Oct. 5, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Head Coach Mike Sherman and selected players met with members of the press on Monday to talk about the upcoming Big 12 opener against No. 15 Oklahoma State.
A full transcript of Coach Sherman's press conference, along with selected quotes from players, is available below. Audio clips are available in MP3 format to the right.
HEAD COACH Mike Sherman TRANSCRIPT
When you went back and looked at the tape, especially Arkansas' 30-point run, what were some of the problems the team was having at that point?
"Well, a couple of things. We didn't capitalize on some opportunities that we had earlier in the game. I think we were up 10-0, and we dropped a touchdown pass. They came with a 'zero' blitz and a very sure-handed Ryan Tannehill dropped a pass that 99.9 out of 100 times he's going to catch. Then you turn around, and we're driving the ball into the red zone, and we run a quarterback counter play. Their end makes a nice move upfield, we don't get a piece of him with our guard, and he forces a turnover which in fact is picked up and run back for a touchdown. There's really a 14-point differential right there that kind of set the stage for the rest of the ballgame. Then just little piddly mistakes that we continue to make, and you can throw penalties in there as well...I cautioned our team that against a team like Arkansas, where we were able to come back against those mistakes in the past three ballgames, it wasn't going to happen. It proved to be true in the ballgame."
The first three games you played, did you have in mind that they would get you ready for conference play and to face a quarterback like Zac Robinson, or did it just kind of work out that way?
"You know, each quarterback we've played this year so far has had a different dimension. We looked at (Arkansas QB Ryan) Mallett as a throwing quarterback with a strong, powerful arm. Other quarterbacks that we played were more runners than throwers to some degree. This quarterback we're facing this weekend, he can do both. He can run it and he can throw it. I would caution our guys that they are very balanced offensively. They run it and throw it with equal proficiency. This quarterback presents those types of issues for us, to be able to handle both aspects of the game. If you're just defending pass or you're just defending run, maybe you concede a little bit in the other area because that's not a strength of theirs. But this team has equal strengths. They can run it and throw it. Their quarterback is the catalyst for everything they do, and he's a very good one."
How would you evaluate the play of your offensive line?
"I would have to say it continues to be work in progress for us. It was evident in the ballgame the other day that we struggled in protection. I thought our quarterback was put under duress way too many times in order for us to be successful in the game, and obviously the offensive line plays a part in that. Part of it is me too. I'm not forcing the issue in some parts of the game where maybe we need to be a little more conservative at times. Maybe we weren't. And (it's) me helping them play better."
Is Stephen Barrera kind of just in a tough situation, considering he's about three months removed from high school?
"I think anybody in this conference, or playing a team like Arkansas who has speed rushers, is going to have a challenge. There's a number of guys in this conference that can rush the quarterback. Playing left tackle three months removed from high school, and the fact that he was a defensive player no less...the fact that he had a concussion in camp that put him two weeks behind where we actually wanted him to be...I actually wanted him to play more in the early games than he had. And even really, to be truthful, hopeful that he didn't have to play, but I felt like we needed to make a change there to get the right guys in the right spots. It's a tough position for a young player. I looked at him on tape, I was able to grade the tape on way back on the bus. He made some fundamental mistakes. It wasn't athletic. It wasn't strength. When you worry about playing a freshman, which is different than the National Football League...when you get a rookie in the NFL you're talking about a 22- or 23-year-old man whose gone through the process and is strong enough, fast enough and big enough. You're not looking to develop those aspects of his physical game. With Barrera, I would say he's not a typical freshman. He has great strength numbers in the weight room this summer. He's one of our stronger players on the team. He's a very good athlete. What he lacks is just experience at that position. I don't think he's going to have problems out of the ordinary with physical matchups. From a fundamentals standpoint...he was just doing some things fundamentally that put him in tough positions, which are all things we can correct."
What is the update on Michael Shumard's health?
"He has a severely sprained ankle. He didn't do anything this morning, won't do anything this afternoon and probably won't do anything tomorrow. But he claims he'll be ready to play. We'll just have to wait and see."
Is it harder to teach pass protection or run blocking?
"That's a good question. Most people would say pass protection is more unnatural. But a lot of kids that come out of high school these days, particularly in the state of Texas, having been in passing offenses. So it's further advanced than when I was a line coach here in the late '80s and early '90s. These kids are coming in and a lot of kids just can't run block when they come in, because they've been in two-point stances and never really have had to come off the football. So I think from when I was here the last time it's kind of been flipped a little bit. But at this level, when you're playing against high school all-Americans from last ballgame through the rest of the season, I don't think week in and week out in high school that you face the degree of pass rush that we face here on our schedule."
Talk about Kyle Mangan and what your impressions of him have been so far...
"Kyle has been thrust into the middle linebacker role by me early on last spring and has held on to that position. He's done some good things. In pass defense he has been pretty dang good. He has a knack for the football. He has great hands. He understands coverages. I think having been an offensive player in his career might have helped him a little bit. He just has a great feel for the passing game. Where he needs to improve the most is probably in the run game...fitting up his tackles better, hitting things downhill more. He's more than capable of doing that, and he's a guy that's been thrust in maybe ahead of his physical maturity. He was a three-sport star at Brenham High School, never really been in the weight room until he got here. He made a lot of strides this past offseason. Physically we'd like him to be a little bit bigger and stronger. Athletically and talent-wise I think he has the talent we're looking for."
Were most of the problems Stephen Barrera was having the other night from the speed rushing as opposed to the bull-rushing?
"It was mainly him not taking the proper set, losing sight of his fundamentals on how to take a pass set. You get into a game like that and, as we cautioned them during the week, the speed of the game was going to be elevated and it certainly was. I didn't see the power rush being a factor as much as just in his kick-slide technique. He has great hands and good length. He should be able to get good separation, but I think it's just fundamentally believing in his techniques. We're talking about a kid who played defense in high school. We couldn't get our hands on him to do anything until preseason. He got hurt, had a concussion, and missed I would say a minimum of 10 days with that. So fundamentally is where he was more disadvantaged than it was athletically a strength."
Talk about the decision to take Dustin Harris out as a punt returner and put Lionel Smith in...
"Dustin the week before played about 90 plays in the ballgame. Maybe it was about 80 plays. And you pile on the fact that he's a punt returner, and it was just to give him a little bit of break so he doesn't have to be on all the time. We also did that during the course of the game, where (Justin) McQueen played some at corner just to give him a rest. He plays that boundary corner which is a tough position. A lot of times you're locked up man to man and you're running with people, so it's a challenge. (We were) just trying to give him a little bit of a break. I think he's doing a fine job back there."
Evaluate Dustin's progress at corner...
"It's kind of like the left tackle position. In the NFL, when you're drafting teams, you go get a quarterback, go get a cover corner, go get a left tackle and a pass rusher as your primary guys, and you fill in from there. So he's playing a position as a rookie and being asked to do an awful lot of things. He's shown tremendous maturity here as of late in how he's handled his job. We've asked a lot of him. He's very talented. There have been comparisons made of Kevin Smith, which I think are difficult comparisons to make at such a young time in a young man's career. Kevin was a bona fide longtime NFL player. I'm not ready to anoint that just yet. He certainly has the talent. Here's a guy that's 165 pounds, so he's giving something up a little bit in the run game, but doesn't seem to have any fear whatsoever. The truth be told, at 165 (pounds) when they crack and he has to replace and fit up on a run, he's not going to just blow people up right now. But he's made a lot of progress. I think he's going to be a very fine player."
Was he an offensive guy in high school?
"Yes. He played quarterback in high school. He did everything. He played some defense, but he was known more as an offensive player. We had him in our camp and really liked him in our camp. That was as much a statement of what he was all about. You watch him on tape and you knew he was fast. He has real good length, so he has the aspects of a corner that I like."
With the Arkansas game and so much put into that, and it not coming out the way you'd hoped, does it help that you have conference play and Oklahoma State right around the corner so you can't really dwell on it?
"Maybe this is wrong, but we talk about one step at a time. I always ask the kids, particularly in the first three weeks of the season...I'll have the newspaper and I'll say, 'Look at all these games. Who has a big game this weekend?" The response is, 'We do'. We always have a big game. Every game is a big game. I don't approach any game differently. Every game is a must-win situation. Every game your back is against the wall. Every game you have to win. And certainly that's the case this weekend at Kyle Field. I don't necessarily look at it any differently to be honest with you. I think the only difference would be the familiarity with them is much more extreme than we had with Arkansas."
Has their defense changed much with the new coordinator?
"Last year seems like it was 10 years ago. But Bill (Young) is a very sound defensive coach. He was at Miami last year, and they did such a nice job against us. He's very fundamentally sound. He gets them playing hard. They've changed some, but under his tutelage that's to be expected."
Are they as good an offensive skill team as you'll see this year?
"We've faced some pretty good skill teams, and they're certainly up there with the best of them. Everybody talks about their receivers and what not, but their quarterback is very special. He can do a lot of things to beat you."
Do you have plans for Dez Bryant on who will cover him?
"I think we'll save that one until Saturday, and let you figure that out (laughter)."
What can your players draw from the experience of the Arkansas game that will help them going in to Big 12 play?
"There's a lot of things to draw from it. First and foremost, kind of as I prefaced them and talked to them before game...the mistakes in games like that that were made previously, whether it was the muff on the kickoff team, or the punt team, or when we turn the ball over, or penalties, or missed assignments...they're magnified. I always have thought this, that a football game--regardless of the outcome of the score--the football game usually comes down to about three or four plays going one way or the other. Now it may escalate after that, which it did to us. Basically it comes down to three or four plays. We came out swinging. I thought we played really well on defense. We had a number of three-and-outs which really put us in a heck of an offensive position. We scored a touchdown. We kicked that field goal-we should have scored a touchdown there, we messed up in the red zone. Then the potential for a touchdown that we didn't get, then the turnover. They were very significant plays in the game that we didn't capitalize on. And against a team like that, like Arkansas, like Oklahoma State, you can't make mistakes and expect to recover. In the three previous games we made some mistakes and were able to recover, but not against the likes of Arkansas or Oklahoma State."
Did Arkansas start doing something differently offensively after the first couple of series to negate the pass rush?
"Well, when they started the game we were able to split them...they knew, and I was hoping that even though we changed von's number they'd lose sight of who he was, but it didn't seem like they did. They were working him pretty good at the beginning, and he just happened to get through a double team. He split them and had the sack. They were very cognizant of where he was and split protection from the beginning to the end to him to make sure they had two guys on him."
Do you see Brandal Jackson picking up some the slack for when Jeff Fuller went out?
"It's hard to assume a freshman can take the place of a guy who's been through it and knows all the ins and outs. Our quarterback and Jeff have such a great feel for each other when it comes to route running. But one thing about Brandal...I wrote on my notes when I was watching the tape that Brandal Jackson is a tough guy. And he is. He threw his body around. He tried to block people. He really impressed me in the game. We were in the walk-through at Euless Trinity High School, and we were going through some plays, and I talked about a certain play. I said, 'When we call this play, you're going to score a touchdown, right?' He gave me a big smile and said, 'Yeah'. I said, 'You're going to have a touchdown in this game', and he did. It wasn't that particular play, but it makes for a good story anyways (laughter). But he did do it, and that was exciting. He's going to be okay. He has some toughness about him. He's very competitive. He's far from a finished product I might add. He made a bunch of mistakes that we need to correct. I think you're going to hear a lot about Brandal Jackson before it's all said and done."
If Michael Shumard's can't go, who do you put there?
"Right now it would be between Matt Allen and Evan Eike. Patrick Lewis played very well in the game when he was in there. I see him playing on the right side and Matt and Evan working on that left side if Shumard can't go."
Do kids grow up more quickly in an atmosphere like that, in a bowl-game type atmosphere?
"I guess the truth of that will be how they handle this week. The most important thing about Saturday, after losing that ballgame, was how they came back this morning. As I said to them this morning, 'You've never been in this room this year after a loss. How are we going to handle this? How are we going to handle the disappointment?" I was in that locker room, and the night before, and at the hotel before we got on the bus, there was really an energy to go win this game. I didn't see in their eyes any fear, or that we might not win. They really said the right things and did the right things. I was real proud of the weekend. I thought they handled it very well. When we first went into the stadium on Friday for a brief walk-through, the younger players were somewhat enamored by the surroundings. That 'wow' factor kind of grabbed a hold of them. I'm glad we had the opportunity to go earlier. After you explain to them the field is the same distance, the sidelines, the benches are right here, this is where we are going to sit...it's the same as Kyle Field except a little different crowd, noise, a little different atmosphere, but it's the same. They were a little bit wowed by it when we first went there. But when we got to the game they played the game as if they weren't overly enamored by the surroundings. Now, we didn't play it very well. We made some mistakes we hadn't made, and maybe that contributed to it, but I don't think the atmosphere and the magnitude of the stage we were on affected the outcome of that game."
You had mentioned after the game that you'd learn something about the players and they'd learn something about you after a loss. Can you elaborate on that?
"I don't remember the exact reference of my comment, but I think you learn a lot more about your team when you lose than when you win. You learn a lot more about your coaches when you lose than when you win. You see how people respond to adversity. If all of a sudden they come back here and we're totally different people when they meet with us in the morning, and we're screaming and yelling and in a panicked state, they'll say, 'Whoa.' Are we going to maintain, as I said, an even keel? Whether we win or we lose, we are going to address it the same way. They learn something about us. And at the same time, as I said to them this morning, 'How are you going to handle adversity?' It's been fun to come in in the morning and be with your teammates and your coaches after people have been patting you on the back all weekend, saying, 'Great job in the game'. Now you don't have that. Are you going to work, or are you going to feel sorry for yourself? With the schedule we have right now there is absolutely, positively no time to feel sorry. We had the benefit of a young man join us the other day that did have adversity. He was the young man that our players wore his jersey number, and it really is a great lesson in life to understand that there are people who really do deal with adversity on a regular basis, a lot more extreme than we have to deal with. So you try to put things in perspective."
Talk about another freshman o-lineman, Patrick Lewis, and his ability to step in there mentally...
"Yeah, and physically as well. Patrick comes to us from East St. John High School and was coached by a friend of mine, Larry Dauterive. (He's a) great coach. Patrick comes in, again, physically mature. He is as well one of the strongest guys in the weight room. He has great body balance. I really felt like in this game he really exerted some power and strength at the point of attack that was kind of special. There have been times in our blocking I've been critical of our guys that we don't displace enough. We're not knocking people backwards. We're getting to our blocks but there's no 'umph'. Patrick has a little bit of that 'umph' factor that can move people. I think the more confidence he gets, the better he'll be at that. Yeah, he comes from a small little town in Louisiana, but the stage is never too big for Patrick Lewis. He's very much at ease, going into the game and playing. He doesn't feel overwhelmed at all. He really performed at a high level against Arkansas."
Speaking of freshman offensive linemen, how is Rhontae Scales coming along?
"We're really pushing the envelope on Scales. I think he has a lot of talent. He's such a massive man and again falls into line with what I talked about with the two previous players. Physically he has the tools and the maturity from that standpoint, he just needs the work and the reps. There are times in practice when he has a one-on-one pass rush technique against Von Miller, and he'll block Von four times out of four. But when you put it all together, the calls, the assignments, the hurry-up offense, it's an awful lot to put on a kid to be able to do that again, with you have everything we put in their head. It's just a matter of experience with him. We're pushing the envelope with him in practice and trying to get him a lot of reps, and we really want him to exert himself and become a player for us this season if we can."
It seemed like at times Saturday the offensive rhythm was off. Did that have a lot to do with the offensive line or how do you go about re-establishing that?
"It's a funny thing. It's kind of a what comes first. In order to get that type of thing going, that rhythm, you have to get first downs, the chains have to be moving, and then bang, bang, bang, bang. But when you're struggling, or you get a sack, or there's pressure, or an incompletion, it takes the rhythm out. It's easy to send plays in when it's a normal down situation. When you're talking about substitution on third down possibly...I think part of the reason we lacked some...I put some packages in because Howard Morrow wasn't practicing last week. He had a retina problem with his eyes, was at the eye doctor a lot of the week. So I had concerns there, and we had (Ryan) Swope playing in some packages. We probably did a little more substitution, which slowed our rhythm down, as well as the situations we were in, it slowed our tempo down. But it's a good observation, I agree with you. I thought in the second half we came out and had a better tempo. The second quarter we didn't. When we started the game we did, but in the second quarter we lost our tempo a little bit."
Is Morrow's retina problem an ongoing concern?
"No, he was fine. He saw an ophthalmologist. He's fine."
Any update on Jeff Fuller's progress?
"Jeff is doing very well. He's walking. He works in the pool every day. I envision him coming back in two to three weeks."
Jerrod showed an awful lot of toughness Saturday night...
"He did. He did. To his credit, he never once complained about a thing. If I were him, I probably would have come off the field after that last sack and punched me in the face for having him out there and getting hit like that. But he showed great composure. He's making a lot of progress in a lot of areas. He still has a ways to go but I think he's making progress."
Any thoughts on Brett Favre going against the Packers tonight?
"I hadn't thought about it. It'll be an interesting game, there's no question about that. Brett's agent called me the other day, he's a good friend of mine, and we were just talking...I think Brett's about winning the division and winning a championship. As much as people are making it into a personal deal, I think Brett knows it's a game and you can't look at the jerseys. It's certainly great for TV and I'm sure a lot of people will tune in."
This week is the annual Aggies CAN food drive. Can you comment on that and how it will culminate at the football game?
"It just speaks volumes about our athletic department and how it's set up, that we encourage our athletes to participate in projects that help others. We talk all the time about how it's not what you get, it's what you give, whether it's to your team, or your community, or your family. There's no doubt, when we sit in that room, often times I'll say how lucky I am to be the coach and how lucky you guys are to play...so many people wish they could be in our chairs, and how fortunate and blessed we are. We have to give back. The Aggies CAN program, which will raise canned food to benefit the Brazos Valley Food Bank, is a very worthy cause. Again, it speaks volumes of the athletic department and our athletes involved in it. It's a neat deal."
ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR Joe Kines
"Each week, teams present you with a different set of problems. Some weeks you have a running quarterback, some weeks you have a throwing quarterback, some weeks you have a good running back, some weeks you have a set of good wide receivers. This week we have the whole nine yards all rolled up in one package. When you look at their offensive starters, we've faced teams with one, two standout players...this group, the quarterback, running back, wide receivers, offensive line, they've all drawn preseason honors. They are really playing well. I think one thing that's real noticeable is Mike Gundy is in his fifth or sixth year now, and he has his program established well. They've been doing the same thing for the last three or four years now. They are well into their scheme, and know how to use their scheme. They present a lot of problems for a defense. You have to be on top of your game. You have to be sound on the option. You have to be really good on the pass rush, and you have to get coverage."
On Dez Bryant...
"He's got height, he's got the leaping ability, and the running ability. He has excellent hands. I think they use him well. He's a proven receiver, he's not a guy they think is going to be good, he's been good and performed well in games. He's one of those athletes that can really turn a game around."
JUNIOR QB Jerrod Johnson
What did you learn from the experience this weekend?
"I think one thing I learned is to try to protect the ball a little better. I think we preformed pretty well, but at times our timing was awful. We learned a lot from it. I can't really pick one thing that I learned, but the overall game definitely helped our team as a whole, and me as a quarterback."
Evaluate the play of your offensive line...
"They had their struggles, but we knew going in one of Arkansas' strengths was their defensive line. They gave it their all. We're going to go in the film room and try to fix their mistakes, but they played hard and that's all we can really ask for."
On improving week to week...
"There's always room to improve. I think we have a lot of room for improvement. We saw our weaknesses last game, and I think we can definitely improve on those things. They are definitely manageable."
SENIOR DB Jordan Pugh
On missed assignments...
"I think we were hyped, our adrenaline was pumping and we just tried to do more than we could do. You can't take away anything from Arkansas but a lot of that was on us."
On the fumble return for a touchdown...
"It was just one of those situations that happens, it's football. As a defense, we just said, 'Well, we have to get it back to the offense now.' Plays like that happen, and there's nothing you can do about it. It's just part of the game."
What can you draw from this game?
"I think sometimes the best thing that can happen to you is losing, because you learn from all the mistakes that you make. Then you get that feeling, in the first three games we didn't have that feeling, now we know what that feeling feels like. It humbles you in a way, and you learn from it. It drives you to work harder to not experience that feeling again."
SENIOR OL Michael Shumard's
How'd you hurt your leg?
"I had two people fall on the back of it. I was extended blocking, and people fell on the back of it, and it twisted and popped a little bit. I knew it wasn't broken. They tried to tape it a little bit to see if I could walk and get back in. By that point, it was getting late in the game and there was no point."
On the offensive line...
"We struggled in pass protection. Jerrod won't make it through the season if we have something like that again. Their defensive line was a lot better than anything we've seen so far. They presented a lot of different looks that were meant to confuse us, and we did a really good job picking up a lot of their twists in their game. But anytime someone comes free, and a receiver isn't open down field or Jerrod can't escape, that's not a good situation to have your quarterback in."
SOPHOMORE DB Trent Hunter
On freshmen losing their first game...
"Not a lot of guys go through even high school and not lose a single game, so it's just one of those things. You have to just keep on moving through. It's not the end of the world. This time last year we were 2-2. Obviously no one wants to lose a game, but we have, it's in the past. We just have to look towards Oklahoma State next week."
On Oklahoma State's offense...
"They're very explosive, they have players in all positions. They have a really good receiver out there in Dez Bryant, and a good quarterback, and a good running back. It's going to be a really good test for us this week."
JUNIOR JACK Von Miller
On Arkansas...
"Arkansas has a really good offense, and we knew that going into the game. They executed well. There were about five or six big plays, and once you give a team momentum it's hard to shut them down. We played hard and we played tough. We'll be ready for Oklahoma State."
On being double teamed...
"I was trying my hardest to get back there. It's a good learning experience. I haven't really been double teamed all year. They had really good offensive linemen. I feel good about the way I played, but I can use this film and the schemes they showed and apply it to the next teams we face."