November 21, 2005
Audio from Monday's football media luncheon is available through the links to the right. Files can be downloaded and are in MP3 format.
A transcript of Coach Dennis Franchione's press conference on Monday at the Bright Football Complex will be posted later.
The Aggies return to the field Friday against No. 2 Texas in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown. Kickoff from Kyle Field is set for 11 a.m. and the game will be televised nationally by ABC.
Coach Fran Media Luncheon Transcript
Is there an issue with (QB) Reggie's (McNeal) ankle?
"If there is, I wouldn't comment about it. And remember I said 'if' there is."
Speak to Texas's offense line and, (Defensive Coordinator) Carl (Torbush) talked a little bit about it, how it may be the best you have seen this year...
"I think it is the best. They are excellent run blockers, they've protected their quarterback very well. Somebody told me in the preseason they were picked as the best offensive line in the nation. I certainly haven't seen them all but I've seen a lot of tape this year and I believe they are the best we will face."
Back the middle of the season two years ago, what were your thoughts on where Jason Carter would be? He was kind of struggling with an "A" back position, and was initially moved to receiver full-time...what would you have thought he could have accomplished at this point and how impressed are you that he's come so far from there to now?
"You know, I think as coaches we believed that Jason could do this. And we were probably guilty of giving him too much too soon that first year, as you've heard me say. But over time once we slowed down and gave him time to digest everything and make the transition from quarterback to kind of a hybrid position like he's played, he's done a nice job of pick all up and making it work. He's going to close out his career having accomplished a great deal, when you consider all he's been through--to earn back his fourth year, and to change positions, and learn another position, and make the adjustments that he has."
And him becoming a team leader this year--did you see that in him when you first got here? Was it something you would have predicted would go into that?
"Jason's always been very committed and caring about his team, and I think he has always felt like he could speak up when he needed to. He's done a better job of it this year than ever before but I don't think he's ever held back on any of those issues."
Talk about the Texas offense. Where do you start in slowing it down?
"I don't know if there's one place. Vince Young is certainly the catalyst. The offensive line is certainly a huge part of it because they protect him so well and block for the run game so well. Every component that they have is good. There are no weaknesses in that offense. You know, the Oklahoma offense a couple of years ago, when Jason White was so good and everything, that's the only thing I can compare it to. You know, you couldn't get to Jason White that year either, and teams haven't been able to get to Vincent Young. When they do get there he has the uncanny ability to get the ball down and make something happen with his legs. You cannot focus on just one area of their offense. You've got to defend everything and that's what makes them difficult. That's why they're averaging 50 points a game."
Can you talk about Reggie (McNeal) and the type of footprint he's leaving on this program on his final couple of games?
"He's had a great career, He's broken a lot of records. He's set a nice standard for quarterback play. You know, he's going to be remembered as a very athletic passer that can beat you in a lot of different ways. He can make plays in a lot of different ways and he can spread the ball around to a lot of different people and mentally handle a great deal. Sometimes you have to end your career before people identify all those characteristics for you. That happens that way."
Is it fair to judge him on wins and losses? Obviously that's what you do at quarterback, judge them on games won...
"I think the fair judge of a quarterback is 'Does he move the chains?' He can't play defense. He doesn't play linebacker, he doesn't play defensive end, he doesn't play in the offensive line--he plays quarterback. And to me, the ultimate criteria for the quarterback is does he move the chains and get his team in the end zone. I think in that regard you have to give Reggie a pretty high passing grade."
Does he have a signature game to this point?
"Well, the Oklahoma game the year before I got here would certainly stick out without a doubt. The Oklahoma State game last year, I thought he had a fantastic game. He's had a lot of fantastic days. The thing that's hard to pick one game is that I think all of us have such high expectations of Reggie and we only talk about if he wasn't quite up to that expectation sometimes. He's had a lot of weeks that he's played very well and done everything that he could to put his team in a position to win, so what ends up happening sometimes for you guys and others is we talk about that game that he didn't maybe play up to that standard or didn't appear to play up to that standard."
It just seems like almost every week that he's played he gives you guys a chance...
"That's the kind of athlete he is, the kind of player that he is. You always have a chance with him because he can make plays in so many different ways. Every team that plays us knows that they have to contain him somehow and some teams have had some success. It hasn't always been because Reggie didn't do something, maybe it was because we needed to do something else to help him or somebody else needed to block better or something like that. He can beat with you his legs, (or) he can beat you with his arm. He is a guy that in my three years has taken pretty good care of the football, doesn't force it into a lot of bad situations or things like that. You have to admire him for that. Eight turnovers last year in 11 games is pretty hard to do."
When you say no matter what the situation is, Reggie gives you a chance to win because he can make plays this way and that, how optimistic can you be in a game of this magnitude, against a team that has national championship aspirations, if you don't have him?
"Well, sooner or later the keys to the car are going to be turned over to the new driver. And we're all excited about Stephen (McGee). He brings a different set of strengths to the table in some regards. But he's very knowledgeable. He's got a good arm. He runs well. He's a fiery competitor. He's intense. He's really enthusiastic right now. We'll be sitting here in three years asking and talking about these same kind of things with Stephen McGee that we're talking about now with Reggie. He's going to be an outstanding quarterback. Is he ready for this game? If he were sitting right here I think he'd tell you without any hesitation there's no doubt in his mind he's ready, and that I think is a strength of a young quarterback. He played against a pretty good football team last week and did some pretty good things. He's gotten some games under his belt and we all have to wait and see I guess."
One more thing about Reggie...as a coach, do you look back and wonder what could have been if you had got him as a redshirt freshman--and also, not having gotten him as a redshirt freshman, was it apparent the play he got or opportunities he got as a freshman benefited him in that sophomore year?
"Are you saying do I wish I could have seen him redshirted? Yes. Oh, yeah. I haven't spent a lot of days during the season but before the season started there were a number of times I thought if he had one more year that would really be something to see and be nice. I haven't thought much about it since the season started because that's gone away but it would have been nice to see that happen. What was the second part of your question? How the first year impacted the second year? I don't know for sure how to answer that. I mean, he had some game experience and confidence, but that's the only way I had him. I didn't have him any other way so I don't know how to compare that for sure, but I would think that that had to help him."
No matter what or how many years he played, he looks to be a consensus second round or third round pick in the NFL Draft coming up. What do you think are his best assets that will transfer into the NFL?
"No. 1, he's intelligent. He learns very quickly and very well. He can make adjustments. When the ball's snapped, he knows what's happening, he knows where his teammates are and he understands defenses and he sees the field very well. He's got a good vision. I've seen him a number of times be focused over here and at the last second go over here and hit somebody. I think his athleticism to take with him to the next level is a plus. Any time you have an athletic quarterback you go through the same questions, whether it's Reggie McNeal or Michael Vick or whoever it is. But this young man's a quarterback and I think he's got a great arm and I think his coach will appreciate how intelligent he is, how smart he is in learning something. It doesn't take him a long time, doesn't take him a lot of reps to learn. He learns very quickly. With Reggie, you could say we're going to read this pass high to low, going into the game, and you could get into the game and say 'Reggie, we don't want to read it this way, they've changed. We want to read it this way, and be sure to look at this.' He can do that and not every quarterback has that ability. Even as a senior, to be able to change up what he's had repetitions and practice like that...Reggie can do those things."
Turnover margin is a huge deal. You have a better turnover margin than Texas. Why hasn't that translated to...or is Texas a different team and it doesn't matter that much? How do you read that turnover margin and maybe why it hasn't translated into more victories?
"Statistically you can look and see their defense is ranked a lot higher than ours, and their offense is ranked higher than ours, too. It's not the only denominator in winning. There's other factors obviously. It is a denominator but not the only one."
How much will you remember this senior class?
"They are guys that have been through a lot, worked hard, have been good Aggies, have given great effort. They have a real spirit about them. There are some guys that have toiled a lot of days and hours to improve and get better."
I know this season's probably been a disappointment for them but how much have they taken ownership of the program? Is that something that you've seen them do?
"It is. They've done a good job of that. Our team voted for captains last week and we elected Johnny Jolly and Archie McDaniel as the captains of this team. I think they selected two good representatives that have walked the walk talked the talk and done everything they could this year. They've been good leaders."
After the OU game Red (Bryant) said he and Johnny Jolly were the guys that kind of got the defense to say "Hey, buck up" and all that. Johnny seems to be kind of an understated guy, kind of quiet or whatever, and I think his season has been understated. Has he put together a nice season overall and been over shadowed by some of the negative things?
"I think so. Johnny got off to a slower start maybe than he would have liked to have had but when he kicked it in he played very well and he had an awesome game last week. Johnny's had a nice senior year and probably has been a little more overshadowed than he needed to be."
Did he kind of kick it in at any particular point in time?
"Well, probably about the fourth game. That would have been the Baylor game. Somewhere in there, I think."
Particularly the OU game (Adrian) Peterson looked like he was about to break in the center of the field and it was Jolly who pulled him down from behind and made the play on that...
"Well, I recall the play you're talking about. Johnny made some plays in that game that shows his ability to make plays all over the field, not just tackle to tackle, and how hard he's played and how hard he's chased the football. Other people may have slowed him up but he got there and finished it. That's a tribute to Johnny and how his effort has been on every play."
I know you didn't coach Shane Lechler here but is that a name you dangled to Justin (Brantly)?
"I don't have to dangle that one. Justin knows Shane, and I think has maybe worked with Shane at one point in time. I think Justin is completely aware of that situation and how well he's done."
Coach I imagine you watched a lot football this weekend...
"Some. We had a recruit in. I got to watch some."
Some of the top teams were pushed...Miami lost, USC was in a battle. Can you take anything away from those kind of games and tell your team about them?
"Sure. I think everybody knows on rivalry weekend anything can happen but you know, the two games that jump out at you are the Georgia Tech and Fresno games. I stayed up to watch that game till 1 o'clock in the morning. I hadn't gotten to see USC play that much, and Fresno did a great job and a couple more plays in the right place they would have won the football game and had themselves in a situation to win that. Those are all things you talk to your team about at this point in time. We've heard a lot about the 1979 (A&M) team that was 5-5 and in a similar situation going into this game. Jacob Green spoke to our team last week and he was on that team and talked about that. So all those are good stories for us to hear right now."
I'm sure players, especially on the defensive side, have heard (defensive coordinator Carl) Torbush's name brought up in rumor mills. How tuned in do you think the players are to talk about that? Do you sense any type of rallying point where players are playing for a coach...they always want to play their best, but is that any factor you think?
"Our players?"
Yeah. Especially your defensive guys...
"Our guys enjoy playing for Torbush and respect him a great deal. I've heard very little dialogue about anything at this point in time."
Fran how would you describe this year so far? You're still one game out, but how would you describe this year and how it's gone?
"It's been a challenge."
Can any team with four sophomores or freshmen dominating an offensive line expect to be much better than what we've seen? Almost every team in the top 25 is dominated by juniors and seniors on the offense line in particular...
"I don't think there's any doubt there's a correlation between experience and success. As your research has told you, that is a youthful group. I don't know exactly what we're ranked in total offense right now, but we're well over 400 yards a game and we've had some outstanding days offensively. I think that group's done a pretty good job for themselves here in this year and it's really nice for us to sit and think that four out of the five starters will be back next year and they'll be juniors. Obviously one of them will be a redshirt sophomore next year. That's a comforting feeling knowing you've got that game experience coming back and they'll only be in their junior class next year."
Will linebacker be an off-season priority? Can you speak to that and how big an off-season priority it will be?
"It was a high one. Any time you have three senior linebackers you know it's going to have to be primary."
Would Devin Gregg end up playing linebacker all the time?
"I don't think so. Not Devin. There are sometimes DBs like Stephen (Hodge) that have moved in there, but Devin's probably not that kind of player."
The offensive line has nice group set up in the future. Was it at all disappointing, because you didn't get a lot out of Jami (Hightower) and Aldo (De La Garza) didn't play much second half this season or so, and those were experienced guys. Are you disappointed you didn't get more out of those guys to help the younger guys along?
"Well, I'm disappointed for them. I mean, not disappointed for us. We played the best players. We played the guys that played the best. It's always hard for them to be in that situation and have to take a step back and they've handled it very well. So I much more admire them in how they've handled it and more disappointed for them than anybody else."
The fact that it seems there's been a returning starter beat out pretty much every year you've been here, how much did that speak to maybe how far you need to get going on the offensive line to get it where you want it to be?
"I think we're in a nice stage there right now. Obviously we're youthful with this group, but Kirk Elder's going to have 20 games under his belt Friday. Chris Yoder's got quite a few games under his belt. Corey Clark has 12, 13 games under his belt. Yemi (Babalola) has a season behind him. From our standpoint, as well as they've played this year with the hope that they're going to continue to improve, we feel pretty good the about the direction of the offensive line."
How good would it be if no one was beat out next year...if someone is better, they are better, but if those guys can get experience and are good enough to keep those positions?
"That would show that they continued to improve, but I think if we can recruit well hopefully we're going to bring guys in that can push those guys. I don't think it's a negative that somebody comes in and plays better than the guy that was there. I think that's positive in a number of ways. Competition makes us all better and I think that's what we're striving for."
What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?
"Oh, I'm just thankful for my family, and the Aggie family, and our team, and the opportunity to be a part of great game on Friday, playing a game of such traditional magnitude as one like this, and to be doing something I enjoy doing."
John Ray's been the 12th man 22 times, which is a record. What's that say about what kind of player he is and how hard he's worked for you guys?
It says a lot about John. John's a devoted Aggie and takes great pride in that number, and we've had a hard time getting it away from him. He goes out every week and earns it back. He knows it's on a weekly basis and every week when we talk about who wears No. 12 he's won the award again. That's a tribute to John and what he's accomplished. He's worn it more weeks than anybody else so that's a pretty good honor."
What would a win on Friday do for this program?
"It would get us in a bowl and we'd have a winning season...we'd finish this year on a good note. It would be a good way to finish and certainly be a good step for us this year."
Does it also then change the outlook on maybe how this season ended as a whole?
"Well, I think it does to a degree. Everybody's got a different judgment on that. When you started out the year you guys remember me talking about we had five tough road games and they've proven to be five tough road games, and how we managed that was going to be important. If we can find a way to get the sixth win and everything I think that would be huge for us right now."