Sights and Sounds: Day 2 at AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Dec 27, 2014 | Football
Texas A&M spent a rainy Saturday in Memphis working out indoors, meeting the media and attending a team dinner.
Audio and video clips, along with photos, are available on this page.
Defensive coordinator Mark Hagen opening statement… “For our guys it's kind of been an up and down season. (We) started fast and certainly stubbed our toe middle of the season. We kind of found our way a little bit then faltered there down the stretch, so I think our guys are just excited for the opportunity to play another football game. We've had good preparation—a real focused Thursday-type practice for us. Certainly know that we have a great challenge Monday trying to slow down a very, very potent West Virginia offense.”
Hagen on West Virginia's wide receiver Kevin White… “He makes an impression real quick. Certainly one of the best receives out there. We're going to try to give our guys some relief in different ways, but certainly an outstanding guy. I think he was up for best receiver. I think it's the Biletnikoff Award. He finished probably a very close second to Amari Cooper, who we saw at Alabama. He's certainly a talented guy and certainly a homerun threat. The thing is, you turn all of your attention to him and they've got other pieces around him that can hurt you.”
Hagen on being interim defensive coordinator… “When it happened you really don't have time to sit back and gather your thoughts. It was a heavy time with recruiting so we hit the road. The rest of the staff and I, we just came together collectively to embrace our players and give our guys the best chance to go out and execute. It has been fun. We'll see how it all comes together on Monday.”
Hagen on Miles Garrett… “The sky is the limit with Miles. To me, he's our most valuable player on defense and he's earned that. He's a guy that when he's in there he demands one, two, sometimes three guys to account for him and that just accounts for other opportunities for other players. When he's not in there you certainly know it as well because maybe you're not getting as much pressure with him being in there.”
Defensive lineman Julien Obioha on how similar their offense is to West Virginia's… “I would say about 90 percent of our playbook is similar. Since they have that really athletic quarterback they're going to do a little more quarterback run, but besides that it's about 90 percent the same.”
Defensive back Deshazor Everett on the Mountaineers having time to recover before the bowl game… “The defense is definitely fresh. We've had some off time. Some guys have had time to recover from injuries, things that were bothering them, and get their legs back under them.”
Linebacker Donnie Baggs on the West Virginia offense… “It's going to be a big challenge. Kevin White is a good player; very explosive player. I think the system that we have in place right now is just going to allow us to run around and make plays and be fast and just go out there and have fun. It's going to definitely be a challenge with their mobile quarterback and all the running backs but I think we're more than ready for it.”
Defensive lineman Alonzo Williams on defending the run game… “We've been working a different type of technique that's going to help us be more sound in the run game and allow us to make more tackles. It'll give our linebackers less responsibilities so they can focus more on tackling.”
