Photo by: Craig Bisacre/Texas A&M Athletics
Postgame: A&M 45, UTSA 14
Nov 02, 2019 | Football
Postgame sound and quotes following A&M's 45-14 win over UTSA.
COACH FISHER: All right. First of all, I would like to say congratulations to our fans. That's two 11:00 games in a row that we put 100,000 people in the stands. And the people here for that game, that's tremendous support. What a great fan base. Tremendous. Thank you for that.
Very proud of our team. Thought we competed in the game well. Thought we did some things good and bad. They came out and played very well for us. They played hard. They jumped out into a 7-0 lead on us. We gave up some plays. Had a three-and-out on offense. They got on it and we hit the big run and got things going. But we battled back and played really good.
I thought offensively, we were very efficient in the day. The first half there, I think we had five possessions, scored three. We had two, then we hit three in a row. Was very proud. Scored two minutes before the half was huge. We got 14 points on the board without them touching the ball. In other words, got to two minutes before the half, and then come out the first drive in the second half and scored again. It was 14-7. That took it to 28-7. I thought that was huge in the game where we were. And then got a stop and then went to 35-7, 42-7. Scored consecutive drives. That's two weeks in a row we've done that. Did a better job of that. Learning how to do it and finishing in the red zone.
Third down wasn't good in the first half, didn't finish really. I think it was third quarter we were excellent on third downs. Missed a couple of the twos at the end. We ran the ball very well. Isaiah [Spiller] was excellent in the game. Our offensive line did a great job. Our tight ends did a good job, our receivers. Kellen [Mond] getting his hands in the right plays, doing those things in the running game. Cordarrian [Richardson] had some great blocks and runs in the game also in there. So the young guys keep making plays and doing the things they got to do.
Trying to think. Very proud of -- then the passing game, got going, the plays got made. We did the things we had to do there.
Defensively, started out a little slow. They were moving the football. We loss contained a couple of times on runs and scrambles. They got some drives. Then we straightened it up at halftime. I think the third quarter we had 200 yards and they had 36. I thought it was huge we got domination at that time. But, man, they were playing our tails off that first half.
Thought punting we kicked the ball well, covered. We had one kickoff that came out there. It was a shame. Other than that, we covered kicks really well. Punted the ball really well. And you even saw some of the young guys. Nik [Constantinou] hit some great punts. And when our kickoffs, when we took a man out, we were still hitting the balls out of the end zone. We got some great kickers, guys doing a great job in that area.
But defensively, some young guys, a lot of guys, got to play. Senior Day today. It was a big day. A lot of guys, a lot of walk-ons got in at the end. [Mitchell] Howard got a strip-sack. [Erick] Young got a first pick. There are some good things growing. But those young players keep getting better and better. Older guys are doing a good job.
And got a lot of room to grow. Got three weeks -- got a week to get cleaned up and healed and get better and then get in the game week and play three games down the stretch. So got a lot of football left.
Congratulations. Our team got bowl-eligible today, which is huge. Another goal which we have in place. So just keep sawing wood.
Q. I'm going to guess you've never had a Senior Day where you honored three scholarship seniors. But what does that also say about the future of your --
COACH FISHER: Well, hopefully, our guys are out there. We're playing a lot of young guys. They get better. And if they keep developing, I mean, the future is going to be very, very bright.
Q. Jimbo, how would you describe your demeanor at halftime? And what was your message at halftime?
COACH FISHER: To finish. I wasn't upset. I mean, because they were moving. Offensively, we got the momentum at halftime. It was to keep the momentum. All right. Listen, they stung us. We've got to make the adjustments on defense. Offense, we had been moving the ball very well. We got momentum. Let's keep momentum. Let's go out and get points on the first drive. Let's get a stop on defense, and let's go get it up to a four-score game and start to stretch this thing and learn how to finish and play towards each other and build on the momentum you build at the end of the half. And we were just trying to fix the mistakes in which we had and clean things up.
Q. [Isaiah] Spiller really turned it on today. What do you continue to see? And how important was it on a day where you didn't use a lot of QB run to just line up, use 28 and run the ball?
COACH FISHER: You got to. I mean, you got to be able to do it. But now part of that happens because people have to play the QB run. That's a gap that people have to play on the edges. They can't squeeze. They can do some things, so that's going to cause some problems. So the more we can create that without the QB run, it's good. So when the QB run comes or the options off of that are good, it's a complete team thing. And I thought we blocked very well up front. Tight ends, receivers, everybody did a great job down the field. He hit holes.
Q. [Isaiah] Spiller had three really long runs and two of them were for touchdowns. How big is that for like momentum and kind of a shot in the arm?
COACH FISHER: Well, it is. When you can hit those, especially we're down 7-0. Then, I mean, bang, 7-7. Then later on we hit it. I mean, when you hit those one-play drives, it demoralizes people. I mean, it does. It takes the heart out of guys on the other side. Takes a mature team to bounce back from that. On offense, it gives you that adrenaline, that shot and what you did. And we kept building off of it. He was the catalyst today.
Q. How hard has [Isaiah] Spiller been working on possessing the football, not giving turnovers over the past couple of weeks?
COACH FISHER: Spent a lot of time with it. I mean, early he did that. I mean, like I say, early and understanding what goes with it and the responsibility that goes carrying it. And really, when you get in the game, how those guys really come after it. I mean, you think you know, until you get in there with some of those guys and how it's coming. But he's growing each and every day.
Q. Where is DeMarvin Leal at right now?
COACH FISHER: Getting better and better. I mean, gives us time, giving us playing time. Rushing, being more physical. You see his development just keep growing and growing.
Q. Coach, can you talk about where you're at now going into another bye week with the last three to come?
COACH FISHER: Hopefully, we've got great confidence in what we're doing. We can see that we're getting better in a lot of areas in which we played at. And you can see the consistency and hopefully they can see it and understand why they're playing well.
Because everybody says why you play bad, you fix it. When you play well, you've got to repeat it and you've got to keep building on it and keep the same intensity. You can't let up. You can't relax. You've got to reload. You can't relax. You've got to reload. And you've got to get yourself going.
Because these last three, I mean, South Carolina is going to come in here and try to get bowl-eligible. They have got a great football team. Defeated Georgia on the road.
Then you have to go to Georgia and you got to go do LSU. So those are going to be three great games. We're going to have to get better and better knowing we're going to have three great SEC opponents coming in, but we've got some great opportunities in front of us. Hopefully we've learned from the past.
Q. What changed the first quarter through the rest of the game in the secondary? And was part of it to do with the injuries that you kind of had to make adjustments with?
COACH FISHER: I don't think it was injuries. We've got good players. I think we started getting better rush, thought we were getting more pressure. I thought we started clamping down. I mean, we started -- you know, got some urgency about us and started doing what we were capable of doing, which we should have been doing coming out of the gates.
Q. Coach, what do you take from [Zach] Calzada's performance?
COACH FISHER: People didn't realize, he was going to have a touchdown the first drive. We had a guy snap a route off. He was fixing to throw a touchdown the first drive. Right off the bat and the guy ran a route. Getting ready to let it out of his hand. You saw him one time, it went like that. The guy broke the route off -- just a young guy, made a mistake. So it could have been great. He ended up throwing a pick.
But we got to play better around -- we didn't protect him well. He made a mistake on a read and throw it out there. They'll learn from it. You got to get in there. That's why we've got to get them in there as much as you can, get them playing as much as you can.
I think he's got a tremendous future and going to be a great player. But you got to go in there and go through those growing pains and things that go on. But I mean, if he throws a touchdown the first drive, how do you know how that effects what goes on there, too? You didn't see that. You only see the pick. So in that regard, different things happen for different reasons. We know why. But I'm very high on him, and I think he's going to be a good player.
Q. Like Rich mentioned, Demani [Richardson] and Elijah [Blades] both not suited today. Update on those guys?
COACH FISHER: Hopefully they'll be back for South Carolina, we're hoping.
Q. Coach, is it a concern that, you know, y'all took so long to get started and take the lead? You said that you should have done it earlier.
COACH FISHER: Well, no, they had a drive and we stopped them. We had one drive and they scored. Then the next drive we scored. Then the next drive we went ahead. We only had the ball -- we scored two out of the first three drives. Only had a five second half. I mean, so that's happened. Not really.
I mean, you would like to start from ahead. But, also, I like to see us have composure to be able to come back when the guys make a play and come back and execute. We scored. The very next play, we popped it, scored. Then we stopped them, then we come right back and scored again. Got up 14-7. Got stopped.
They held them. Then we did a two-minute drive and went up 21-7. We got three out of five drives, so, you know, they kept the ball the first half a little bit on defense. Wish we could have gotten it back a little more, but that's a good test for a team. And that's the way games are going to be played. You got to handle momentum. A lot of those drives came on long drives. We were backed up from field position.
Q. As good as [Sincere] McCormick -- really, he's a good back. How encouraging was it after he allowed 230 plus on the ground the previous two games?
COACH FISHER: They got a couple of runs early. We didn't across on some blitzes inside. We didn't get across on a pressure twice. They hit some inside runs and we got that fixed. And then we played the run very well. We usually play the run real well. It was very encouraging.
QUESTIONS FOR JUSTIN MADUBUIKE, KELLEN MOND, JHAMON AUSBON AND
KELDRICK CARPER
Q. Hey, Justin, you started out slow and gave up some big plays. What really changed there and allowed you guys to clamp down and hold UTSA to stay there the rest of the game after that first quarter?
JUSTIN MADUBUIKE: We all just told each other to wake up. You know what I'm saying? It's not going to be an easy game. They're going to come in here fired up and ready to go and they did. It was kind of like a wake-up call, but we got it together and started stopping some big, explosive plays and got the win.
Q. You say two things, number one, the rush defense, which was much improved today, allowed 93 yards on the ground. Then also four sacks and ten tackles for a loss. A lot of pressure in their backfield as well.
JUSTIN MADUBUIKE: I'm sorry. What was that question? I'm sorry.
Q. Can you take us through that?
JUSTIN MADUBUIKE: Oh, okay. Yeah, we were just trying to cause pressure on Number 10 (Lowell Narcisse). He was a dual threat. He could throw it. He could run it. Every time he found space in the middle, he would always gash it and try to get some yardage. As the game went on, we started figuring that out and started to stop him.
Q. First, can you kind of talk about becoming bowl-eligible? And then obviously you want to build on that, but picking up your sixth win today.
JUSTIN MADUBUIKE: Yeah, picking up the sixth win is huge. We're bowl-eligible. Coach Fisher just got done talking about that. It's a great feeling, but we're not done. We're not satisfied. We're going to have this bye week. You know what I'm saying? Take care of our bodies. Tighten up things and practice things that need to be tightened up and get ready to play South Carolina in two weeks.
Q. The bye week, the second one you've had this season, how are you guys getting into that? And what do you feel like you really need to work on to get ready for the last push with South Carolina, Georgia, and LSU?
JUSTIN MADUBUIKE: We're just getting into it by stretching tomorrow, doing the little things right, making sure we're taking care of our bodies, eating well. Conditioning is huge now. What you put in your body is huge now. It's starting to get cold so people are starting to get a little thicker. You have to make sure you handle your business on and off the field.
And, you know, I forgot your second question. I think it was -- Oh, all right.
Q. What can you tell us about how far Demarvin Leal has come over these last few weeks?
JUSTIN MADUBUIKE: He's doing great. Mike (Michael Clemons) had -- I don't know what it was. He was out and Marv stepped on in. He's made some big tackles, some big plays. He's my roommate every time we go out to a game. So he always asks intelligent questions. He's a young sponge ready to soak in knowledge of the game, and it's a great thing for him. I feel like the sky is the limit for him. I tell him this all the time, he's always eager to get plays. I tell him to take it one day at a time and do your job and it will just come to you in due time.
Q. Justin, their back, [Sincere] McCormick, had a couple of runs. But for the most part, you bottled him up after giving up 230 on the ground the last two weeks. What was different today? What was better against the run?
JUSTIN MADUBUIKE: Like I said earlier, I just believe that everybody was talking on the sideline after that first touchdown. We were like, Boy, we need to wake up, like, right now. We're better than this. We can't allow this. Our expectations are higher than this.
Everybody just bought in, and everybody just started making plays all around the field and doing their job. And, you know, obviously UTSA, they saw that and they didn't know what to do at that point. So as long as we keep doing that and believing in each other, we can just, you know...
Q. You have any theory or thoughts on why y'all kind of got off to a slow start then?
JUSTIN MADUBUIKE: I don't know. Maybe early game, you know, people are still dragging from sleep. I don't know what it was but, you know, we got it going after the first drive. We shouldn't have let that happen, but we did. And how you respond to things is what matters. And we responded well, and we got the win. So we've just got to ice up, stem up, make sure our bodies are right and, you know, keep pushing for the bye week.
Q. How big was [Isaiah] Spiller today in general? And then especially when you're down 7-0, for him to immediately pop that 60-yarder to put it back to 7-7.
KELLEN MOND: It was really big, and just kind of, like I say, every week goes back to the work he puts in practice and just understanding what gaps might be there against what certain teams and understanding different fronts. So it's really good to see him and some of those other freshmen continue to grow each and every week.
Q. Kellen, the running game has gotten progressively better each of the last three weeks. How good does it feel, from your perspective, to see things starting to click up front like that?
KELLEN MOND: It's really good. And, you know, it makes the passing game a lot easier. So something that you kind of notice is when the running game was going a lot better, you know, passing percentages and easier throws are able to be made. So it's something that we wish we could have gone to a little bit earlier in the year and got going. But, you know, I like where we're at right now and this run game. I look forward to it to continue to push even further.
Q. Yeah, Kellen, did the game plan call for you to have a lessened role, less of a role in the running game? And secondly, do you just look for -- when you all get close, do you just look for Jalen [Wydermyer] now?
KELLEN MOND: Well, for the first one, there were still zone reads but, you know, last week a lot of those answers were crashing. And so this week against UTSA, they weren't really crashing as much. So that's why Isaiah [Spiller] was able to get some of those pretty big gaps in. For Jalen, he's a big red-zone target. Last year even, getting chased going into the red zone. Just such a big body and, you know, feel like he's a big mismatch. So I feel really comfortable with Jalen and the progress that he's made so far. And I look for that relationship between us to continue to grow.
Q. Kellen, last week, one of your touchdown passes put you fourth all-time in A&M history for most touchdown passes. Today you past, I think, fifth in all-time passing yards. Do those records mean anything to you?
KELLEN MOND: Yeah. You know, every record is big for me. But, you know, a lot of times, I don't really take it as an individual record. It goes back to the work that my team has put in. I can't really do anything without my offensive line, my running backs, and my receivers making plays and also the defense getting the ball back to me. So, you know, even though my name is on the record, it's pretty much a team record to me.
Q. What kind of work has Isaiah [Spiller] put into protecting the ball, not fumbling it? And how much of that has equated to his success?
KELLEN MOND: I mean, his week has kind of been similar. You know, nothing really -- you know, certain type of work but obviously he doesn't try to fumble. But just something that he progressed on in practice and just understanding different gaps and getting down lower sometimes. When guys are getting a little bit closer. So, nothing too in particular, but just trusting his offensive line better and hitting the hole a little bit harder.
Q. Kellen, what did you make of the slow start? Go three and out and then UTSA goes on and scores and then obviously you get control of the game. What did you make of the slow start? And what do you think got you guys going?
KELLEN MOND: We've had three-and-outs before, and it just happened to be that first one and then they go down and score. So just like every single game, we're going to take it one drive at a time, one play at a time. And Isaiah [Spiller] was able to pop a big one and then we were able to go up 14-7 and then 21-7 right before the half. So we just like to take it one play at a time and just focus on what we've got to do on exactly that play.
Q. Kellen, can you talk about going into the bye week and just where you guys are at and what you kind of hope to accomplish before you've got South Carolina to come in here in two weeks?
KELLEN MOND: Yeah. I mean, I feel like as a team and me individually, I feel really comfortable with where we're at. You know, obviously there's some stuff that we need to clean up. We're not perfect. But I like where we're at, and I look forward to this bye week, getting our minds and getting our body right, and continue to progress on to South Carolina.
Q. [Jalen] Wydermyer with his sixth touchdown catch, what has he done to make the passing game more complete all the way around?
JHAMON AUSBON: I think he's being very detailed and understanding the concept when he's running routes. Knowing if he's not getting the ball, understanding how he's getting a different guy open in offense. We've had a lot of offensive meetings with the tight ends, receivers and backs together. Just getting the whole field offense and seeing how everything ties in. He's doing a good job of just doing a good job and being detailed with the assignments.
Q. Jhamon, how big was it to see Isaiah Spiller kind of break out and have just three huge monster runs over 200 yards today and kind of establish himself as a pretty dominant running back on this team?
JHAMON AUSBON: Yeah, that's huge. I'm very happy for him. He worked hard in practice. He had some tough fumbles in a couple of games. Tried to tell him to keep his head up, you know. It was going to be a big turning point. Everybody goes through some adversity. Just handled it well and he's doing a great job right now, so I'm happy for him.
Q. Yeah, I think the TV said that after that first drive, Jimbo was kind of yelling at y'all to wake up. Was that kind of his early message? What do you think kind of had y'all a little bit asleep, and what did kind of wake you up?
JHAMON AUSBON: Yeah, he did get on us about that. Just it being a game that everybody thinks that we're going to just roll over people. We still have our game, but he was just trying to get our attention to let us know that they're coming in here ready to win. And I don't know why we came out or what it was, but just, you know, we picked it up towards the middle of the game and end of the game. So, yeah.
Q. Jhamon, I don't know, third, fourth quarter, somewhere around there, you caught one on the far sideline, and you seemed kind of upset with yourself because I don't know if you thought that you had a possibility of scoring. But just talk about the passing game and kind of how that's going and, you know, where you guys hope to be going into the South Carolina game here in two weeks.
JHAMON AUSBON: Yeah, I was pretty upset. I thought I could get into the end zone. Kept my feet a little bit more, been a little bit more under control. But I think in the passing game, we just want to -- I think it just comes down to trust and just having the confidence so Kellen [Mond] knows where we're going to be on each play and vice versa. And we can make checks on the field and be right on time.
So I think that it just comes down to just a trust and just knowing our every step. Kellen is ready to throw the ball. Just getting on our brakes and all the details in the offense. So I don't think it's a big picture thing. I think it's just doing the details and small things on each play.
Q. Jhamon, building off that with Isaiah [Spiller] getting going here, how does that affect the passing game and the play-action game? And how big can that be for your guys moving forward?
JHAMON AUSBON: That's huge. I think anytime someone has to play two phases of the offense, you know, it's hard in the game plan. So with him having 200 yards in this game, that was huge for us. Made everything easy. So I just would advise him to keep doing that and keep helping us out. It's going to help us out a lot in this next few games coming up.
Q. Keldrick, how hard was it going against a quarterback as versatile as they had in number 10 (Lowell Narcisse)? And there were a couple of times it looked like you had a shot at him in the backfield, but he was able to slip away.
KELDRICK CARPER: Yeah, Lowell, I remember him from recruiting at LSU when he was committed there at the time and I was still getting recruited by them. But yeah, he do it through the quarterback and he was tough. They got a majority of their rushing yards from him just climbing the pocket and scrambling and hitting those big eight, nine, ten-yard runs and everything like that. So it was difficult initially just trying to get used to his movement and everything like that and how he stepped up and where he went to flush two and everything like that. But as the game went on, we were able to contain him in critical moments and it worked out for us.
Q. I think you came in on those blitzes probably three or four times and didn't get home, but then finally did on that last one. How good a feeling was that for you to do that? And then playing off of that, a four-sack, ten-tackle-for-a-loss day overall as a defense?
KELDRICK CARPER: Yeah, it was great getting my first one. I appreciate Coach [Mike] Elko for that. We draw up a great blitz. Just getting a chance to get home, you just keep grinding and working it, working it throughout the game. Sometimes it won't open up for you, you won't get there, but when you get your chance, you got to make the best of it. As a hole, our D-line just did a great job of getting after the quarterback and just living in the backfield. And they just re-established the line of scrimmage. And it made it great for us in critical situations to where we was able to send those blitzes and everything like that. And eventually get those sacks and get off the field on third down.
Q. Keldrick, they had 130 yards in the first quarter. After that, you guys pretty much shut their offense down completely. What kind of switched from the end of the first quarter to the rest of the game?
KELDRICK CARPER: Yeah, it sucks to talk about. That first quarter, we had a miscommunication on that long pass. That was on me and the running back got up the sideline. And then that just showed up in their score the half of the game offensively. But yeah, we just had to hit that switch. We didn't come out like we wanted to, as far as just guns a-blazing, heads on fire, trying to be a great defense, active defense. But once we got settled in and we really started to focus in and lock in, we was able to contain them and make big plays.
Q. Keldrick, at the end, a couple of young guys made some plays. How fun is that to see? The defense kind of -- everybody went crazy at that point with those guys. How cool is that for those guys?
KELDRICK CARPER: Oh, yeah. Erick Young, he got that interception. Little treat, he switched to safety this week. And, you know, just one week into playing safety and he was able to get his hands on the football. He's been playing corner all of his life, corner and nickel and stuff like that. So just getting him in there and making the play, it was exciting. And we had some -- our younger guy Mitchell Howard, he's a walk-on, and he was able to get a strip sack. You know, that's what I like about our team. We're excited to see other people have success. There aren't any egos and stuff like that that can affect certain teams. I just like that attitude, this team being selfless. We enjoy that. We were all up on the sideline, just pushing them around, giving them high fives and stuff like that. It was fun. You love stuff like that.
"I thought our effort was there, I thought from a personnel standpoint that they are an extremely talented football team. You attribute a lot to our lack of success to their personnel and their ability to stop the run and not allow us to get that push that we wanted from a running standpoint to create some passing opportunities for our team."
On his message to the team…
"I'm extremely proud of you. You never quit, you continue to fight when the odds were stacked against you. You continue to find a way to attain victory. Unfortunately, today, our best wasn't good enough against a very quality football team."
On the team's performance at the start of the game…
"I think if we were able to play with this type of intensity in our conference games, we will have a chance in each and every one of them. Again, odds stacked against you, and I said to the team, we don't have to be better than them for 12 weeks, we don't have to be better than them for two weeks, we just have to be better than them for three hours, to give ourselves a chance and probably an hour and a half of it we were as good and gave ourselves a chance."
"It was a great experience. The sideline was excited. I've never seen our sideline that turned up, but it was fun. I honestly thought for a minute we were going to win this game. They weren't that good at all. They were good, but not what we thought they were going to be. We just fell short, I guess."
On if he felt like they rattled the offense with their blitzes…
"Yeah, I think it did. A lot of the stuff they got, we gave them. So we just have to capitalize on plays and don't miss our opportunities."
Josh Dunlap, UTSA Offensive Lineman
On what it was like playing at Kyle Field…
"It was exciting. I come from a junior college, playing in front of parents and bus drivers to an SEC field. So I really just enjoy the experience. That first drive coming out when we scored, I probably won't forget that for the rest of my life honestly. It was just really fun. Good competition. They weren't as dominant as I thought they would be, but we really had fun out there as an o-line."
On what their first quarter performance…
"I just think we came out fired up. We had a really good pregame speech, and we just believed that we deserved to be on this field. We deserve to compete with these guys. I think what made us click that first drive is just the communication was on point, and everybody was calling stuff out, identify the fronts, and just having fun."
Head Coach Jimbo Fisher
COACH FISHER: All right. First of all, I would like to say congratulations to our fans. That's two 11:00 games in a row that we put 100,000 people in the stands. And the people here for that game, that's tremendous support. What a great fan base. Tremendous. Thank you for that.
Very proud of our team. Thought we competed in the game well. Thought we did some things good and bad. They came out and played very well for us. They played hard. They jumped out into a 7-0 lead on us. We gave up some plays. Had a three-and-out on offense. They got on it and we hit the big run and got things going. But we battled back and played really good.
I thought offensively, we were very efficient in the day. The first half there, I think we had five possessions, scored three. We had two, then we hit three in a row. Was very proud. Scored two minutes before the half was huge. We got 14 points on the board without them touching the ball. In other words, got to two minutes before the half, and then come out the first drive in the second half and scored again. It was 14-7. That took it to 28-7. I thought that was huge in the game where we were. And then got a stop and then went to 35-7, 42-7. Scored consecutive drives. That's two weeks in a row we've done that. Did a better job of that. Learning how to do it and finishing in the red zone.
Third down wasn't good in the first half, didn't finish really. I think it was third quarter we were excellent on third downs. Missed a couple of the twos at the end. We ran the ball very well. Isaiah [Spiller] was excellent in the game. Our offensive line did a great job. Our tight ends did a good job, our receivers. Kellen [Mond] getting his hands in the right plays, doing those things in the running game. Cordarrian [Richardson] had some great blocks and runs in the game also in there. So the young guys keep making plays and doing the things they got to do.
Trying to think. Very proud of -- then the passing game, got going, the plays got made. We did the things we had to do there.
Defensively, started out a little slow. They were moving the football. We loss contained a couple of times on runs and scrambles. They got some drives. Then we straightened it up at halftime. I think the third quarter we had 200 yards and they had 36. I thought it was huge we got domination at that time. But, man, they were playing our tails off that first half.
Thought punting we kicked the ball well, covered. We had one kickoff that came out there. It was a shame. Other than that, we covered kicks really well. Punted the ball really well. And you even saw some of the young guys. Nik [Constantinou] hit some great punts. And when our kickoffs, when we took a man out, we were still hitting the balls out of the end zone. We got some great kickers, guys doing a great job in that area.
But defensively, some young guys, a lot of guys, got to play. Senior Day today. It was a big day. A lot of guys, a lot of walk-ons got in at the end. [Mitchell] Howard got a strip-sack. [Erick] Young got a first pick. There are some good things growing. But those young players keep getting better and better. Older guys are doing a good job.
And got a lot of room to grow. Got three weeks -- got a week to get cleaned up and healed and get better and then get in the game week and play three games down the stretch. So got a lot of football left.
Congratulations. Our team got bowl-eligible today, which is huge. Another goal which we have in place. So just keep sawing wood.
Q. I'm going to guess you've never had a Senior Day where you honored three scholarship seniors. But what does that also say about the future of your --
COACH FISHER: Well, hopefully, our guys are out there. We're playing a lot of young guys. They get better. And if they keep developing, I mean, the future is going to be very, very bright.
Q. Jimbo, how would you describe your demeanor at halftime? And what was your message at halftime?
COACH FISHER: To finish. I wasn't upset. I mean, because they were moving. Offensively, we got the momentum at halftime. It was to keep the momentum. All right. Listen, they stung us. We've got to make the adjustments on defense. Offense, we had been moving the ball very well. We got momentum. Let's keep momentum. Let's go out and get points on the first drive. Let's get a stop on defense, and let's go get it up to a four-score game and start to stretch this thing and learn how to finish and play towards each other and build on the momentum you build at the end of the half. And we were just trying to fix the mistakes in which we had and clean things up.
Q. [Isaiah] Spiller really turned it on today. What do you continue to see? And how important was it on a day where you didn't use a lot of QB run to just line up, use 28 and run the ball?
COACH FISHER: You got to. I mean, you got to be able to do it. But now part of that happens because people have to play the QB run. That's a gap that people have to play on the edges. They can't squeeze. They can do some things, so that's going to cause some problems. So the more we can create that without the QB run, it's good. So when the QB run comes or the options off of that are good, it's a complete team thing. And I thought we blocked very well up front. Tight ends, receivers, everybody did a great job down the field. He hit holes.
Q. [Isaiah] Spiller had three really long runs and two of them were for touchdowns. How big is that for like momentum and kind of a shot in the arm?
COACH FISHER: Well, it is. When you can hit those, especially we're down 7-0. Then, I mean, bang, 7-7. Then later on we hit it. I mean, when you hit those one-play drives, it demoralizes people. I mean, it does. It takes the heart out of guys on the other side. Takes a mature team to bounce back from that. On offense, it gives you that adrenaline, that shot and what you did. And we kept building off of it. He was the catalyst today.
Q. How hard has [Isaiah] Spiller been working on possessing the football, not giving turnovers over the past couple of weeks?
COACH FISHER: Spent a lot of time with it. I mean, early he did that. I mean, like I say, early and understanding what goes with it and the responsibility that goes carrying it. And really, when you get in the game, how those guys really come after it. I mean, you think you know, until you get in there with some of those guys and how it's coming. But he's growing each and every day.
Q. Where is DeMarvin Leal at right now?
COACH FISHER: Getting better and better. I mean, gives us time, giving us playing time. Rushing, being more physical. You see his development just keep growing and growing.
Q. Coach, can you talk about where you're at now going into another bye week with the last three to come?
COACH FISHER: Hopefully, we've got great confidence in what we're doing. We can see that we're getting better in a lot of areas in which we played at. And you can see the consistency and hopefully they can see it and understand why they're playing well.
Because everybody says why you play bad, you fix it. When you play well, you've got to repeat it and you've got to keep building on it and keep the same intensity. You can't let up. You can't relax. You've got to reload. You can't relax. You've got to reload. And you've got to get yourself going.
Because these last three, I mean, South Carolina is going to come in here and try to get bowl-eligible. They have got a great football team. Defeated Georgia on the road.
Then you have to go to Georgia and you got to go do LSU. So those are going to be three great games. We're going to have to get better and better knowing we're going to have three great SEC opponents coming in, but we've got some great opportunities in front of us. Hopefully we've learned from the past.
Q. What changed the first quarter through the rest of the game in the secondary? And was part of it to do with the injuries that you kind of had to make adjustments with?
COACH FISHER: I don't think it was injuries. We've got good players. I think we started getting better rush, thought we were getting more pressure. I thought we started clamping down. I mean, we started -- you know, got some urgency about us and started doing what we were capable of doing, which we should have been doing coming out of the gates.
Q. Coach, what do you take from [Zach] Calzada's performance?
COACH FISHER: People didn't realize, he was going to have a touchdown the first drive. We had a guy snap a route off. He was fixing to throw a touchdown the first drive. Right off the bat and the guy ran a route. Getting ready to let it out of his hand. You saw him one time, it went like that. The guy broke the route off -- just a young guy, made a mistake. So it could have been great. He ended up throwing a pick.
But we got to play better around -- we didn't protect him well. He made a mistake on a read and throw it out there. They'll learn from it. You got to get in there. That's why we've got to get them in there as much as you can, get them playing as much as you can.
I think he's got a tremendous future and going to be a great player. But you got to go in there and go through those growing pains and things that go on. But I mean, if he throws a touchdown the first drive, how do you know how that effects what goes on there, too? You didn't see that. You only see the pick. So in that regard, different things happen for different reasons. We know why. But I'm very high on him, and I think he's going to be a good player.
Q. Like Rich mentioned, Demani [Richardson] and Elijah [Blades] both not suited today. Update on those guys?
COACH FISHER: Hopefully they'll be back for South Carolina, we're hoping.
Q. Coach, is it a concern that, you know, y'all took so long to get started and take the lead? You said that you should have done it earlier.
COACH FISHER: Well, no, they had a drive and we stopped them. We had one drive and they scored. Then the next drive we scored. Then the next drive we went ahead. We only had the ball -- we scored two out of the first three drives. Only had a five second half. I mean, so that's happened. Not really.
I mean, you would like to start from ahead. But, also, I like to see us have composure to be able to come back when the guys make a play and come back and execute. We scored. The very next play, we popped it, scored. Then we stopped them, then we come right back and scored again. Got up 14-7. Got stopped.
They held them. Then we did a two-minute drive and went up 21-7. We got three out of five drives, so, you know, they kept the ball the first half a little bit on defense. Wish we could have gotten it back a little more, but that's a good test for a team. And that's the way games are going to be played. You got to handle momentum. A lot of those drives came on long drives. We were backed up from field position.
Q. As good as [Sincere] McCormick -- really, he's a good back. How encouraging was it after he allowed 230 plus on the ground the previous two games?
COACH FISHER: They got a couple of runs early. We didn't across on some blitzes inside. We didn't get across on a pressure twice. They hit some inside runs and we got that fixed. And then we played the run very well. We usually play the run real well. It was very encouraging.
QUESTIONS FOR JUSTIN MADUBUIKE, KELLEN MOND, JHAMON AUSBON AND
KELDRICK CARPER
Q. Hey, Justin, you started out slow and gave up some big plays. What really changed there and allowed you guys to clamp down and hold UTSA to stay there the rest of the game after that first quarter?
JUSTIN MADUBUIKE: We all just told each other to wake up. You know what I'm saying? It's not going to be an easy game. They're going to come in here fired up and ready to go and they did. It was kind of like a wake-up call, but we got it together and started stopping some big, explosive plays and got the win.
Q. You say two things, number one, the rush defense, which was much improved today, allowed 93 yards on the ground. Then also four sacks and ten tackles for a loss. A lot of pressure in their backfield as well.
JUSTIN MADUBUIKE: I'm sorry. What was that question? I'm sorry.
Q. Can you take us through that?
JUSTIN MADUBUIKE: Oh, okay. Yeah, we were just trying to cause pressure on Number 10 (Lowell Narcisse). He was a dual threat. He could throw it. He could run it. Every time he found space in the middle, he would always gash it and try to get some yardage. As the game went on, we started figuring that out and started to stop him.
Q. First, can you kind of talk about becoming bowl-eligible? And then obviously you want to build on that, but picking up your sixth win today.
JUSTIN MADUBUIKE: Yeah, picking up the sixth win is huge. We're bowl-eligible. Coach Fisher just got done talking about that. It's a great feeling, but we're not done. We're not satisfied. We're going to have this bye week. You know what I'm saying? Take care of our bodies. Tighten up things and practice things that need to be tightened up and get ready to play South Carolina in two weeks.
Q. The bye week, the second one you've had this season, how are you guys getting into that? And what do you feel like you really need to work on to get ready for the last push with South Carolina, Georgia, and LSU?
JUSTIN MADUBUIKE: We're just getting into it by stretching tomorrow, doing the little things right, making sure we're taking care of our bodies, eating well. Conditioning is huge now. What you put in your body is huge now. It's starting to get cold so people are starting to get a little thicker. You have to make sure you handle your business on and off the field.
And, you know, I forgot your second question. I think it was -- Oh, all right.
Q. What can you tell us about how far Demarvin Leal has come over these last few weeks?
JUSTIN MADUBUIKE: He's doing great. Mike (Michael Clemons) had -- I don't know what it was. He was out and Marv stepped on in. He's made some big tackles, some big plays. He's my roommate every time we go out to a game. So he always asks intelligent questions. He's a young sponge ready to soak in knowledge of the game, and it's a great thing for him. I feel like the sky is the limit for him. I tell him this all the time, he's always eager to get plays. I tell him to take it one day at a time and do your job and it will just come to you in due time.
Q. Justin, their back, [Sincere] McCormick, had a couple of runs. But for the most part, you bottled him up after giving up 230 on the ground the last two weeks. What was different today? What was better against the run?
JUSTIN MADUBUIKE: Like I said earlier, I just believe that everybody was talking on the sideline after that first touchdown. We were like, Boy, we need to wake up, like, right now. We're better than this. We can't allow this. Our expectations are higher than this.
Everybody just bought in, and everybody just started making plays all around the field and doing their job. And, you know, obviously UTSA, they saw that and they didn't know what to do at that point. So as long as we keep doing that and believing in each other, we can just, you know...
Q. You have any theory or thoughts on why y'all kind of got off to a slow start then?
JUSTIN MADUBUIKE: I don't know. Maybe early game, you know, people are still dragging from sleep. I don't know what it was but, you know, we got it going after the first drive. We shouldn't have let that happen, but we did. And how you respond to things is what matters. And we responded well, and we got the win. So we've just got to ice up, stem up, make sure our bodies are right and, you know, keep pushing for the bye week.
Q. How big was [Isaiah] Spiller today in general? And then especially when you're down 7-0, for him to immediately pop that 60-yarder to put it back to 7-7.
KELLEN MOND: It was really big, and just kind of, like I say, every week goes back to the work he puts in practice and just understanding what gaps might be there against what certain teams and understanding different fronts. So it's really good to see him and some of those other freshmen continue to grow each and every week.
Q. Kellen, the running game has gotten progressively better each of the last three weeks. How good does it feel, from your perspective, to see things starting to click up front like that?
KELLEN MOND: It's really good. And, you know, it makes the passing game a lot easier. So something that you kind of notice is when the running game was going a lot better, you know, passing percentages and easier throws are able to be made. So it's something that we wish we could have gone to a little bit earlier in the year and got going. But, you know, I like where we're at right now and this run game. I look forward to it to continue to push even further.
Q. Yeah, Kellen, did the game plan call for you to have a lessened role, less of a role in the running game? And secondly, do you just look for -- when you all get close, do you just look for Jalen [Wydermyer] now?
KELLEN MOND: Well, for the first one, there were still zone reads but, you know, last week a lot of those answers were crashing. And so this week against UTSA, they weren't really crashing as much. So that's why Isaiah [Spiller] was able to get some of those pretty big gaps in. For Jalen, he's a big red-zone target. Last year even, getting chased going into the red zone. Just such a big body and, you know, feel like he's a big mismatch. So I feel really comfortable with Jalen and the progress that he's made so far. And I look for that relationship between us to continue to grow.
Q. Kellen, last week, one of your touchdown passes put you fourth all-time in A&M history for most touchdown passes. Today you past, I think, fifth in all-time passing yards. Do those records mean anything to you?
KELLEN MOND: Yeah. You know, every record is big for me. But, you know, a lot of times, I don't really take it as an individual record. It goes back to the work that my team has put in. I can't really do anything without my offensive line, my running backs, and my receivers making plays and also the defense getting the ball back to me. So, you know, even though my name is on the record, it's pretty much a team record to me.
Q. What kind of work has Isaiah [Spiller] put into protecting the ball, not fumbling it? And how much of that has equated to his success?
KELLEN MOND: I mean, his week has kind of been similar. You know, nothing really -- you know, certain type of work but obviously he doesn't try to fumble. But just something that he progressed on in practice and just understanding different gaps and getting down lower sometimes. When guys are getting a little bit closer. So, nothing too in particular, but just trusting his offensive line better and hitting the hole a little bit harder.
Q. Kellen, what did you make of the slow start? Go three and out and then UTSA goes on and scores and then obviously you get control of the game. What did you make of the slow start? And what do you think got you guys going?
KELLEN MOND: We've had three-and-outs before, and it just happened to be that first one and then they go down and score. So just like every single game, we're going to take it one drive at a time, one play at a time. And Isaiah [Spiller] was able to pop a big one and then we were able to go up 14-7 and then 21-7 right before the half. So we just like to take it one play at a time and just focus on what we've got to do on exactly that play.
Q. Kellen, can you talk about going into the bye week and just where you guys are at and what you kind of hope to accomplish before you've got South Carolina to come in here in two weeks?
KELLEN MOND: Yeah. I mean, I feel like as a team and me individually, I feel really comfortable with where we're at. You know, obviously there's some stuff that we need to clean up. We're not perfect. But I like where we're at, and I look forward to this bye week, getting our minds and getting our body right, and continue to progress on to South Carolina.
Q. [Jalen] Wydermyer with his sixth touchdown catch, what has he done to make the passing game more complete all the way around?
JHAMON AUSBON: I think he's being very detailed and understanding the concept when he's running routes. Knowing if he's not getting the ball, understanding how he's getting a different guy open in offense. We've had a lot of offensive meetings with the tight ends, receivers and backs together. Just getting the whole field offense and seeing how everything ties in. He's doing a good job of just doing a good job and being detailed with the assignments.
Q. Jhamon, how big was it to see Isaiah Spiller kind of break out and have just three huge monster runs over 200 yards today and kind of establish himself as a pretty dominant running back on this team?
JHAMON AUSBON: Yeah, that's huge. I'm very happy for him. He worked hard in practice. He had some tough fumbles in a couple of games. Tried to tell him to keep his head up, you know. It was going to be a big turning point. Everybody goes through some adversity. Just handled it well and he's doing a great job right now, so I'm happy for him.
Q. Yeah, I think the TV said that after that first drive, Jimbo was kind of yelling at y'all to wake up. Was that kind of his early message? What do you think kind of had y'all a little bit asleep, and what did kind of wake you up?
JHAMON AUSBON: Yeah, he did get on us about that. Just it being a game that everybody thinks that we're going to just roll over people. We still have our game, but he was just trying to get our attention to let us know that they're coming in here ready to win. And I don't know why we came out or what it was, but just, you know, we picked it up towards the middle of the game and end of the game. So, yeah.
Q. Jhamon, I don't know, third, fourth quarter, somewhere around there, you caught one on the far sideline, and you seemed kind of upset with yourself because I don't know if you thought that you had a possibility of scoring. But just talk about the passing game and kind of how that's going and, you know, where you guys hope to be going into the South Carolina game here in two weeks.
JHAMON AUSBON: Yeah, I was pretty upset. I thought I could get into the end zone. Kept my feet a little bit more, been a little bit more under control. But I think in the passing game, we just want to -- I think it just comes down to trust and just having the confidence so Kellen [Mond] knows where we're going to be on each play and vice versa. And we can make checks on the field and be right on time.
So I think that it just comes down to just a trust and just knowing our every step. Kellen is ready to throw the ball. Just getting on our brakes and all the details in the offense. So I don't think it's a big picture thing. I think it's just doing the details and small things on each play.
Q. Jhamon, building off that with Isaiah [Spiller] getting going here, how does that affect the passing game and the play-action game? And how big can that be for your guys moving forward?
JHAMON AUSBON: That's huge. I think anytime someone has to play two phases of the offense, you know, it's hard in the game plan. So with him having 200 yards in this game, that was huge for us. Made everything easy. So I just would advise him to keep doing that and keep helping us out. It's going to help us out a lot in this next few games coming up.
Q. Keldrick, how hard was it going against a quarterback as versatile as they had in number 10 (Lowell Narcisse)? And there were a couple of times it looked like you had a shot at him in the backfield, but he was able to slip away.
KELDRICK CARPER: Yeah, Lowell, I remember him from recruiting at LSU when he was committed there at the time and I was still getting recruited by them. But yeah, he do it through the quarterback and he was tough. They got a majority of their rushing yards from him just climbing the pocket and scrambling and hitting those big eight, nine, ten-yard runs and everything like that. So it was difficult initially just trying to get used to his movement and everything like that and how he stepped up and where he went to flush two and everything like that. But as the game went on, we were able to contain him in critical moments and it worked out for us.
Q. I think you came in on those blitzes probably three or four times and didn't get home, but then finally did on that last one. How good a feeling was that for you to do that? And then playing off of that, a four-sack, ten-tackle-for-a-loss day overall as a defense?
KELDRICK CARPER: Yeah, it was great getting my first one. I appreciate Coach [Mike] Elko for that. We draw up a great blitz. Just getting a chance to get home, you just keep grinding and working it, working it throughout the game. Sometimes it won't open up for you, you won't get there, but when you get your chance, you got to make the best of it. As a hole, our D-line just did a great job of getting after the quarterback and just living in the backfield. And they just re-established the line of scrimmage. And it made it great for us in critical situations to where we was able to send those blitzes and everything like that. And eventually get those sacks and get off the field on third down.
Q. Keldrick, they had 130 yards in the first quarter. After that, you guys pretty much shut their offense down completely. What kind of switched from the end of the first quarter to the rest of the game?
KELDRICK CARPER: Yeah, it sucks to talk about. That first quarter, we had a miscommunication on that long pass. That was on me and the running back got up the sideline. And then that just showed up in their score the half of the game offensively. But yeah, we just had to hit that switch. We didn't come out like we wanted to, as far as just guns a-blazing, heads on fire, trying to be a great defense, active defense. But once we got settled in and we really started to focus in and lock in, we was able to contain them and make big plays.
Q. Keldrick, at the end, a couple of young guys made some plays. How fun is that to see? The defense kind of -- everybody went crazy at that point with those guys. How cool is that for those guys?
KELDRICK CARPER: Oh, yeah. Erick Young, he got that interception. Little treat, he switched to safety this week. And, you know, just one week into playing safety and he was able to get his hands on the football. He's been playing corner all of his life, corner and nickel and stuff like that. So just getting him in there and making the play, it was exciting. And we had some -- our younger guy Mitchell Howard, he's a walk-on, and he was able to get a strip sack. You know, that's what I like about our team. We're excited to see other people have success. There aren't any egos and stuff like that that can affect certain teams. I just like that attitude, this team being selfless. We enjoy that. We were all up on the sideline, just pushing them around, giving them high fives and stuff like that. It was fun. You love stuff like that.
Frank Wilson, UTSA Head Coach
His thoughts on the performance from his team…"I thought our effort was there, I thought from a personnel standpoint that they are an extremely talented football team. You attribute a lot to our lack of success to their personnel and their ability to stop the run and not allow us to get that push that we wanted from a running standpoint to create some passing opportunities for our team."
On his message to the team…
"I'm extremely proud of you. You never quit, you continue to fight when the odds were stacked against you. You continue to find a way to attain victory. Unfortunately, today, our best wasn't good enough against a very quality football team."
On the team's performance at the start of the game…
"I think if we were able to play with this type of intensity in our conference games, we will have a chance in each and every one of them. Again, odds stacked against you, and I said to the team, we don't have to be better than them for 12 weeks, we don't have to be better than them for two weeks, we just have to be better than them for three hours, to give ourselves a chance and probably an hour and a half of it we were as good and gave ourselves a chance."
Cassius Grady, UTSA Cornerback
On what it was like on the sideline after they went up early…"It was a great experience. The sideline was excited. I've never seen our sideline that turned up, but it was fun. I honestly thought for a minute we were going to win this game. They weren't that good at all. They were good, but not what we thought they were going to be. We just fell short, I guess."
On if he felt like they rattled the offense with their blitzes…
"Yeah, I think it did. A lot of the stuff they got, we gave them. So we just have to capitalize on plays and don't miss our opportunities."
Josh Dunlap, UTSA Offensive Lineman
On what it was like playing at Kyle Field…
"It was exciting. I come from a junior college, playing in front of parents and bus drivers to an SEC field. So I really just enjoy the experience. That first drive coming out when we scored, I probably won't forget that for the rest of my life honestly. It was just really fun. Good competition. They weren't as dominant as I thought they would be, but we really had fun out there as an o-line."
On what their first quarter performance…
"I just think we came out fired up. We had a really good pregame speech, and we just believed that we deserved to be on this field. We deserve to compete with these guys. I think what made us click that first drive is just the communication was on point, and everybody was calling stuff out, identify the fronts, and just having fun."
Players Mentioned
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/ FootballThe Pulse #12.8 | Hostile Takeover
Wednesday, October 29
Conversations: Albert Regis
Tuesday, October 28
Weekly Press Conference: Jay Bateman
Monday, October 27
Weekly Press Conference: Collin Klein
Monday, October 27
