Sept. 26, 2009
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A&M HEAD COACH Mike Sherman
Opening statement... "In preparation for UAB, and their quarterbacks and offense and defense, I thought they played hard and I take my hat off to them. We were able to hit some plays early. We got lucky in a couple of things, and unlucky in others. We had some mishaps in the kicking game again. We didn't field a pooch kickoff and turned the ball over right away. Obviously that's not the way we want to start a ballgame. And then we fumbled a punt. We definitely have to get that cleaned up. It could have certainly been a turning point in ballgame if hadn't been able to regroup and recover from that."
On the play of the defense... "We were 3-and-out the first time we had the ball on offense. We could have fallen behind 14-0, just based on field position. The fact that our defense only gave up field goals is a credit to them. I'm proud of them, and proud of the team as a whole. Our preparation this week was as good as we've had since I've been here. The guys have worked extremely hard this week. I told them before the game that just because you worked hard and had good preparation, it doesn't stop there. You have to go out and play now. Preparation prepares you to play a great ballgame. I thought in some cases we did and in some cases we didn't. But I was pleased with their effort. We had some pretty good tackles and we missed some on defense. With exception of the long run at the end I thought we contained their offense to some degree."
On the efficiency of the offense (12 straight third-down conversions)... "Well, I have to give Jerrod credit. He either gets it with his arm or his feet. He wasn't going to be denied keeping us on the field, and I think that's a credit to his competitiveness. I thought some receivers really stepped up. We talked to the guys about when you lose someone like Jamie McCoy did too and some others as well. I'm pleased with how the guys rose to the occasion and certainly third down was an occasion they all rose to. You don't score that many points if you can't stay on the field on third down."
On spreading out the catches to the receiving corps... "A great example, I met with Howard (Morrow) last week and I told him to just be patient. Just do that and keep working and the ball will come your way. And it did. He was one of our leading receivers tonight. We had nine or 10 catch balls in the offense. When you spread it out like that it's more difficult to defend. Sometimes Jerrod has forced a few balls to receivers, and tonight he really took the open receiver and made good decisions. I'm real impressed with his progress and development as he continues to grow a quarterback. This offense is structured where anyone can have a big day. The message that I try to send them is to keep working, and Howard is a good example. Last week he caught one pass for five yards and this week he had five for 71."
On the play of Jerrod Johnson... "I was impressed with his decision making and his competitiveness. He played within the system and didn't try to make something happen that wasn't there. I was real impressed with him."
SENIOR TE Jamie McCoy
On the game overall: "I think everybody knew that depth is a key part of our offense. The young guys stepped up and played tonight. I'm really proud of them."
SOPHOMORE QB/WR Ryan Tannehill
On big plays and taking opportunities: "There is always room for improvement. There were a few plays that I wanted to get back. You always look back and see things you could've done better. At the same time you've got to do what you can when you're out there."
On Johnson's performance: "Basically when a quarterback scrambles, you are supposed to find a hole and try to get open. It is his job to find them (receivers) and find a hole. Receivers have to find open space and trust that they'll (quarterbacks) get the ball to you and he (Johnson) did a great job tonight."
On Jamie McCoy performance: "I think it just shows togetherness as a team and that we did not skip a beat as a team. One guy steps out we all have to step up and get together as a team. You can't replace Jeff (Fuller) but with him out...we show that we can still function and move the ball as an offense."
SENIOR JACK Matt Featherston
On success: "Their front line was pretty good. We were more concerned about containing the quarterback. Joe Webb is pretty good. Our focus was to make plays on the run, rather than getting around those ground tackles."
On upcoming games: "Before the game started, Coach kept saying that this is the most important game of the weekend, let alone on our schedule. Now we can focus on Arkansas. The game plan comes Monday morning, no matter if it's a Big 12, Big 10, or SEC game. It's going to be a hard fought game up in Dallas."
SENIOR WR Howard Morrow
On the receivers performing as a group with Fuller being out: "We worked hard and with or without Jeff or with or without me. It's not one person that runs the whole scheme. We all learn and practice and look out for each other. There was a lot of doubt that we couldn't do stuff without Jeff (Fuller), but we just have to step up and I think we did."
On his performance in this game compared to games past: "It's time. I felt like it was a good time for me to step up. I felt that I had good week of preparation. It was time for me to go. There were no thoughts about anything else but playing this game."
JUNIOR QB Jerrod Johnson
On Fuller being out and Howard's performance: "Even with Jeff (Fuller) in, Howard is probably the biggest part of the receiving corps. He has to play several positions. When Jeff's out, Morrow has to fill in just about every place. He does just about everything. He is a real complete receiver. He has real sure hands. Anytime you got a guy out there that's tough, it's fun to watch. He's part of our offense with or without Fuller."
On big plays: "A lot of it had to do with the fact that they kept four guys deep the whole time. That is the beauty with the offense, there is always somewhere to go with the ball. At the same time, you take what the defense gives you. We did a good job taking shots. Coach says take what they give you and don't force stuff. I think it was a good overall effort but we just kind of took what they gave us. We worked at it all week and I think we did pretty well.
On Christine Michael being out: "I do what offense tells me to do. I practice reading defenses. Coach definitely told me to be more aggressive running the ball. Anytime there is an opportunity, I take it. I take what they give me and try to move the chains."
JUNIOR JACK Von Miller
On eight sacks through three games: "I hadn't really paid attention to it that much. It's the first three games and the teams we have played have been really good, but the teams we will play...they're going to be really tough teams. If we go up against some really tough teams and win, I might celebrate then, but until then, I'm just trying to get it done. Our defense is playing real good. Our safeties and corner backs are covering real well. I'm just concentrating on what we have now."
On upcoming games in regular season play: "The first three teams we played were really good, but Arkansas and Oklahoma State are even better. Arkansas has a really good offensive line. Russell Okung is really good. I'll be going up against him. Once we get into those games, we can gauge ourselves from how we play then."
On Eddie Brown's game: "We've got a lot of guys that are ready to step up. He had really good practices this week and last week too. It might have been a couple of inches that kept him from making plays last week. It really wasn't a surprise. He is a good athlete. He's got a motor on him. He's fast and he's strong. He has relentless effort in his pursuit. You can't hide talent. When Eddie's out there, he's going to make plays."
SOPHOMORE RB Cyrus Gray
"I knew this week there was a chance Christine Michael wouldn't play. Knowing that, I prepared mentally for a bigger workload than I've had this season. I knew I'd be okay because I have a lot of confidence in my o-line. We're excited to be 3-0 and we have a few hours to celebrate. Then it's back to the grindstone."
SENIOR SAFETY Jordan Pugh
"We had a long week of practice and we put in a tremendous amount of work. This week we had very physical practices. That helped us come out tonight and play a very physical ball game."
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN Michael Shumard
(on two new starters) "Coach Sherman does a great job of making sure we put the best product on the field. Regardless of who is playing or where, coach makes sure we're prepared to play. (on reducing penalities) Last week, we were called undisciplined because of all the penalties and you can be sure the coaches gave us plenty of discipline this week. We just want to come out and be the most consistent unit we can be."
UAB HEAD COACH NEIL CALLAWAY
"We got beat by a very good football team. We were sloppy in the first half. We had a lot of penalties. I'm anxious to go back and look at them. Texas A&M did a good job and congratulations to them. We gave up too many big plays. We didn't stay on our coverage and they got behind us. I was really impressed with A&M's receivers. They did a great job. We got Southern Miss Thursday night. We're going to get home, put this one behind us and get ready for next week."
SAFETY HIRAM ATWATER
"It was a hard fight for our defense. It was a tough loss. Tomorrow, we're going back to the drawing board and get ready for Southern Miss. A&M's offense didn't surprise us. It was just a hard loss. I feel like we could have done a better job. There are a lot of things we've got to work on. I loved tonight's atmosphere. I wouldn't mind coming back here to play again."
QUARTERBACK JOE WEBB
"We've got a couple of things we need to work on. A&M had a great defense and a great team all-around. They did a good job executing what they were doing. We need to watch film and get better going into conference play. We need to execute our plays better. It's a short week so we're going to get to work. A&M pursued the ball very well. They threw us off some. Their defensive coordinator did a good job. Penalties messed up our momentum and killed our drives."