October 28, 2002
Selected audio clips of Texas A&M coaches and players, along with quotes from Head Coach R.C. Slocum, from Monday's weekly media luncheon at Cain Hall:
Have you given up on winning the Big 12 South?
"No. We wouldn't officially give up on it until it's officially done. There have been stranger things happen. We're honest with ourselves. We're not front runners. Obviously it's a remote possibility, but it is theoretically possible. It's still there, but that's not why you play the games. We've got a lot more than that to be motivated for. We've got bowls, we've got pride in just playing Big 12 Conference games. There's a whole lot to play for. We use that and the fact that a whole lot of things could happen in the conference race. You don't know all is going to happen; no one does. We just have to keep playing."
What did the (Nebraska) tape breakdown look like?
"It looked like we did some good things sometimes. We made some big plays in the game. We had a chance right down to the end of the game. I thought the last drive, taking the ball right down the field was good. We didn't play very well defensively from an assignment standpoint. We had some errors. I felt like they were more physical than our defense. They were able to control the ball. Our effort was pretty good. I didn't see any lack of effort. But sometimes when things start going awry, everybody starts trying to help everybody instead of taking care of his own responsibility. I thought we had some that. We had some assigment breakdowns that were not for lack of effort or intensity, just not being as disciplined in terms of playing like you have to against an option offense."
If you don't play an option offense in a while, it can sneak up on you. Is that what happened?
"Maybe so. We've always taken some pride in being pretty good at doing that and this game did not look like we normally look. At times it did. But we would have like for it to have been a whole lot more than it was. I was particularily disappointed that the quarterback was able to run like he did. Over the years we've seen a lot of wishbone, a lot of option, so we feel like we have pretty good knowledge on what to do against that but you still have to get it done on the field."
Did Ty Warren's absence hurt the team?
"Anytime you talk about being good at something, you need to have some difference-makers. You're not going to have all difference-makers, but every team, if you're going to be good, needs some difference-makers. When you look at our defense, Ty Warren is one of those guys. He's arguably the best defensive player we have. He's capable of making some difference-maker plays. Missing him no doubt hurt our team, just as the fact that Marcus Jasmin missed several days of practice last week and the fact that Sammy Davis missed practice last week, Jaxson Appel missed practice, those things take away your overall polish. You're not quite as you might be if you had everyone out there."
You've had some success against Oklahoma State in Stillwater...
"It's been hard. Every time we've been up there, it's been hard."
Can you talk about the game on Saturday, going up to Stillwater...
"I've always seen them as a team that has athletes. They've always had some athletic receivers, DBs, linebackers. They've always been a team that plays us well and played other team really well. I think last year that they were a team that got better throughout the year. We beat them early, but as the season went on they got better and finished the season off by beating Oklahoma in Norman. Coming back to this season, I think they've gotten better every week. It will be another Big 12 game. They have excellent receivers, they've got a fast tailback, got a physical defense.
"I remember the Halloween night game was a thriller (1998). They broke a run and Rich Coady ran the guy (Nathan Simmons) down from behind and we held them to a field goal. Then they kicked off to us and Chris Taylor ran that kick back 60 or 70 yards (actually 84 yards). We made a couple of plays there but it was one of those that you never relax until it was over. We've had a bunch of those, up there and down here really."