Kevin Sumlin, coordinators Jake Spavital and Mark Snyder, and select players met with the media Thursday at the Aggies' LSU preview press conference inside Kyle Field.
Audio and video clips are available to the left. Coach Sumlin quotes are posted below.
What's your satisfaction level with the defensive performance and the job Mark Snyder has done?
“You know, we've had our ups and downs. Certainly last week was really down, we had a lot of guys who were out. It's something we try to evaluate every week. We tried to get the right people (out there). We've made some substitutions. We've put new people in there. I think last week was a tough situation because of two of our better players (Myles Garrett and Ivan Robinson) did not even dress for the game. Josh Walker broke his foot in the second quarter. He had surgery yesterday so he's probably done for the year, a guy that really came on here at the end. It's something you have to evaluate week to week and evaluate at the end of the year.”
When you're evaluating the future of your program, how do you know when it's time to make a change or to keep the status quo?
“From my standpoint, and you've heard me talk about this, in the middle of the year we evaluate things weekly. And then at the end of the year I'll sit down and evaluate where we are and make decisions on what's best for our program and for moving forward. Right now our focus, my focus, and the whole team's focus is on LSU Thanksgiving night. We're trying to send 17 seniors out the right way at Kyle Field. That's enough, based on what we've gone through this year, to get this team focused to play on national TV and on Thanksgiving night, and really have our seniors end the regular season with a good feeling instead of the ups and downs we've had all year. It could really do a lot for us going into bowl preparation.”
From your experience in your first two seasons, what makes John Chavis' LSU defenses so effective?
“They've been athletic. They've had different people on the field and done a nice job. They've done a nice job this year too. They have a scheme they believe in and they've worked at. The whole team is kind of a similar situation as us. We have similar records. Both of us have been playing a bunch of young guys. We've both had some solid wins and disappointing losses. Both teams have been a little inconsistent at times with young players on the field. I think defensively they're solid. They've got good players, young people in positions who have gotten better this year. John Chavis' record stands for itself, it's as good as it gets defensively in the country.”
Can you update us on Myles Garrett, Ivan Robinson and Otaro Alaka's injury status?
“I would say all three guys are probable for this game. Josh Walker is out. Alaka is dealing with more pain than anything. It's a pain tolerance situation. Ivan, we'll see. Myles, I think he'll be ready to go for sure.”
The hot topic this week is A&M could play Texas in a bowl game. How would you feel if that happened?
“I'm going to be excited whoever we play just because it's a bowl game. Right now as I said before we're focused and I'm focused on trying to beat LSU. That's a big deal in this program right now. I've been around this long enough to know whoever and whatever I think we will play, I don't have any say so in what goes on. Whoever we play, we're going to be excited to play them, I'll just put it that way.”
With all the tradition at A&M, how excited are you to play on Thanksgiving and renew that tradition?
“It's good. The way I understand it is set up right now we would play at home on Thanksgiving and may play Friday nights at LSU. There was some discussion about that. Certainly at home for us Thanksgiving brings back lots of memories for our fans. I know our fans are excited about it. Some coaches are a little different about it if you haven't done it because of the whole what do you do? Everyone is kind of missing Thanksgiving for their families and things like that. Having been there before I understand how that works and the tradition and the traditional value of a Thanksgiving night game. We talk to people in recruiting and to our current team that Thanksgiving is a traditional time for family, friends and football. I think it's a great honor. Somebody's got to play, why not us? And in a great venue in front of 100,000-plus at night. It's something to be excited about and are proud of, and I know our guys are excited to be playing.”
Do you consider LSU A&M's main rival? And what makes a main rivalry?
“You know, it's for me. This is year three. I understand different thought processes in what rivalries are. For people who have been involved in Aggie football for years they might see things a little bit differently. I can remember being at Oklahoma and growing up and watching Oklahoma/Nebraska and now thinking who would have thought at this point that this game doesn't even exist. Rivalries over the course of the college football landscape have changed. That's just to name one. When you change leagues obviously you get involved in certain games. Proximity usually weighs in to what becomes a rivalry. Anytime you move a game to the end of the year I think you're insinuating something there, particularly on Thanksgiving. We'll see.”
Do you take anything from the LSU/Arkansas game and the way Arkansas was able to move the ball on LSU that might work for you guys?
“I hope so. Do you want me to tell you what that is? Or just let Les know? (laughter) I said when we played Arkansas, which seems like six months ago right now, that that team was getting better and was going to get somebody. They lost by 1 to Alabama and to us in overtime. That team was coming along and kept fighting. You also had an LSU team who spent a lot of energy the week before in a really, really close football game. It was a combination of two things. We have similar records. They want to end their year on a positive note just like we do and put yourself in a decent bowl scenario. There are a lot of guys from a region of about 300 miles playing in this game. There will be a lot of families celebrating Thanksgiving at Kyle Field. Hopefully we'll be able to celebrate after the game.”
Looking at a guy like Speedy Noil (from New Orleans)…you recruit a lot against LSU. How tough is it to get that kind of talent out of the state of Louisiana?
“We've got a number of guys from Louisiana. I was just looking at them today. Basically they all play except for Noel Ellis, who had a medical problem this summer but played a little bit as a freshman. Deshazor Everett, Speedy Noil, Julien Obioha, Floyd Raven, Ivan Robinson, Shaan Washington, Donovan Wilson. All those guys play for us. So it's important for us to be able to evaluate in Louisiana. Those guys came here and have had, or are having, success. There are a number of guys playing on LSU's team who we tried to recruit from the state of Texas that are playing well for them now. It's an ongoing process between us both. There's a lot of really good football and really well-coached football in these two states. The battle for that talent is not just between the two of us. Obviously both of us would like to keep our guys home and steal one or two from the other state. I don't think that's any secret.”
Give us your three-game assessment of Kyle Allen—good and bad—and what you think of his future going forward?
“I think you saw us playing it close to the vest in his first outing. He came out a lot more relaxed at Auburn and moved the ball well. He has been able to check some plays and do some things. Operationally he has been good from the beginning. Offensively, the package, him being able to get to more things…he's more comfortable with that. I would categorize his performance in three games as solid. It hasn't been over the top, but he has had his moments. It hasn't been disastrous. Ball security is part of it. The interception last week went through Speedy's hands. He continues to improve and continues to understand what we're doing and we continue to understand what he's capable of.”
Relative to the beginning of the season how healthy are you and how important is this stretch to get your guys back and ready to go?
“Well, we're a different team than at the beginning of the year. At Auburn we had a bunch of guys on the field that didn't even go to South Carolina, let alone play. Health is a relative issue. Ivan (Robinson) has been really, really good against strong running teams. His leadership has been something that has helped us at times and when he's not healthy and not in there it's hurt us. He's a big part of what we've been able to accomplish. This time has been good to heal up, but we've got some young guys like Josh Walker who was starting for us that are out. Somebody's got to step back up. That's not any different than a lot of teams at this point. You have some years when things go right injury-wise and other years where guys get beat up. That's where the depth of your program has to be able to match that. A lot of guys that are beat up right now are young guys. We have to manage them physically for this game because this will be a very, very physical football game. Our guys understand that. We have to put them in position to be able to handle that physically going into the game, and in how we play and cut it loose and get some of these young guys ready to go this week.”
What has Deshazor Everett meant to the continued development of your program?
“He's a guy that since the day we got here has played. You go back through his career, I can't speak to before I got here, but he was one of the few guys in our secondary that played in those big games three years ago. You go back to the play against Alabama, the interception, he'll always be remembered for that. I give him a hard time here and tell him a real player would have stayed in bounds and gone 100 yards (laughing). We were just happy he picked it off. He's a guy who has been quiet has had his ups and downs and played through injury. I have a lot of respect for him battling through that. What he has (injury), when it happened, was very, very painful. To manage that during the week--we've been very sensitive to that. For him to continue to play with that brace and do the things he's done I have a tremendous amount of respect for him.”