Coach Sumlin, coordinators and select players met with the media Tuesday at the weekly football press conference inside Kyle Field.
Select quotes are posted below. Audio and video links are available to the left.
Who is starting at quarterback on Saturday?
“Kyle Allen. The same person who started last Saturday.”
Is he the starter moving forward for the rest of the season?
“It's like any other position. You know how that works. I don't know why he wouldn't start since he was named the starter two weeks ago and he played pretty well last week.”
How does your team move forward from this big win, using South Carolina as an experience? (winning 4 more after that then losing 3 straight) …
“I haven't thought about (South Carolina) at all, to be honest with you. Carolina seems like last year at this point for this team. We're dealing with things one week at a time. There were a lot of different players who are starting at this point that played in that game (Auburn) in a tremendous environment for football Saturday that either played very little in Columbia or didn't play at all. We're dealing with things on a week-to-week basis with guys playing now in critical roles. What happened then seems like so long ago in this building. I don't even think about it. I wasn't trying to be rude – there's just no comparison to the guys who are playing for us right now significantly across the board to the guys who played critical roles in that first game of the year.”
Did you send in any tape or make any kind of complaint to the SEC office about holding on Myles Garrett?
“We send in every week what we think we have questions on, and things that may or may not have been missed. Our league does a great job. The head of officials, Steve Shaw, we have great relationship with and great communication with him. He gets right back to us and talks about the things we question, what should or shouldn't have been called. I've coached in a lot of different leagues, and the officials in this league do as good a job as anyone in the country.
“We have a conversation every week. I think that's important. From (the perspective of) our guys understanding the rules, our own players understanding what is going to be called and what's not going to be called, and how to play the game. Like I said I think the communication with the league office is as good as it's ever been. I'm comfortable with it going forward.”
After the game Mike Matthews said something like the team seems to play better when no one thinks they can win or when their backs are against the wall. Is there any idea why that may be or how you can capture that each week?
“That's maybe Mike's opinion. Our backs were certainly against the wall last week. They were the weeks before that and we didn't play very well, so I don't know that that's the case. There are a lot of things that happened over the course of the last month that had a lot to do with Saturday. You don't win a game like that on the road in that environment on emotion alone. A lot of things took place other than us thinking we had our backs against the wall to play the way we played last week.”
Ricky Seals-Jones leads the team in catches. Comment on his continued progress. Also can you comment on Josh Reynolds and his 10 touchdowns…
“They both came here to do what they're doing right now – catch a lot of balls and catch touchdowns. With Ricky, I think people from the outside—because of his talent, size and looks on the football field—expect a lot of him. Remember, he hasn't played a lot of football. He got hurt early last year, had major knee surgery, and we didn't use him through the spring as much as we wanted. This year really is the first full year of college football he's played. There are things he's learning. After being a high school quarterback and an athlete there are things he's learning even daily to become a receiver. Whether it's route running, defenses, the ability to stem, to know where you are, to find voids and catch the ball…all that, and playing physical on the perimeter, it takes some time. Just like Malcome Kennedy, who was a high school quarterback. You can't lose sight of that for him as a young player. Josh Reynolds is the same. He's a guy who didn't get a scholarship offer out of high school. He went to junior college out of high school. We signed last December to really bolster our receiving corps. He's a very under-the-radar kind of guy. Josh came in January, went through spring football, and has some explosion. The offseason will be big for him to get some strength and more size. He definitely has the potential and I think you can see he's a heck of a competitor. He's doing a nice job.”
Is Kenny Hill available to play Saturday if you need him?
“Yeah.”
Julien (Obioha) said before the game he told Kyle Allen he was a leader now and nudged him forward to talk to the team…
“I went the other way with him. (All) players are different. Kyle is really a Type A. It's hard to believe, but he was more relaxed in that environment than he was the week before. We tried to keep him that way. You have certain guys who have to have a game face. Kyle's a guy who plays better when he's relaxed and smiling. I tried to keep him that way on the sideline. When you're young, it's good for Julien to say (to him) because he's played a lot of football. He's been starting since he's been here, since the first game. It's easy for him to say to be a leader. That's the kind of leader Julien is. He makes people feel comfortable. He's been in a lot of big games. I couldn't be happier for him for all the things he's been through, to be involved in a critical play last Saturday was great to see for a guy who works that hard.”
What's a guy like Julien Obioha—a petroleum engineering major and a good example to the other guys—mean to this program?
“I remember in recruiting he and his parents were really concerned about engineering. He got to school here and is in year three, and anyone who knows the (petroleum engineering) program here it's kicking up a bit (at that point). He comes and goes at practice at times because of lab and class and things like that. He's a very, very mature young man. He started from the very first game he set foot on campus. That part of the game he understands. He's of the few veteran players we have that can understand by watching video, he doesn't have to practice as much and goes out and plays like he does. To balance everything he has and with the engineering program, he's excelling at a high level on and off the field. That's great for our young guys. He's an example of a guy wasn't at the top of the recruiting class when we got here and all he's done is do a great job and has been a really solid, solid player on the field for us. He's one of the cornerstones on the field for us right now.”
What's most impressed you since Kyle Allen became the starter?
“I think operation. The things you take for granted watching young quarterbacks are the operational procedures, the personnel, clock management, not wasting time outs or delay of game penalties. Particularly in a situation like Saturday in the second half when we were using the clock. All the things he dealt with and in changing plays, I think you saw he did feel more comfortable in a hostile environment. From an operation standpoint and for a young guy in that situation, to not have the football move backwards before the ball snaps is something you can't take for granted. A lot of young quarterbacks try to process and get to the perfect play instead of just moving on with what we're doing. Jake (Spavital) has done a nice job with him. That has continued to build. Operationally he's done a nice job. The things we talked about the week before that we wanted him to address, ball security and things like that, that's an ongoing thing with young quarterbacks. I think the things we talked about a week ago with Monroe he's made an effort to improve those. And as we get a better feel for him, which we're getting, he's getting a better feel for us and what he can do and what he's comfortable with. That's the hard part with young guys. They think they can do everything. They need to be at the point where they say 'Hey look, I'm really not comfortable with that'. He understands that a lot more now and we understand more (too) at this point.”
On Saturday it seemed like your defense did a decent job against the run in the first half…
“We were able to get some things done. Ivan Robinson was a big part of that too. He's been real, real good when he's in there and healthy. He played till he couldn't play anymore and then he was out. I don't know if we'll have Ivan this week. The best part out of any of that is we'll be able to practice that and know that going into the game rather than finding out in the second quarter. We'll have a plan for him not playing and if he's able to go he's able to go. We were able to get some negative yardage plays early and in the first half. In the second half, not so much.
Talk about the challenge Missouri will present this week…
“They've always been able to move the football they have a great offensive system. Coach Pinkel has done a great job at Missouri, whether it was in the Big 12 or representing the SEC East last year. They're right in the thick of the race right now. They win and they are back in the championship game again. That tells you what kind of program and coaching staff and players they have. They will not be intimidated coming in here. They have won 4 of the last 5 games we've played. Since we've been in this league we are 1-1 against them. They've got a lot of kids from the state of Texas that play. I heard Coach Pinkel say yesterday, I think his words were that his guys enjoy playing here. We have our work cut out for us again this week.”
How will your message or approach this week with the team be different after the Auburn game, or will it?
“It won't be any different. It gets back to what you asked me earlier. This team has been through all kinds of different things from the outside—opinions about us, about guys quitting, about being in the final four. We have to deal with this week. This is a good football team we're playing. Our team understands that. What's important is the talk in this building. Because of the talk in this building, that gave us a chance last week. That will have to continue to give us a chance the rest of the year.”
Your running backs had a good day Saturday … what led to that?
“The rotation of the running backs, keeping them fresh, I think was a definite plus for us last Saturday, and some different blocking schemes to be honest with you. We've added some offense up front, it's not dramatically different but subtly it's different. That's a little bit different for our running backs two weeks ago and it continues to be different, because we missed some things Saturday. But our guys are getting used to it and we're going to have to continue to get better against (Missouri). Where people are missing the boat is they've been really, really good defensively this year. We're going to have to be on top of everything offensively to handle it. You look at their quarterback's experience, Matty Mauk can run around and make plays. They're really, really talented at running back, and they have one of the most dangerous return guys in the league. Across the board—offense, defense and special teams—we will have to bring our 'A' game again. There's a reason why this team is right at the top of the east. They're trying to win a championship.”
Earlier in the year Missouri lost to Indiana and was shut out by Georgia. Now they've won three straight. Anything you've seen on film that can explain their turnaround?
“If you look across this league there are a lot of different teams you can ask what happened. Nothing surprises me. All I know is they're playing pretty good right now. They've got a win streak going. They have a championship in their sights. This is a team that as we said earlier has won 4 of the last 5 games against us. Since we've been in the league we're 1-1. It's a game we want to win and they want to win. Just like us, whatever happened 5, 6, 7 weeks ago is irrelevant to what will happen Saturday night.”