Texas A&M vs. Baylor Post Game Quotes
Nov 21, 2009 | Football
Nov. 21, 2009
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A&M COACH MIKE SHERMAN
"I was proud of them today. I thought they did a good job of responding to the challenge they had in front of them. They knew what the implications of this game were. We wanted to be able to win this football game at home and put ourselves in a good position to play Texas on Thursday. We look forward to that ballgame now."
On becoming bowl eligible... "This game reminds me a lot of the way our team responded after the K-State game. Obviously we played Oklahoma last week and played very poorly, as we did against K-State. They are just the cardiac kids. One week it's one thing, and the next week it's something else. I've got to give them credit, when their backs are against the wall--as it was going to Lubbock and as it was again today--they responded. I'm not pleased with the penalties. We had way, way too many penalties. Stupid penalties. Undisciplined penalties. That's really frustrating to me because we spend a lot of time talking about those things. Other than that I thought they responded to the challenge they had today and I'm proud of them for that."
On the play of the seniors and getting the class to a bowl... "These seniors have had to deal with a couple of head coaches and deal with some adversity at different times. We owe these guys a lot. They have kind of kept things together for us this year. I wanted them to go out winners. This game was important for that, and they contributed tremendously. Before the game I thought maybe the guys were going to make more out of it and not respond like I asked them to, so I just asked them to be 100 percent of who you are today. You don't have to be somebody else. Be yourself, but be all of yourself. I thought Jordan Pugh, and our offensive line, and different guys gave us everything they had when we needed it. The turnovers were big, obviously, to be able to create momentum for our offense."
On what it means personally to get to a bowl game... "Well, it's huge for us. We've done a lot of good things this year, but we've also had some adversity along the way. When I look back at the season and I see the highs and lows, it went kind of how I'd expected it to. I knew with a bunch of freshmen it would be a bit of an up and down type of team at different times. Sometimes the freshmen will help you win a football game, other times they'll bite you in the butt. But this is a just reward for a lot of hard work. These kids have worked too hard, starting back in January. And I wanted this game so much for them, more than for myself, because of how hard they've worked to get to this point. I know we haven't done anything on a national scope, but from our standpoint, and where we started, and the amount of young players we're playing, I'm proud of the accomplishment of getting to a bowl game. I'm still disappointed with some of our play this year, and we can work on that, but these guys are fighters and I think they proved it today."
A&M SOPHOMORE DB Terrence Frederick
On being bowl eligible... "Coming into the game we knew we had to win. Hopefully we are eligible now for a bowl game, but we still have to come out against Texas and keep playing hard."
A&M SENIOR OL Lee Grimes
On being bowl eligible... "It's a great feeling knowing that Thursday isn't our last game. It's rewarding to the team to know we are coming back to play a bowl game."
A&M SENIOR OL Michael Shumard
On Michael's 97-yard TD run... "The good thing about that is us offensive linemen, we love one play drives. You can come over to the sideline fast. If anyone can do that it would be our guys. I've never seen a run that long before. We had good movement, and he (Michael) found the seam. I'll take that any day."
On his last home game coming up Thursday... "I try not to think about it. I don't want it to end. At the same time we would love to go out with a bang, and a win. It would be great to saw `em off after we really do it."
A&M FRESHMAN RB Christine Michael
On his 97-yard TD run and the school record... "That is another blessing, having the record of the longest touchdown. I can't keep it on my heart, I just have to keep playing."
On facing Texas... "I'm just going to take them as any other school, but these seniors want to go out with a bang. I want to give them all that I can. Cyrus Gray and I are going to be good together and we just want to give Texas A&M everything that we can."
A&M SENIOR DB Jordan Pugh
On not allowing a touchdown... "It's big as a defense. That is what you try to do. The goal is to keep them from scoring and that is what we did today."
A&M JUNIOR QB Jerrod Johnson
On the victory... "It feels pretty good. It always feels good to beat another team in Texas. We definitely didn't feel that we played as well as we should have last year. We have a lot of respect for them but we wanted to come out and beat them."
On becoming bowl eligible... "It's huge, not only for us. Texas A&M should never not be in a bowl game. Last year was hard on us. It is a great feeling to have to have qualified for a bowl game. It will be a great experience for our freshmen, and hopefully we will get something rolling."
"Every day this week our team was running the ball and the coaches really brought it to us to prepare for this game. We worked hard and we knew this game would be big and we got the win. This is probably the best week of practice that we've had since I've been here. This game gives us momentum to carry into Thursday and beat Texas."
A&M SOPHOMORE DL Eddie Brown
"All this week coaches rode us. We really came together as a defensive line this week. This win has given us a lot of the confidence that we need. It was huge for us to keep a team out of the end zone for an entire game. The win was great -- it means we're going bowling. Now we can't wait for Texas on Thursday."
"Our coaches killed us in practice this week. Last week, we had a bunch of points scored on us so to hold them to a field goal meant a lot to us. It feels good to be bowl-eligible, but we have one game left. We're ready to play Texas and we want to win that state championship by beating all the Big 12 teams in Texas."
A&M SOPHOMORE RB Cyrus Gray
"We came into this day expecting the big performance we had. Last week, we didn't do well, so we wanted to do twice as well this week. I'm so proud of the offensive line. We get more comfortable running behind them every week. It's good to be bowl-eligible. I told Jamie McCoy before the game that I was going to do everything I could to get the seniors into a bowl game. We're ready to beat Texas in our house."
BAYLOR QB NICK FLORENCE
(on A&M's long run) "It was definitely a momentum swing. We still had chances to make things happen as an offense. We didn't finish and we hurt ourselves a lot. We bounced back and got in the red zone again but didn't do anything with it. I didn't play very well but that's the way it goes. We have to work on finishing and moving the ball well. We had a lot of penalties but we still have to finish."
BAYLOR SAFETY JORDAN LAKE
"It hurts. As a senior, you want to go out leaving your legacy and go to a bowl game. For the seniors, it's devastating that we can't do that. A&M did a really good job up front. They came out and controlled the line of scrimmage. We didn't play very well. We had missed assignments and missed hits."
BAYLOR HEAD COACH ART BRILES
"I feel like this was my fault. We wanted our seniors to go out and have the chance to play in a bowl game. I think they have done everything we have asked them to do since we stepped off the field at Texas Tech last year. To do that says a lot about them. I apologize to them for not letting them fulfill that dream. They put a lot of sweat, effort and good attitudes into Baylor football and the university. They should have never had the long run. We should have put points on the board. When you get down there, you have to score. I don't know what patience is. I don't feel like we're building a program. I feel like we're fighting our tails off to make Baylor football respectable. To me, that's not building; that's doing what you're supposed to do. We want to put a team on the field that represents the university the best we can."
