Jimbo Fisher, Buddy Johnson, Ryan McCollum and Tyree Johnson visited with the media during the Aggies' weekly press conference on Monday inside the Kyle Field Media Center.
Jimbo Fisher, Buddy Johnson, Ryan McCollum and Tyree Johnson visited with the media during the Aggies' weekly press conference on Monday inside the Kyle Field Media Center.
No. 5 A&M heads to Auburn this weekend to face the Tigers at 11 a.m. on ESPN.
Opening Statement… “Going back, I am proud of our team. It was good to play after three weeks. Three weeks is a long time not to play. We came back and got a victory against a very good opponent, a very talented LSU team. We needed to get that win, a good conference win, a divisional win. Like I say, those are double whammies I used to call them. Not only are they in your league, they are on your side of the division which is always important. You have to learn to play against those guys and play well. It was great that we came back and did that. I’m proud of our team to come out and get a victory.
Like I said, come back after three weeks like that and play hard. I thought our defense was outstanding in the game. Our front was very dominant, we controlled the run game very well and put pressure on the quarterback. We blitzed well on the night, affected the quarterback and got two critical turnovers, one down in the scoring zone and the other one we got a score. It’s always critical when you can do that.
Thought offensively we were inconsistent. I thought we did some good things early on and had big runs at times. We aren’t very good with consistency and it went all the way across the board. Everyone took turns, when you look at film, whether it was a guard, a tackle, a back, and some throws we should have made. A couple of situations we should have made, dropped a couple of balls, a trap on a route. Effort was there, tenacity was there, execution just wasn’t there. You get a hair off and start doing different things and we didn’t execute. We got some big runs, Isaiah [Spiller] had some nice runs in the game and we got some good plays in the game at times.
The first half we did a nice job of getting a great drive before the half. Getting a field goal two minutes before, I thought that was very critical in the game. Second half was where we weren’t very good, third down has got to get better. Third down is what we have been outstanding on I have to go back and say is because we had 10 third-and-more, I can’t remember the exact number. We weren’t as good consistently on first down. We got some drives going and then got some penalties by some guys who don’t usually make those mistakes. But hey, those are all fixable things, we will go back and get them fixed up and move on. Special teams, in some parts, I thought we were really good. I thought our punter did a great job of pinning guys inside the 10, which ended up getting us a score. I thought he was outstanding. Our coverage teams were really good kicking the ball. Seth [Small] kicked field goals really good on a wet night on a wet field. On the first one, if you actually look, his feet come up from under him, but he still made the kick. Very tough to do in that situation. Unfortunately, had a couple of penalties on punt return. We had one I am going to get looked at, I question the call a little bit. We had one punt return that took us back to the 27 yard line. We got points we are going to get there, had a penalty on that. Had two penalties later on a couple, going to get those clarified. Solid game. We have got to get a lot better, good thing about that is we are in a good position right now, we are playing well as a team. We are learning to win as a team. We have won two games this year where we haven’t played as well offensively, Vanderbilt and here. Defense has been outstanding. We played games where we didn’t play well on defense, we didn’t get a stop against Florida and didn’t get many stops against Arkansas and we won on offense. The things I am happy about is that we are learning how to win. We are learning how to play off each other. That’s a big thing you have to learn how to do when you keep taking steps and moving forward. The good thing is that there is still a lot of room for improvement. We will continue to work them hard and get things right. I will do a better job coaching; all of our coaches will get our guys tuned up and put them in a better position to make plays and keep going. They are playing hard, playing tough and playing physical. We will get better.”
On Kellen Mond’s performance and moving forward… “As I look at that game, he did not play his best, by far. Missed some throws and missed some things. We gave up some protection, had some routes that were going to come wide open that we busted protection up front that we haven’t done all year. He actually got rid of the football and didn’t take a sack. He wasn’t as sharp, he got hit some and that’s part of it. You have to play and he will make adjustments and move on, just like he has all year and always has in his career. He did not play a good game, made some mistakes. He has been playing really, really good football, but we have to play better around him too. Make some plays, protect him a little better at times and do a better job. I expect him to come back and play really well.”
On Buddy Johnson being the heart and soul on the defense…. “He is, he is a senior linebacker on defense making those calls. Like I said, the whole unit is playing great. He is doing a really good job making calls, getting guys there and being a leader. He has been tremendous in what he is doing. We are playing well around him. Like I said in that play if you go back and look at that play, he made a great play. But if you look at [Aaron] Hansford, the rusher and the way he got himself in the position, he got his body to get pressure. We are learning to play together as a unit. They are complimenting each other to pressure, to coverage, to all the things going on and doing a really good job. Buddy [Johnson] has been really good.”
On a potential close game against Auburn... “Listen, if you don’t understand how to play close games in this league, you are in trouble. I say hopefully it won’t be close and we can play really well. At the same time, everybody has players and they are all going to be close, all going to be tough. Even when you win by significant numbers, if you watch for three quarters most of those games come down to one or two plays. That is just what this league is about. More like pro football than any league in college football. I believe in our team 100% that way for sure.”
On Bo Nix’s ability to run…. “Bo is a tremendous competitor, just like his dad was, and tremendous player. You have to have discipline, even on your blitz packages. Making sure lanes are taken away in the coverages. If you match coverage and turn your back, you have to trust that those lanes are taken care of. If you are in zone you have to keep your eyes on the backfield and keep an eye on him when he comes out. It’s a very challenging thing. Those are the yards that you say, “man that guy has got legs”. You cannot let up on defense when you got a guy like that. Each and every play the discipline part on how you rush and contain a guy has to be right on time.”
On the growth of the program after beating LSU…. “That is what I am hoping we understand. I don’t mean this in a bad way, but I don’t know if we win that game before. I don’t, I really don’t. We struggled in some areas, we still fought and the defense rose up and just kept going higher and higher. The offense just kept plugging on and doing what they could. Special teams stayed in it and you have to learn to do that. There is going to be games like that, like I said earlier. The defense struggled in games that the offense didn’t. So, we say we have to score six times or seven times in a row, okay let’s do it. What makes the difference, we learned to do it and sometimes you can’t. Nobody is pointing fingers saying that you didn’t do you job. When you play a team sport, that’s why football is such a great game. You have to feed off of each other and that’s what you have to do to be successful. I am very proud of these guys; our defense did that the other night for the offense and the offense has done it other times for the defense. I think it’s what keeps these guys in a tight knit group of guys. Very proud of the development we have made as an organization.”
On the most impressive thing about DeMarvin Leal…. “How much he loves ball, I mean that. The way he plays, he is at home on the football field. This guy loves practice, he loves lifting weights, loves running and all the things about ball. When you love something that much and all the things you have to do to be good. Everyone wants to play and play well, but he loves all the things that have to do with playing well. It’s very exciting, his leadership. In practice he is never quiet and it’s not in a bad way. Whether he is challenging an offensive guy, he sees an offensive guy not playing well he has no problem walking over and challenging him, saying we have to do this better for our team. It is just a constant leadership. He has a joy being on the football field. I mean, he really does. He has natural leadership skills, a very intelligent young man that loves all the things that go with it. Very proud he is on our football team. Not only is he playing well himself, he affects the other guys on the team in a great way, offensively and defensively. Special teams too.
On defensive recognition this week…. “It says how together we are. Like I said back then, my accomplishments are this team’s accomplishments. It just goes back to practice the way we prepare, that is what Coach Fisher always preaches about, preparing the right way. In practice we are fired up, ready to go. I think we just have a sense of urgency; more guys are buying in and you can tell that it is paying off.
"Every play is a big play to me because most of the time defensive linemen, safeties and corners, some things they do, they don’t get recognition for. It can be the little small things, like Aaron [Hansford] forcing the quarterback to make a throw like that, that’s really his interception that I caught. It’s a team game and a team sport. It takes more than one guy to make a play, I just got the recognition. But all the recognition goes back to the defense. ”
On his commitment to the team …. “I just wanted everyone to know that I was 1,000% committed, everything I did was going to be toward this program. That’s what I was focused on. I was focused on being a leader for this team, to buying in to what Coach Fisher had to say. I trusted the process, I believe in our coaching staff. That’s why I’m able to be successful, I try to take care of my business on and off the field. I just wanted everyone to know that no matter what happened I was going to be an Aggie.”
On the shutting down the run…. “We take a lot of pride in this rushing defense, us and the front seven, we take a lot of pride in it. Stopping the run, that’s something we love to do. That’s what keeps us fired up and keep us going. I know we love to stop the run.”
On the sack streak being broken and preparing for Auburn …. “We are just going to treat it like any other week. Sacks, hurries, pressures, hits, that all goes into consideration, it’s not just sacks. We don’t like giving them up, but we are going to continue to prepare like we have every other week this year.”
Looking ahead against Auburn…. “I think Auburn is a great football team. They are another one of the teams that their record doesn’t represent how good of a team they are. Their defensive line, I watched on film today, are studs. It’s going to be a great challenge this week, we need to come out and practice hard and prepare.”
On the defense having multiple players earn recognition through awards…. "It says that we are all focused, we are all taking this things pretty seriously. We are no joke right now, we aren’t joking around. We are all dedicated and bought in. Since the summertime we have been preaching that the team that handles [COVID-19] the best way, that keeps working will be great. We’ve been watching non-stop film since February and I think we are really bought in. We show up every day at practice, we’ve been doing everything better. I’ve been here four years now and these have been the best practices, we have the best mentality as a whole defense."
On getting revenge against Auburn…. “The main focus is about us. Each and every week we have to fix the main mistakes, it’s never about what happened [in previous meetings]. It’s a whole different year and a new ball game. We are just worried about what we can do now and the game plan we have going in this week. Ultimately, working hard to stop what Auburn has going on and their game plan.