On the victory in Tuscaloosa, game planning and more

Notes from Jackie Sherrill Q&A

* He believes that last Satuday’s win was the greatest in A&M football history. A&M was able to establish their credibility to the entire nation which was a very big deal. What A&M does the next two weeks is extremely important because staying on that level is the next step to program success.

* Everybody enjoyed beating the number one team in the country, but unfortunately, the Alabama game wasn’t the last game of the season. A&M can’t control any of the other teams above them right now, so the main focus has to be on taking care of business against Sam Houston State. Playing a team like SHSU won’t help in the computer rankings because of the way their formulas work. There is no way a team will be able to play with the same emotion against SHSU as they did against Alabama. Because of that, the players must rely on themselves and the leadership of the team to get out of the game with a victory.

* The first player that really caught his attention was Spencer Nealy. Nealy spent the entire afternoon going up against Barrett Jones, who will certainly be an All-American when the season is finished. By getting into the backfield often, Nealy was able to catch the attention of people throughout the day. When the score flashed on televisions around the country, everyone who could switched over to watch the upset.

* Deshazor Everett’s interception in the fourth quarter will be remembered 30 years from now as the play everyone remembers from that game. As well as A&M played offensively, that play was the one that won the game. Alabama had a chance to win the game, and someone was going to make a play to seal the victory. Fortunately for A&M, the player that won the game was wearing all white.

* Johnny Manziel deserves to go to New York for the Heisman trophy presentation. He has two games left before the Heisman is decided which are very important because the expectations to win are already there. If he doesn’t meet the expectations, then he is going backwards. Manziel is a kid who doesn’t know anything different at the game college level and just goes out and plays the game for fun every Saturday.

* The game plan by the A&M coaches was phenomenal. On the first interception, the defense lined up in cover-two and dropped one safety down and rolled the other back when the ball was snapped. The throw was a misread by A.J. McCarron, and Howard Matthews was able to come up with the hit to extend the play. The players deserve a lot of credit for executing the game plan. The A&M offense forced the Alabama defense to make plays, and ultimately got the best of the Crimson Tide.

* Ever since Ryan Swope made the game winning catch against Ole Miss, his emotions have been out for the world to see. Sumlin has given the players more than just X’s and O’s, and that has shone through on the field this season.