October 27, 1998
Do you think OSU will be extra motivated to win due to the circumstances of last season's game (28-25 comeback win for A&M in overtime)?
"I think they will be motivated because of several factors. They're coming off a big confidence building win over Oklahoma. They get us up there. We played an evening game last year and won it in overtime, so I'm sure there's some motivation there to replay the game. We're ranked in the nation and we're leading the South Zone, so there's a whole lot of motivation there. We know they will be ready, we don't have any doubt about that. One of the things that I told the team is that every week we can expect to get the other team's best shot. But as the season goes, our motivation should increase too. There should also be some effect on our part also, because we recognize more and more what is at stake here. We have to step up because our opposition will be stepped up. We can count on that."
Your team didn't get rattled even though you had some turnovers against Texas Tech (three in the first half)...
"That's been one of the most pleasing things. This team has demonstrated some maturity in being in some things where we had some pressure on us. Like the deal at Kansas, taking the ball down the field and scoring to win the game. Doing that and getting it done. On the sideline I've had a good feeling. I haven't seen any despair or panicing or any of those negative emotions that you sometimes have. We're getting good leadership and have a good nucleus of players that have played enough. We've really been good in that area so far."
You've run several gadget plays the past few weeks. Is it a matter of "the older you get, the bolder you get?"
"No. It's an interesting thing. I've always been in favor of trick plays and over the years we run a bunch of them. We ran the "swinging gate" a bunch of times and several different ways. Darren Lewis threw a bunch of halfback passes for touchdowns while he was here. We've run reverses. We ran the "Fumblerooski" against Houston. We were the last team to score with it before they outlawed it. So it's not like we have done those things. It's just we've had some success with them recently and made some big plays off them. If it was up to me, we'd have a couple of them each week. You say it is up to me (laughter), but you don't get all those plays taught and called. We had that fake punt on for several weeks before we were in the right situation to call it.
"Trick plays are fun and they're fun for the kids. And effective. A whole lot of football is reaction to what you've seen. Then all the sudden you've got something out there you haven't seen, particularily if it's designed to take advantage something you're doing, then it has a chance to be effective. (on when you decide to run the gadgets) "It's more of a feel. You go, 'This is a good time to do that.' And sometimes you're right and sometimes you're wrong. You do it sometimes and it blows up in your face. Last week we ran the naked quarterback keep right when they blitzed their weakside linebacker. If we had run it one play earlier or later it would have worked. But they got us."
Talk about the importance of passing efficiently against Oklahoma State...
"That's what we have to do. It will be a long day if we can't connect on some passing plays against Oklahoma State. They're going to play eight or nine guys right there in your face the whole day. They have more people than you can block. There's always someone running unblocked into your back."
Was last week's defensive performance the best the Wrecking Crew has play this season?
"That would be one of our best performances. I don't know another game that I could say we played better. Especially considering that we were playing a pretty good offensive team (Texas Tech). A team that had been putting up some pretty big numbers."
A&M is atop the Big 12 South. Is your team ready for a stretch run?
"What concerns me is that we're only halfway through the conference schedule. That's my biggest concern. It's way too early. We're only halfway through an eight-game conference schedule, so to me it's way too early to start worrying about anything except what we have to do this week. There are so many things that could happen. You can start to see some of it taking shape. There are clearly some teams that have put themselves for all practical purposes out of the race. But there are still a number of teams still in the race that have a chance to finish first and then others that still have a chance to effect the race."
If you can beat Oklahoma State this week, then A&M comes home for two straight games...
"This is a big game. We have to go on the road and play a tough team. I know as sure as I'm sitting here that it's going to be a tough ballgame. If you can come out of that then you feel better about coming home and having to play Missouri, which is a probable bowl team."
What is the injury status of running back Sirr Parker?
"I hope to get him back. Halfway through last Wednesday's practice, he pulled his hamstring. He went down right there in the drill. We treated it all the way to Saturday, hoping that he would be able to play. We had done a lot of preparation planning on using him against Tech. We went out during warmups to see if he could go even though he hadn't practiced since Wednesday. He went out and started out OK but he couldn't run a pass pattern. I'd say he is questionable for Oklahoma State." Cornerback Sedrick Curry hasn't played much, but he has contributed several big plays this season...
"Sedrick Curry is smart and he would be further along if it hadn't been for injuries. He was a guy that we were excited about coming into the season. But he got hurt and he's missed a bunch of time. He would have been much further along and we would have been much better in the secondary. We ended up having to play Jay Brooks as a redshirt freshman. He really wasn't ready to play, but we had no choice.
"We recruited him thinking he would be a safety or a corner. We started him off as a safety, but we were so thin at corner that we moved him out there and he's really done a good job.
"I think he's got a knack for big plays. He's smart. He knows where he's supposed to be in the coverage and he's got an awareness on the field. He's got good speed and good hands. He's a neat kid. He's one of those guys that goes quietly about his business. He's a pretty steady player."
Talk about the development of redshirt freshman inside linebacker Cornelius Anthony...
"He's a guy that last year was on the scout team, and you could tell from his attitude down there that he was going to be good player. He came out to practice every day and gave us great effort. This spring he was very motivated. He worked hard and was in a contest with Sean Coryatt, but really this summer I thought he widened the gap during the offseason program. He kept working hard this fall, and I think he's become a solid player."
The BCS ranks your schedule as one of the toughest in the nation. Are you proud of that?
"After all the talk over the last year or so, it's nice to not have to defend the schedule. I've said all along that even teams on our schedule like Southern Miss were good teams. Playing them over there (Hattiesburg, Miss.) is no cakewalk. That's one of the things I like about this rating system is that the computer goes through and analyzed just how good your opponents were. We've played some pretty good football teams."