Oct. 26, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas--Head Coach Mike Sherman and players of the team meet with members of the press to talk about the upcoming game against Iowa State.
A full transcript of Coach Sherman's press conference, along with selected quotes from players, will be available soon. Audio clips are available in MP3 format to the right.
HEAD COACH Mike Sherman TRANSCRIPT
After you looked at the tape, what made the offensive line work on Saturday and how did they grade out?
"They graded out pretty well. It wasn't a perfect performance by any stretch of the imagination. But we protected our quarterback and allowed him the opportunity to function in the offense, and we were able to mix it up with run and pass, which makes it a heck of a lot easier to call the game. It allowed us to have the tempo we wanted to have in the ballgame. When you're three-and-out, you take away a lot of the tempo. Because we had a lot of manageable third downs, we weren't put into any precarious situations there. They did a nice job. They'll continue to get better. They are a work in progress and there still are a lot of things we need to fix. I thought they gave really good effort and they matched up well against Texas Tech."
How does the challenge this week compare to a week ago?
"I look at every week very similarly. Last week I told them they had to put that behind them. After the Monday morning meeting, I told them they had to put K-State behind them, and we did the same thing this morning. You put Texas Tech behind you. That has nothing to do with how we are going to play this ballgame, just like K-State should have had nothing to do with how we played Texas Tech. We take each week independent of the previous week, and we've always done it that way. Like I was telling somebody earlier, they asked me about the difference, and we had a great week of preparation against K-State, and for whatever reason we went out there and laid an egg. I actually thought our preparation was as good last week, and in some cases the Monday of K-State might have been better than the Monday of Texas Tech. But we were able to go out there, our backs were against the wall, and I liked the way our guys responded. I thought they fought and played together as a team really well."
Was Saturday night an ideal example of what this offense can do when you establish the run?
"I think the running game, and the fact we were able to protect our quarterback. He didn't have to run around for his life. We ran a couple of draw plays effectively, and he did take the ball down a couple of times and ran. He didn't force any balls. What we did the other day was close to what we want to get to. There was one time in the red zone that we should have scored a touchdown on that we let slip by. But I think that was pretty much kind of how we want to run the offense. We still have a ways to go there."
What was the difference in your running game from one week to the next? It was such a big difference...
"Yeah. I wish I had the answer for that. It wasn't scheme. The plays were fairly similar, it's just that we were more effective. You have to give K-State credit, they defended those plays. Football is a funny game. If you can win certain matchups you can have success. It's all about matchups. Sometimes the matchups are not in your favor, for whatever reason. Sometimes they are, and you take advantage of them."
After watching the tape, what did the offensive line do differently in terms of winning individual battles?
"Because we were effective in the run game we were able to have a lot more `repeat' type of runs. So we were running some of the same plays repetitively, which gave them some confidence in the game. When you struggle in the run game, sometimes you have a tendency...my tendency has been well, we will go to something different, because they've defending this play or scheme. So now you go into something different and that presents a new set of problems. The repetitiveness in the run game probably helped them gain more confidence and us get a little bit better as we got along in the ballgame. They developed more confidence in the call because they had success previously with it."
Is this the offensive lineup you'll stick with or will you continue to experiment with that?
"Well, just for the record, y'all ask me that every week. I'm not a big guy on moving offensive linemen around. I hate it. I think they need to pretty much be in one position. It's been out of necessity that we've had to find the right combination. This combination will be the combination for this week and we'll go from there. Like I said, a lot of it has to do with matchups and your guys matchup to their guys, and if your guy can block their guy. There's still a chance we could change some things around."
Is Matt Allen injured?
"No, Matt Allen healthy. He has some residual effects from an ankle, but he's still healthy."
And he did not participate against Texas Tech?
"No."
What's your take on the A&M fan base's reaction to the win at Texas Tech?
"Well, we had a great support group out there. I've got to give the A&M fan base, a lot of the people that were at that game, a lot of credit. I don't know, after watching the K-State game, if I would have made the trip out to Lubbock myself. I might have said, `Hey, we'll pass this week on the Aggies'. But there were quite a few people out there to support us. I take my hat off to them, they were great Aggies to be out there after the showing the week before. It meant a lot to us. It was important for our players to go down into the end zone and thank them for their support. Then when we got back here on Saturday night, there were 450, 500 people waiting for us at 1 o'clock in the morning. It was totally unexpected. I just didn't even imagine that would happen. The Class of `69 had their reunion, and they made a point to tell me they are undefeated on their reunion weekends. They'll definitely be invited back next year at a very prime time in our season, and hopefully they can keep that record intact. We just had great support when we came back. It meant a lot to those kids. Last week, you're talking about over half our team is probably 18, 19, 19 ½ years old. Last week was a hard week, with a lot of adversity coming out of the K-State game. I thought that was a just reward for them, to make them feel like it was worth the effort that we put forth that week in preparation for Tech. Not just winning the game, but the appreciation people had about the game was really special."
Was there a point last week where you thought the team had put the Kansas State game behind them and they had started to look forward?
"I think coaches hang on to it longer than players. These kids have so many things going on in their lives. I do think a lot of it comes from how the coaches and the head coach handle it. I'm adamant about the fact that hey, bad things happen in life. It's how you handle them that determines where you go and what you do. If the head coach goes out on Monday and just tears them up and takes away everything they've got because he's mad about the loss and what people are saying about the loss, you're not going to get your team back. What I tell them is the truth, win or lose. When we're done watching the tape, when we go out to practice, it's over with. I want them to be loose at practice, I want them to be able to enjoy practice. You can't get better and you can't get over the hump if you're out there real tight and afraid to make a mistake. Our Monday practice was a good practice, in the afternoon. The morning was a little bit...when I had them in for video, they didn't want any part of that, I can promise you that. That can get really ugly sometimes because we're accountable for the mistakes we make. But we come back that afternoon, it's let's go. We have to get ready for the next one. How you handle it as the leader is indicative of how they're going to handle it. If I hang on to it, they'll hang on to it. If I brush it aside, or at least give the illusion that I'm brushing it aside--which was very difficult to do--then they can move on. But if I keep referencing `we can't do this' and `we can't do that', then they won't be able to."
Iowa State is not one of the teams that people and fans necessarily look at as a challenge. But certainly the game they played against Nebraska should have opened people's eyes...
"There's no question. You go into Lincoln, Nebraska, and you do something that hasn't been done since...I don't know if Nixon was President then or not...I know a lot of you guys voted for President Nixon (laughter)...the `liberal media' as it is (laughter)...but anyways, they beat Baylor a week before, they're riding a two-game win streak and they're feeling pretty good about themselves, as they should. To go into Lincoln and do what they did was very impressive. They forced eight turnovers. They forced some turnovers. It wasn't like they were gifts all the time. They forced some turnovers and played a whale of a ballgame. I was very impressed with how they played that ballgame. Our kids are very aware of that and our focus is solely on Iowa State. After we got off the plane and landed, I called them together on the tarmac at the airport and I said, `Listen. Y'all need to celebrate. Be careful and be smart about what you do, but you need to celebrate this thing for 24 hours. Because when we get back on Monday it's over. We've got to get ready for Iowa State.' That's what our focus has been today and it will continue to be the rest of week. We know that we have to have our best game this weekend. We played them last year down to the wire. It was a dogfight. And I believe they are a better team this year."
You talked about matchups...when you look at film where do they have the edge? Where are their strengths?
"They have a very good offensive line. I'm very impressed with their offensive line. Their linebackers run fast on defense. They have an excellent corner. Their running back, who is one of the Big 12 leaders, is hurt. Their quarterback is very effective, and doesn't make a lot of mistakes. They had to substitute him, because he hurt his hand. But I think they have a pretty good group of guys and have done a nice job."
Are you preparing as though their quarterback will be back?
"They run their scheme regardless of who is playing quarterback. They run what they run, like most college teams do. We are anticipating him to be back, but we also realize we can face either one of them."
You recruit across the state and across the nation, but how important is it, when you see a guy who has the talent Brandal Jackson has 20 miles away, to get a guy like that into your program?
"It's important. Brandal's a Navasota Rattler, from just up the road. He's further ahead than I expected him to be at this time, but still has a long ways to go. He knows it and I know it, and we're working on that. The play he made on the onside kick, if you asked me to name three of the biggest plays in game--even though we had a lead at that time, it still could have made things very interesting if we don't get that, as you well know. We did our best to kick it back to them there at the end of the game when Randy (Bullock) missed on a kick we were trying to kick deeper. But Brandal jumped up and took that thing like he'd done it a hundred times. He's a confident kid. You want guys that want the ball. He wanted the ball kicked to him and he wanted to make that play. That was an impressive play by that young man. For an 18-year-old, never having been on a plane before or out of this general vicinity, he stepped up and made a big play for us. And he made some other big plays. He's got to become a better blocker though."
Speaking of recruiting, how far does a win in Lubbock go to further the notion that this program is heading down the right path?
"From my standpoint, I know what we're doing and I know how we're doing it. And we're doing it the right way. So I have lot of confidence that ultimately it's headed down the right path. Are we perfect? No. Do we make mistakes? Yes. But I have no reservations about that. Whether we'd won or lost this game, I would have felt the same way. From the outside looking in, maybe it gives somebody more of an in-depth picture of where we're headed, I don't know. From my standpoint I have no reservations about how we do things on and off the field, our scheme, our techniques, how we practice, how we treat people, the whole thing. I'm pretty proud of our program, and where we're going. I know we're not getting there probably as fast as most Aggies would like us to get, but we're going to get there."
Iowa State has the league's top rushing offense. How do you defend against a real ball-control team?
"They do a great job. They have a very good offensive line. (They are) Big, powerful kids that come off the ball and hold on to the ball very well. They run with their quarterback as well as the running back. They are multi-dimensional in their running game. They block on the perimeter well and their line moves the line of scrimmage. We're going to have to get geared up and have a physical week of practice to get ready for what we anticipate to be a very good run game and effective passing game."
How good was it to have Jeff Fuller out there running around?
"Jeff didn't play many plays. We really didn't anticipate him to play at all. He had a pretty good Thursday. I worked him out again Friday before we got on the plane just to see what he can do. I don't think he's 100 percent, but he gives our quarterback a lot of confidence. The eight or 10 plays that he played I certainly think he gave us little bit of juice, just even having him out there. I know our quarterback likes having him out there. He made two pretty good plays, one was a penalty for him and then he made a catch."
You mentioned that Bullock kick at the end of the game, did anyone ask you if that was an onside kick?
"Nobody did. It was a squib kick that he kind of muffed. We just didn't want to get any return at that point in the game. We tried to squib it and he just didn't get a good hit on it. He's usually a pretty good specialty kicker but he wasn't very good on that one."
Of course, Aggie fans were hoping it was an onside kick...
"(laughing) Yeah, no, we wouldn't do that. As much as we wanted to win the ballgame, we wouldn't have done that."
Is it just a matter of Jeff Fuller knocking the rust off or is he still limited health wise?
"It's getting in and out of his breaks. You have to realize, he hasn't done a whole lot in six weeks or whatever it's been. It's getting out of his breaks, and the tempo of the game. He's been conditioning but not football conditioning wise, so there's a lot of areas he has to address this week to get ready to play."
What about Ryan Epperson? How did you feel he punted the ball?
"I thought he was effective. He didn't hurt us. He helped us on an occasion. I think his overall net was about 38. He had decent hang time, except for one. I thought he did okay. His rhythm and timing was good as far as getting it out. One time he was a little slow. But he's very consistent. His approach to the ball is very consistent, his drop point is very consistent. I think he'll get better as he gets stronger. The offseason is going to be huge for him, to increase his leg strength. He's a guy that played soccer primarily in high school. When he gets into a weight program like we have he'll improve his strength and velocity upon contact with the ball."
Jesse Smith, their middle linebacker, is kind of an animal for them on defense...
"He is, and I believe he's the one that got the last interception against Nebraska if I'm not mistaken. He's all over field, makes great plays, and plays with a lot of passion. He's fun to watch. You like watching him against other people than your own people, but he's fun to watch on tape because he plays hard."
What happened after the Sean Porter personal foul, and in a way do you kind of like that passion and fire that he has?
"In that situation, cooler heads have to prevail. You can't put that ahead of the team and what we're trying to accomplish. He's very much a competitor. I thought he played a heck of a ballgame except for that one play. He made a huge play on a screen that really kind of set a tempo for us. They're moving the ball on us, and he came up and splattered a screen play. I thought he played well. We have to have more discipline about ourselves in the context of the game. And it's hard for an 18-year-old kid, when someone is laying on top of him and doing whatever he was doing to him that upset him...but there's no place for that. You have to walk away from that and have the discipline. To ask an 18-year-old kid who's playing at a high level emotionally to do that? We have to ask them to do that. They're not going to always do it. But that could have cost us a ballgame."
...and you on the sideline with him afterwards?
"Yeah, he lost it, I lost it, and the two of us lost it together (laughter). Hopefully we found ourselves this morning."
It looked like Texas Tech was good at establishing the screen play early on. What did you guys do to defend the screen better after the first quarter?
"What was happening was our guys were trying to make the play but not holding leverage. There were a couple of times where Eddie Brown came from inside and made a big play on the screen a couple of times. The defensive linemen I thought really pursued the screens extremely well. I've always thought with screens like that, the d-line is huge, coming from inside out, chasing those things down and restricting the field. Force them back to the help. Send them back to the cavalry. If they're coming from here, and you're here, you hold them off and let them rally. But don't get beat outside. We got beat outside early a couple of times."
Saturday is Military Appreciation Day. Can you talk about what that means to you as the head coach of a program like A&M with all of its tradition?
"For me personally, my dad was in the military and my grandfather served in the first World War. My dad was in the second World War. I understand what that's all about and have a great appreciation for that personally. To coach at a school like Texas A&M, where you walk across this campus and you see the Corps of Cadets, and as you're walking by them you envision some of these young men and women who'll be going over and serving our country overseas in some of our conflicts we're presently experiencing. Your heart goes out to them. One of our coaches, Nolan Cromwell, his son is over in Iraq right now. So we have a very personal connection to the military and have the utmost admiration and respect for what they do, to allow us the opportunity to play these games. We had a young man come to our practice with his wife, they're from Katy, Texas, about a month ago. This really touched me about our team. He's an Aggie fan that just wanted to come to practice before he shipped out. And for whatever reason his name slips me right now, I wish I had it. But he came to practice and I had him come out to the team. They were all on a knee out there and I was talking to them, and we brought him out and introduced him and they gave him a standing ovation. They just clapped for it seemed like a half hour. The respect they showed that young man, which he deserved, because he allows us to do what we do, I thought our team showed a lot of character because they emotionally and passionately had reached out to that young man and realized that could be them. And that this young man, and his wife, are sacrificing themselves so we can do what we do."
Do you have Dempsey-Tunney scheduled for Friday night (Sherman showed the team "The Rumble in the Jungle" the night before the Texas Tech game)?
"(laughing) I've always used boxing analogies when it comes to football. I remember in Green Bay one time, we were playing Philadelphia, and I went over to Smokin' Joe Frazier's gym in south Philly. I spent some time with him and brought him over. He talked to the guys. He's something else now, that guy. What a tough, tough guy he is. I'll tell you that story someday. Privately. (laughter)"
ADDITIONAL QUOTES
ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR Joe Kines
On Iowa State... "Iowa State is coming in on a little bit of a mini roll. They have back-to-back wins. They went into Lincoln and really did a great job there. They have a really strong scheme. They have a huge offensive line, and are really doing a great job there. Their quarterback-running back combination has been good all year. They stick within themselves really well, they run their system, which is why they're doing well this year. We have a huge task at hand to get everything grouped up and solid up on the run. It's a little different tempo than the last game, one that if we don't improve our tackling it's not going to matter anyways. We've got to get better at tackling and getting off the blocks."
SENIOR DB Jordan Pugh
on beating Texas Tech... "It was just a big relief to win, period, coming off the three-game skid that we had. And me, being a senior, you wanted that game. It was special. It was a relief, but it was more important that we got that win to get back on track."
on being able to put a big win behind you... "Just like you have to put a loss behind you, you have to put a win behind you, too. You have to handle the losses, and you have to handle success at the same time. It's not hard because you've got to move on. We're trying to reach our goals as a team. That was one step. We've got to take the other step now."
on staying focused... "You've got to stay humble, especially with a team like Iowa State. I think they're 5-3, and they're fighting for a bowl game, too. They're ready to come in and shock the world like we did on Saturday. So you've got to stay hungry; you've got to stay humble."
JUNIOR QB Jerrod Johnson
on the response to beating Tech... "Everyone around here was pretty excited about it. I was pretty excited as well. It was a really special feeling. I'll never forget it. I don't really know where to put it right now, I guess it just depends on how the rest of the season goes. Right now, you've just got to take it as another win because Iowa State's going to be coming in on Saturday and they're rolling pretty high, as well. You've got to get focused on them as quick as possible."
on the Cyclone defense... "They're a great defense. They're big and they're physical. That's one of the things about the Big 12, you don't get any weeks off. I'm sure our coaches will come up with a good game plan, it's a matter of us executing. I like our chances against anybody. I'm confident in what we can do but we definitely have to go do it. You can lose to anybody at any time."
SENIOR OL Michael Shumard
on beating Texas Tech... "I had always wanted to beat Texas Tech. I had never beaten Tech since I've been here, so beating them was a nice thing. But, we took it just like another week. We were trying to right the ship a little bit from what happened the previous three weeks. That's more satisfying than beating Tech in itself. We have to keep trying to go the right way."
on the reaction to beating Tech... "I have a lot of friends that don't play football. I heard a lot of them talking about how we needed a miracle and stuff like that. That's why the game is played. If they thought Texas Tech was just going to beat us so bad, then we wouldn't have flown out there and we wouldn't have played the game. We thought we had a chance, we took our chance and we won."
SOPHOMORE DB Trent Hunter
on beating Texas Tech... "It gives us a lot of confidence, coming out and beating a premier team like Texas Tech. They have one of the best offenses that we'll play, and also a solid defense. It's a lot of confidence, a lot of momentum. At the same time, you've got to be able to take that win and take that Kansas State loss, put it together and come back and have a successful week."
on the challenge of not getting too high... "You don't want to match a bad loss with another loss. To come out and have a bad loss against Kansas State and match it with a good win against Texas Tech, I feel like we're even again. Another win this week, and spirits will be back up and we'll be ready to play. You can't just ride that win for another whole week or you'll lose the next game, especially with a team like Iowa State coming in who's playing very consistently right now."