On dominance in Starkville, Manziel for Heisman, challenge at 'Bama

Notes from Jackie Sherrill interview

*The A&M offense really isn’t a straight line type of offense. You have to be able to move east and west in this system, and Christine Michael has been able to adapt to that as opposed to the beginning of the year when he was having some trouble. Mississippi State has a good defense, but he doesn’t know how much time they spend on open field tackling. Against a team that spreads it out like A&M, you have to be able to tackle in space. MSU missed a few tackles in the first half that put A&M in a position to score.

* He thinks Nick Saban said it the best when asked about practicing for Johnny Manziel when he said something to the effect of, ‘If I had a quarterback like that, I would be playing him.’  A player like Manziel doesn’t come around very often, and the fact that he is able to produce the way he does every week really shows his natural ability.

* Kevin Sumlin deserves a lot of credit for the success of this team so far. Sumlin has done a great job of keeping the players focused and will need to do so again in a very hostile Bryant-Denny Stadium. You have to do your best to get your players relaxed before going into a place like that. Sumlin has done a great job with the players mentally, and has nothing to lose against Alabama this week.

* The number one thing to watch this weekend will be to see how A&M’s defensive linemen react. Saban has built his football team with big, physical guys up front and it will come down to how many times can the players get off the mat after being punched in the mouth. Saban is going to try to find a way to break your will, no matter what. The second matchup will be how well the cornerbacks play against the Alabama receivers, and the third will be how well the team tackles against the Alabama offense.

* If Manziel plays well and A&M is able to win the game, he will be invited to New York for the Heisman ceremony. Just getting there would be an unbelievable accomplishment and Kevin Sumlin would deserve an awful lot of credit, too.