October 21, 2003
Coach Dennis Franchione and selected players met with members of the media on Tuesday at Cain Hall. The Aggies are preparing to host No. 18 Oklahoma State in a regionally-televised game on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Kyle Field. Click the links above to hear what selected coaches and players had to say.
Here is a partial transcript of comments made by Coach Fran during the news conference.
On Jamaar Taylor's knee injury...
"Jamaar Taylor's season is over due to a season-ending knee injury. It is unfortunate for him and for us. He got so close to the record (A&M career receiving yards) and wasn't able to get that 36 yards he needed. I'm grateful for what he's done for this program and for the team, and we'll certainly miss him."
Who will step up in Jamaar's absence?
"Tim Van Zant stepped in before when Jamaar tweaked his knee, so we'll kind of expect Tim to step in there again. Jason Carter is playing more receiver and getting better there, so I think depending on whether we have to move him or not, we can get a little more out of him."
On Cody Scates's condition...
"Cody Scates may be able to go this week. We'll just have to see how the week of preparation is. Jacob Young has stepped in and done a nice job. He did a nice job Saturday, had his longest punt of his career. I really have to pat him on his back for how well he's done in a relief role for us."
Is Jacob Young one of the biggest surprises of the season?
"He was an emergency call, and he prepared well over the summer, and came in and did a good job. He handled the pressure of his first college game, and has really responded well. You've got to admire his perseverance, and the way he's stood up to the test and handled it. There was a point when I said, 'Jacob, just catch it and get it off,' just being nervous that his first game he might not even catch it. He's come a long way, and he's a great lesson for a lot of people to learn-- perseverance and being ready when your opportunity comes."
How important is winning enough games to be bowl-eligible?
"You know, we haven't spent time talking about that, we're just trying to get number 4. Before you can get number 6, you have to get 4 and 5. I think that's a goal of every team when they start the season. I know if a clich? that you guys hate to hear sometimes, but we've just got to get W number four right now."
In general how would going to a bowl game help this young team?
"The one disparity that you have in college football, I think, is teams that get to go to a bowl, versus teams who don't. If we get to go to a bowl, I'm going to have about five extra days of spring ball. And I'm going to take those young kids every day and keep them a little extra, and start on spring practice. And when you're not one of those teams you lose that few days right there. I know the thought would never fly, but I've always been a proponent that if you didn't qualify, you ought to get two of three days extra practice, for parity reasons. But that's the biggest thing that a coach sees. You end up with a team a lot farther along when they go to spring practice."
How big was the bowl game during your first TCU season in terms of what happened the next two years?
"The fact that we got the extra practice was certainly a bonus. And then a major victory over a marquee team like USC was certainly a catalyst for the next spring and the next season, and so many things. That had been the first bowl victory in 40-some years. There was a lot of good that came out of that for us."
Are you at the point where you know how every player's going to react in every situation?
"Well, I don't think you ever quit learning about your players. I think it's a continual process, because some of them get better. Some of them get better as a season goes on. And we're in that stage still where we're continuing to learn about our players. But if this were year two, I'd still be learning too. You've got your young ones, and some freshmen playing. I watched Justin Warren some Saturday for instance, and he played pretty good, he made some nice plays Saturday. So you can just kind of see him improving here in game 7. And Ta Ta Thompson, and some of the other young players. You're seeing some things positive in that regard, and as you see them do positive things you learn we can nudge them along a little farther and do a little bit more."
How big a step forward did Jason Carter take this past weekend?
"It was a big step for Jason. He is a study of perseverance this season too. After the spring game, he came out with everybody thinking he was going to be a big part of everything. Probably what we had to do to make that happen was to cut back on the amount we wanted him to do so he could do more well*which is process of learning more about our players. And I think there for a while we had Jason doing probably too much and none of it was good and so we cut back and said focus on this and then we'll add to it, and so as a result, his part has been better and improved. We've been in some games here now where the game plan dictated Jason's role because he improved, and so we were able to enhance that."
Is there danger in scheming a defense for one guy like Oklahoma State's Rashaun Woods this Saturday?
"Well you can't scheme to Rashaun Woods, you wish you could. This is a little bit like playing Pittsburgh with (Larry) Fitzgerald and (Brandon) Miree and their quarterback (Rod Rutherford). If they didn't run the ball so well, you could maybe do some things. But its very difficult to scheme one receiver when their other receivers are pretty productive and when they're running the ball. This is the most balanced, toughest offenses we've had to face, at least since Pittsburgh, maybe even Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech was probably a little more heavy in the running game. They were that night when we played them. (OSU) has a quarterback playing well, and tailback playing well, and receiver playing well. But they're also playing well at tight end and other receiver positions. There's not an easy way to defense these guys-- they're a challenge."
How different is OSU's offense from what you would like to have here?
"Well, I'd like to have a couple of guys like Rashaun Woods to throw the ball to. It's similar. Their style is a little bit different. But the balance that they have, 200 some yards, 200 and some yards passing, you sit down and say how do we defend them? I know the defensive guys are struggling there saying 'ok, how do we defend this great receiver and how do we defend this great tailback, he took one 90 some yards against Tech the other day.' And that's what's really hard, and that's where we would like to be offensively, where they just can't say 'if we stop this,we stop them,' and you just can't do that with these guys."