."

On keeping momentum following a fast start...

"You hope there's no lull. Your people make adjustments, you adjust. I think the ability to be consistent is important. I think the big difference between us tonight and the last couple of weeks is we took care of the football. When you do that, and you're moving the chains and not giving the ball to the other team and turning it over, that's how you have this kind of success and you're able to score like that. We've put a big emphasis on that at the beginning of the year, but like I said, penalties and turnovers the past couple of weeks have been a thorn in our side, but tonight we were pretty good at that."

On coming back to the state where he was born to coach...

"We had a lot of people here. Anytime you win in this league, it's good, but it's always good when you have a bunch of family and friends around."

"We said we wanted to be 1-0 at the end of this week, and then we will reset that and enjoy this for 24 hours, then we'll say the same thing next Monday. We want to be 1-0. We can't get past anybody. We're new to this league, we're in new environments playing different teams and we really have to stay focused one week at a time. As I said, we're getting great leadership out of the seniors right now. Coaches do so much, but during the week, players have to stay focused and these guys are doing a great job."

Senior WR Ryan Swope

On key to their quick start...

"I think what it really comes down to is our preparation. We practice all week, and coach emphasized we have to come out and start the ball game with tempo. We did that. We took the ball down the first drive and scored. From there on out, we were rolling. The offensive line did a great job tonight of giving (quarterback) Johnny (Manziel) protection. Johnny was really spinning the ball great tonight and did some good things on his feet. Just a great overall performance tonight."

On consistent scoring on opening possession...

"That's one of our main things we come out to do, to set the tempo and score in the first drive. We take pride in that, so we are going to try to keep doing that as much as possible. Coach has really emphasized just to set the tempo of the game. We've done really well the past couple of games of doing that."

Importance of the game being the first of a series of road games...

"It's very important. It gives us a lot of confidence. We'll enjoy the win and get back to work this next week."

On what it's like to play when the offense is clicking...

"When everything is clicking, and everything's working, it's a lot of fun to be a part of. It's hard to stop at the speed that we go at. We left a few plays on the field that I think that we can get better. It's a scary thing, but we'll take a look at the film. We'll build on that and be real critical, but we're excited about tonight. We did some good things out there."

On whether Johnny Manziel's performance is surprising anymore...

"He's just one of those kids that can go out there and perform at a high level. He makes plays on his feet that I've never seen some quarterbacks do. It's just something really special that he has. He's getting better and better. He's just got to keep focusing during the week, the preparation. You've got to keep practicing hard, can't get complacent. The rest will take care of itself. Overall, he had a good game tonight. His leadership really stood out to me tonight."

Junior DL Damontre Moore

On defensive impact early in the game...

"We just really executed what we had practiced and what we had been taught. We played hard from the first snap and things just fell our way."

On crowd noise...

"We got up early and that crowd really started to get quiet; the fans were starting to leave."

On TAMU QB Johnny Manziel...

"I don't want to say I'm surprised, he's a great play-maker. Every week he does something; never ceases to amaze me."

On good start of three-week road trip...

"Every week is a new week. It's nice to get this win, but now we've got to just get ready for next week."

Senior LB Jonathan Stewart

On being a defensive player in the league...

"It's great. It's a lot easier because it's predictable. On our offense, when they keep scoring like that, we know that their offense, they have to put points on the board. They are going to have to score quickly, because our offense every time they're out there they're scoring in five or six plays, so it makes it a lot easier."

On taking the crowd out of the game...

"It's great. Their fans were rocking at the beginning of the game. Our offense went down and scored, and then we stopped them. I think in the first quarter they had three series that were all three and outs. Defensively we came out fast. We're playing great and the offense is playing fast."

On setting the tone for the upcoming stretch...

"It was important, but we don't play attention to the stretch, we paid attention to this one week. We have the 24-hour rule. We'll enjoy this win for the plane ride back, and when we wake up in the morning we'll get ready for a very good Mississippi State team."

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Post-game notes

* With the win the Aggies improved to 6-2 and became bowl-eligible for the fourth straight year. In attendance at today’s game were the Capital One Bowl and the Gator Bowl.

* The Aggies are 4-0 in games away from Kyle Field, and first-year A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin has won 10 straight game away from his home field -- four at Texas A&M in 2012 and six at the University of Houston in 2011.

* The Aggies improved to 3-0 against Auburn.

* Tonight’s win was A&M’s second-ever game and first-ever victory in the state of Alabama.

* The 63 points by the Aggies were the most points ever scored against Auburn at home in program history.

* The 63 points were the third-most points ever scored against Auburn behind the 68 points by Georgia Tech in 1882 and 64 points by North Carolina in 1917, both at neutral sites.

* The 671 total yards gained by the Aggies were the most allowed by Auburn since records began being kept in 1967. The previous high output allowed was 625 by Florida in 1996.

* The 42-point margin of victory by the Aggies tied for the second-highest against Auburn by a SEC school.

* It was the Aggies’ fourth game with 600 or more total yards in 2012.

* The crowd of 85,119 at Jordan-Hare Stadium mark marked the sixth largest road crowd for the Aggies in school history.

* True freshman RB Trey Williams logged the first 100-yard rushing game of his A&M career with 109 yards on 19 carries. He had 178 all-purpose yards.

* The two-yard TD pass late in the fourth quarter from Jameill Showers to Malcome Kennedy marked the first TD for both players.

* The Aggies scored a touchdown with their opening drive for the fifth straight game. Against Auburn, the Aggies drove 70 yards in nine plays (3:42 time of possesion), culiminating with a 16-yard TD catch by Ryan Swope from Johnny Manziel.

* A&M scored first for the 13th straight game dating back to 2011.

* A&M scored 28 points before allowing an Auburn first down.

* The Aggies have lost the coin toss in six straight games, and in seven of eight games in 2012. A&M has received the opening kickoff in every game in 2012 since the Aggies elected to receive in the one game (SMU) that they won the toss.

* Redshirt freshman QB Johnny Manziel was dazzling against Auburn with 350 total yards in just over two quarters of action. Manziel accounted for five touchdowns as he passed for 260 yards and two TDs and rushed for 90 yards and three scores. He had scoring runs of 6 yards, 2 yards and 20 yards, and threw 16- and 19-yard TDs (both to Ryan Swope).

* With his 260 passing yards and 350 total yards against Auburn, Manziel surpassed the 2,000-yard plateau in season passing yards and the 3,000-yard level in total yards. He is the 15th 2,000 yard passer in school history and the fifth QB to surpass 3,000 total yards in a season. He joins Jerrod Johnson (4,085 in 2009), Ryan Tannehill (4,050 in 2011, Reggie McNeal (3,509 in 2004) and Stephen McGee (3,210 in 2007) as the Aggie QBs over 3,000 yards in a season.

* Senior WR Ryan Swope had a strong game with six catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns. It was the 11th 100-yard game of his career, which is a school record. The Aggies are 9-2 in games when Swope has 100 or more receiving yards.

* He became the second Aggie receiver to reach the 20 TD plateau with the 20th and 21st receiving TDs of his career against Auburn. He trails only Jeff Fuller’s 34 scores on the Aggies’ career receiving TDs list.

* Game captains for the Aggies were: senior center Patrick Lewis, senior safety Steven Terrell, senior linebacker Sean Porter and senior wide receiver Ryan Swope. Auburn won the toss and deferred to the second half. A&M received and defended the south goal.

* Making his fourth 2012 start and 16th of his career at 12th Man was defensive back C.J. Jones, a senior from Klein Forest HS in Houston.