Texas A&M
Sam Houston
No. 6 Aggies Blank Bearkats in Season Opener
Sep 03, 2022 | Football
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 6 Texas A&M football team dominated the Sam Houston Bearkats, 31-0, recording the program’s first season-opening shutout since 1993 at Kyle Field on Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore Haynes King threw for a career-best 364 yards and recorded three touchdowns through the air. Preseason All-Southeastern Conference First Team selection Ainias Smith hauled in six passes for a career-high 164 yards and two touchdowns. Head coach Jimbo Fisher pushed his opening-day record to 11-1 overall and 5-0 while leading the Aggies.
The defense stifled the Bearkat (0-1) attack, giving up only 182 total yards and recording two takeaways. Sophomore Jardin Gilbert matched a career-high five tackles and hauled in the first interception of his career. Andre White Jr., broke up two passes and forced a fumble that halted a Sam Houston drive in A&M territory midway through the fourth quarter.
The Aggies (1-0) broke the scoring seal with 3:39 left in the first quarter as King connected with sophomore Yulkeith Brown on a 66-yard strike for Brown’s first-career reception and touchdown.
After a Caden Davis 40-yard field goal to give the Aggies a 10-0 advantage, A&M struck again with :50 seconds in the half as Smith hauled in a 63-yard pass from King.
Following a two-hour, 54-minute weather delay just prior to the start of the third quarter, the Maroon & White marched down the field on a 12-play, 71-yard drive that was capped off by a Devon Achane 1-yard rushing touchdown, pushing its lead to 24-0 with 8:52 remaining in the third.
The King-to-Smith connection made its presence known again early in the fourth quarter as King hit the speedster down the right sideline with 11:10 left in the game, extending the lead to 31-0 and putting away the Bearkats for good.
Up Next
The Maroon & White plays host to App State (0-1) at 2:30 p.m., on Sept. 10 at Kyle Field. The game will broadcast on ESPN2 with tickets available through the 12th Man Foundation.
1-0.#BTHOsamhouston ? pic.twitter.com/xJVWotNIaj
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) September 3, 2022
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— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) September 3, 2022
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Just another day at the office for Ainias Smith! @AggieFootball pic.twitter.com/TUuM2cpFSJ
Texas A&M Football Postgame Notes
Team Notes
- The Aggies are 5-0 in season-openers during the Jimbo Fisher era and have outscored their opponents 189-36 in those ballgames.
- Texas A&M is now 27-4 when scoring first and a perfect 25-0 when leading after the first quarter under Coach Fisher.
- The two 60-plus yard touchdown passes by sophomore Haynes King marked the first time an Aggie QB has sent multiple scoring passes over 60 yards to the end zone since Oct. 15, 2011, when Ryan Tannehill tossed a pair of 68-yard passes to Ryan Swope against Baylor.
- Today’s captains against Sam Houston were WR Ainias Smith, DL Fadil Diggs, DB Demani Richardson and DS Connor Choate.
- Saturday’s announced attendance was 97,946.
- The game was delayed for two hours and 54 minutes at the start of the third quarter due to lightning and rain.
Individual Notes
- Senior WR Ainias Smith extended his receptions streak, which dates back to the 2019 LSU game, to 24 games. He finished the game with six receptions, which brings his career total to 118 and moves him into a tie with Jalen Wydermyer (2019-21) for No. 11 on the Aggie all-time career list.
- Smith registered the fourth 100-yard receiving game of his career, finishing with a career high 168 yards, which helped move him to 15th on A&M’s all-time career list with 1,485 yards.
- Smith is the first Aggie to haul in two 40-plus yard receptions since Caleb Chapman did so against Florida on Oct. 10, 2020.
- An early, career-long 63-yard touchdown reception paired with a 43-yard scoring grab in the fourth quarter gave Smith his sixth career multi-touchdown game and his fourth multi-receiving TD game.
- The two touchdown receptions for Smith moved him into seventh on A&M’s all-time career list and bumped his total to 17 grabs, tying him with recent Texas A&M Hall of Fame inductee Mike Evans (2012-13).
- Sophomore WR Yulkeith Brown scored a touchdown on his first career reception, bringing a 66-yard pass to the end zone to put A&M on the board in the first quarter.
- Sophomore QB Haynes King returned to the field for the Aggies, recording the third start of his career and first since suffering a season-ending injury against Colorado in Denver last season.
- King’s 364 passing yards were the most by an Aggie QB in a home season opener, bettering the previous best of 349 by Jerrod Johnson against New Mexico in 2009.
- King became the first Aggie to total 300+ passing yards since Kellen Mond (2017-20) threw for 338 yards on Oct. 10, 2020, against Florida.
- Sophomore DL Fadil Diggs and senior LB Chris Russell Jr. made a career high five tackles in the victory.
- Sophomore DB Jardin Gilbert matched his career high with five takedowns and added the first interception of his career, returning the ball 13 yards.
- In his first game as the Aggies’ primary placekicker, junior Caden Davis sent a 40-yard field goal through the uprights in the second quarter to register the first made field goal of his career.
?? GAME ONE ?? pic.twitter.com/AURIJksoJx
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) September 4, 2022
Jimbo Fisher Postgame Press Conference Transcript
COACH FISHER: Well, like I say, any win is a good win. You got a win, got a shutout. I thought the guys played hard. I thought the defense was outstanding in the game. I think we did a really good job up front controlling the line of scrimmage. And with the older guys and the young guys getting in there and played discipline, which I was very impressed with. Secondary, those young corners and DBs, and plus our older guys, I thought they played well. Kept good leverage on the football. We chased the football well. Did two things I think were outstanding in the game, which is -- keys to games is, you know, you've got two turnovers, which was very critical and you didn't give up big plays. I always say that's two very critical things in what you did. And of course, we won the early downs, which got you a better third-down percentage, because they were in third and long a lot, which guys converted, did a good job in what they did. So in those two turnovers, once they did get the fake punt, then the other drive they had going, they got down in there and then we were able to get a tip pass. I believe we got the pick. I can't remember who got that pick. Jardin Gilbert. That was good. Then we got the fumble recovery. Got that stripped out. So the guys did a good job. I thought offensively, come out too slow. I thought up front, they did some nice twists and stunts. They got us in the run game. They didn't do it, and we got settled down in the second half. Got hat to a hat and did it. But the thing we did do in the first half was created big plays. I thought Haynes [King] played a solid game, but he still had two critical mistakes in that deep ball. He has to stay at the freeze, leaving out of it. He's got to be a little more vertical with the ball. The guy is not vacating it. Got to stay more vertical with it or dump it down with the first-down call. But what I liked about that, he came right back the next drive right after that and threw a touchdown, took us down two minutes before the half, which was excellent. We scored the first drive of the second half, which was excellent. We got 14 points before they got their hands back on the ball. Was really good. Come back to second half, settled down really good, and then got hat to a hat formationally. And then got to running the football, got substantial, made some really nice throws, managed the game, did a great job. Come back, then had another first-down throw. Was throwing the ball really well. Trying to get those young receivers, I thought did a nice job and the older guys. We got a good mix. And then first down, got to let the guy clear out just a little more before he did it. Got to clean that decision up but then came back the next drive and throw a touchdown, which is very critical to me, because after you make a mistake, being able to come back with things. But we've got to eliminate the mistakes. But on the day, we hit big plays. Did a nice job with his legs. Two or three times scrambled and pulled some runs. Did a good job. Didn't get a chain going. Not his fault. What we did was get some blocking, do a little bit better up front. Second half, we got him going nice. I thought played really well in the run game and catching the ball. Thought some of the young receivers, you saw their talent and the guys being able to catch the football and what we did. We've got a long way to go. Kicking game, not as good. We have a fake punt. We're lazy with our eyes late. Kind of set there until kicks it before we bail out. Kicked the ball out of bounds, and we missed a field goal. That was 52. But for them, he hits those. But then he come back and hit a nice field goal and kicked the ball well and kicked off well. A long of young players saw the field. We've got to get a lot better, like I say, each week. We've got a great opponent coming next week in App State (Applachian State). Just go the keep developing in the things we do.
Q. How pleased were you with the production of both Chris Marshall and Evan Stewart and their chemistry with Haynes [King]?
COACH FISHER: Really good. Chris had been banged up for a little bit of camp and hadn't gotten as much time. Therefore, he played really well. Missed about three or four days and then got back and got into play and did well. I thought both those guys got critical play. I thought they caught the ball well. You can see their ability to run after the catch, their size, their ball skills, and their athleticism of what they did. You saw Yulkeith [Brown], too. Another young guy that can run and got a big play. That was a third read on the backside. Two of those touchdown throws, what I loved about them, too, those young players. And I say this not just for the quarterback but for the young players, sometimes you know you're the backside of something. Sometimes you have a tendency, which we tell them all the time, we need five full-speed routes. We got the ability to go everywhere if the quarterback reads it right And they ran full-speed routes and were rewarded with big plays, and it was really nice to see that. But I thought those guys did a nice job in the game.It's the first time they got out there to play, and they were productive.
Q. And then also, there was a moment where it felt like Layden Robinson kept coming off the field. Was it an injury?
COACH FISHER: He had been nicked up, and we had been rotating guys at guard. We had been rotating three guards and mixing guys in, in what we were doing and keeping the depth and trying to build depth in what we're doing in different positions and where we're at.
Q. Obviously I understand you haven't seen film and everything like that, but what do you suspect was the issue getting the running game going?
COACH FISHER: Stunts up front. I mean, the twist game up front, multiple twists and stunts and looping. They do a really nice scheme. Now, I'm going to tell you, they had a really nice scheme. We knew that going in. And we were overchasing the down guy and not playing on the loop and it takes timing and got the rhythm the second half and got back into it. But it's all just -- we worked it. We've just got to be patient. It's tough. It can be a pain. We've got to do a better job, though. That's my fault. We got to prepare them better.
Q. Are you concerned with what you saw from your offensive line?
COACH FISHER: In the first half, we didn't play well at all. I though in the second half, I thought we came out and did a nice job. We established their ground game, be able to run the ball, and did a better job. We've got to get better, there's no doubt.
Q. How did y'all manage the long weather delay? What do you do as coaches, and what do you do with players?
COACH FISHER: Well, the bad part about was it was, Okay, we're ready to go. We gave them about four or five minutes to get ready to go, 20 more minutes. I just wished they would have just kept coming and coming and coming. We would make our adjustments and get ready to go back out and about four minutes before we got back out, here comes another one. And about the fourth time Mark come, I was about to fire him and send him out of the building (chuckles). I've been in one, one time where it was almost four hours. You've got to tell your guys, we kept them inside, kept them off the phones, locked in the game. We met with them. We sat and talked with them, made adjustments from the first half, made adjustments from that. And then called them after we knew it was going to be a longer one, called them back in, made them do things, and kept their mind into the game. I think that's a very critical thing. Because you can go drift off or go grab your phone or do something like that and all of sudden you forget you're in a football game. You get in that set of mind. We kept them in our meetings and kept the coaches around them and kept guys around them and constantly did it. And I was very proud. We come out really sharp on offense. After not playing as well on offense right there, we established a drive. How many plays drive was that? 12 plays and come out and executed really well, which I was very happy with and showed me some maturity about what they were trying to do.
Q. And then with Haynes [King] passing in some pretty tight windows. Do you like that aggressiveness?
COACH FISHER: I do. You have to have aggressive intelligence. You got to play aggressively, intelligent. You can sit there and say, Don't throw interceptions all day, but we also hit as many big plays as we've hit in a long time, too. There was a lot of balls down the field that were hit. There was a lot of catches down the field, these young guys. We just got to clean up. Like I said, on first and 10, when they were in a two-Tampa (phonetic) look, we got the three pull but he's high and he spun back. You've got to keep that ball really vertical. You can't pull him as much. Or just check it and say, I don't want it. And the other one, same thing. We had a corner fade. And the corner is trying to middle both and did a good job. You've got to let it clear just a little bit more, about another half second, which is tough sometimes in the pocket, but he's got to do that or dump it down and that was it. But then both drives afterwards I was happy about was the ability to not let him affect him and he come down with touchdown throws, if I'm not mistaken, right before the half and right on the other. But we still need to have those two picks. We don't need to have that. He did some nice things with his legs and played a solid football game.
Q. After his (Haynes King) second interception, it looked like you had a little conversation on the sideline.
JIMBO FISHER: Same thing right there. I was telling him that corner -- the guy was playing depth and divide trying to middle the post and play back down on the leverage. I said, You've got to let it clear just a little bit more. And if you don't like it, then you got to come all the way down to the flat route. He thought he could squeeze it and that's it. Trying to explain it. Making sure we explained that to him, what was going on. That was good.
Q. After such a long layoff with his (Haynes King) injury, how do you think overall he adjusted to game speed again?
COACH FISHER: Game speed, I thought he did a real nice job of and hit some big plays. It's a solid performance. He can play better than that. He can play better than that. But I thought he threw the ball accurately downfield, those two things there. But the plays he had downfield, hit guys in stride, made plays, and looking downfield, which I was happy about. Then sometimes we'll check it down a little more and do those situations. But that's part of growth. I thought Max [Johnson] came in and did a nice job. Went 3 for 4.
Q. A lot has been said about this freshmen class, but what do you like about getting the mix of those guys in on both sides of the ball?
COACH FISHER: Well, you didn't realize there were freshmen out there. The guys played well. They caught the ball, they covered, they rushed, they blocked. They did the things that, you know, weren't jumping out at you that, Hey, he's a young guy and he's going to have a lot of mistakes. There was a lot of production and a lot of nerves early. You can see the look in their eye. But once they got to playing, man, they were naturally doing things. And so it was very productive. I don't know how many of them played, but it was quite a few of them, I know that. Probably as many as I've ever played, I would say. I would have to look that up. That would be a good one.
Q. Going back to that 12-play drive to start the second half, you-all ran quite a bit of the I formation. Is that something we're going to see more of this season?
COACH FISHER: Yeah, because of the twists and stunts at times -- I'll tell you, one of the things that settles down in what they do, when they rub your guys off -- just like you rub receivers off when you run routes, when you run them twists inside and you're in open formations, you can create a lot of depth. What you do with that I, that solids them up and then the fullback can clean things up off the twist and pick up the extra looper. We knew we could do it in the first, but we said we'll wait to the second half and did it. We were able to clean some things up schematically and be able to put that hat on because of how they twisted and stunted. And allows you some variance on how you can do it. And we were able to get hat to a hat and then we were able to run the football.
Q. So with the defense, were you satisfied with their performance today? And what kind of things do you want to see from them moving forward?
COACH FISHER: The same thing. Keep control of the line of scrimmage and win first down. It helps your second and third down. I thought they did an outstanding job. They created two turnovers in critical situations. Didn't give up big plays. Rallied to the ball, played the ball well. Kept leverage on the football. The reasons they had success were for the right reasons. Sometimes you have success because the other team makes a mistake or does it wrong. I thought for the most part -- now, I have got to look at the film again. But for the most part, the leverages and things they kept on the ball was really good. The young guys -- saw young guys and older guys making plays on the football. We tackled well. We swarmed well in what we did. And hopefully, we can build on that. I'm sure there will be some mistakes in there, but there's a lot of good, it looked like. I have to wait until I see the film, which is true. But it goes from there.
Q. We saw a lot out of the freshmen today. Do you plan on rotating them back in throughout the season? Or were you more so just trying to see what they did today?
COACH FISHER: They've got to play. They're freshmen now. The depth it takes to play in this league and building these guys and get them out there playing, hopefully they'll keep playing each and every week.
Q. How beneficial is it to see them in true game action as opposed to practice or scrimmage?
COACH FISHER: Well, you can simulate game all you want. Like I say, till the lights on the scoreboard matter, that's when you can see what guys do. Some guys, it may bother them and other guy, it enhances. You know what I mean? But the thing is, they've got to repeat it. That's the big thing. When young players have success in their first game or they thought they played well, don't get caught that it's automatically going to happen. Remember why it happened, how you prepared that week, what you did, how much film you watched, how much time you put in. And if you had failure, it's not the end of the world. Hey, that's part of growing. Just look at it, make the corrections, and go. That's why I say we're a 12-game season. We've got to get better each and every game in what we do and grow and get these guys growing and get them playing with the older guys. And hopefully we can develop into a good football team.
quotes courtesy Caption Pros
Ainias Smith Postgame Press Conference Transcript
Q. Ainias, it was a record-setting day for you, a new career high. What did you see on both touchdown plays? But what did you see especially on the first one where you were in coverage with someone?
AINIAS SMITH: I'm not going to lie, I feel like they kind of busted their coverage. Honestly, I felt pretty good going out there scoring. I didn't even know whatever you're talking about today. That's new to me. On the first one, I saw the safety go ahead and come down. Middle of the field was wide open. Got my head around as soon as I seen it. Haynes [King] threw a nice ball. And then I had turned around seeing Yulkeith [Brown] make that spectacular block. Then on the second one, they were supposed to go ahead and call a switch. I caught it kind of late, and so I scored.
Q. How would you kind of rate Haynes [King's] game today? And did you feel like as the game went on, he was able to grow and find a little more accuracy as he got into the game?
AINIAS SMITH: Yeah, he definitely played pretty well. Know for a fact that as the game -- in the second half, we was all coming out with a little bit more energy than the first just because we was in there waiting for so long. But shoot, I believe he played pretty well. You know what I'm saying? Starting off, we drove down the field. We just need to capitalize a little bit more and get some more time back there for him so he can be able to sit in the pocket longer and be comfortable.
Q. How did you feel with the freshmen like Evan [Stewart] and Chris [Marshall]? How did you feel about their performances today?
AINIAS SMITH: I thought they played pretty well. Coming in as a freshman, they had the little jitters walking out of the tunnel or whatever. But it seemed like all of that went away as soon as the game started. I was excited for them, very happy for them. Came out and they didn't play like no freshmen. They played well.
Q. You mentioned the rain delay. What was that like having to wait so long? And how were you guys able to stay locked in and come right back and score the way you did?
AINIAS SMITH: We was honestly waiting for, I think, two or three hours? But at first, we was all locked in. We all had our pads on. That was one thing, we made sure we didn't take our pads off, because we were ready to go ahead and play. But then, we was honestly -- I'm not going to lie to you. We was waiting on the game to be cancelled, because they kept -- we was going out, getting ready to warm up. Then we had to go back in because of another delay. Then came out and then went back in. So it was an ongoing thing. But then once it was really time to put on our helmets and go ahead and go to work. We cut on the music and it was go time. So that's really how we got back locked in, for sure.
Q. I think on that first touchdown you had, Yulkeith [Brown] had a pretty nasty block. Did you see that? Or did you hear about it?
AINIAS SMITH: I saw it. I turned around and looked. Yeah, I seen it, for sure. That's my dog.
Q. Ainias, Coach [Fisher] talked about it a little bit, but how did you guys feel as a passing attack, just y'all's ability to make some of those big plays down the field today? It seemed like that was obviously a big part of some of your game.
AINIAS SMITH: No, for sure. I know earlier during the camp or what not, I had said that we were going to have some explosive plays. And I know people was wondering how that was going to happen. But it was all really just running our base stuff. Just doing every little thing the right way. I felt pretty good about it. Haynes [King] was on point. He was in the back pretty comfortable, delivering the way he's supposed to. So we delivered.
Q. Ainias, can you talk about what you feel like that you guys can do a lot better with Appalachian State coming in here next weekend?
AINIAS SMITH: Yeah, man, I feel like honestly, we just need to go ahead and lock in on our keys on the front end, run the ball a lot better. Make sure we catching the ball a lot better. And then on the defensive side, I feel like they played well. But sticking to the offensive side, I just feel like we just need to go ahead and execute a whole lot better.
Q. Ainias, it feels like Haynes [King] feels extremely comfortable with deep ball. Do you think that just the minor errors and the little mistakes of short-yard situations is just first-game jitters? And where do you want to see him improve better in that aspect?
AINIAS SMITH: I feel like the deep ball is definitely comfortable for him. And then with the other mistakes that was going on, it was just miscues that both the receivers, and the cues need to go ahead and get on point with. Just keep practicing. Like you said, it's the first game, so we got that out of the way. Go back and watch film together and talk about it and get it all together.
Q. Ainias, I think the idea a lot of people have in their head with these weather days as you're all breaking down plays on the film and being more focused. But is there time to goof off and be a little bit loose in the locker room? Do you think y'all came out a little bit, a little bit less nervous in the second half because of that?
AINIAS SMITH: I wouldn't say that we was goofing off, but we was definitely having fun at one point. Just us being guys and being in the locker room for too long. It's hard to keep us still, I guess. But no, coming out in the second half -- no offense to those other guys, but we was trying like drill. You know what I'm saying? We wasn't trying to play no games. That's what it was.
Demani Richardson Postgame Press Conference Transcript
Q. How did you feel about Jardin Gilbert, his performance today and Chris Russell and [Fadil] Diggs?
DEMANI RICHARDSON: I felt they all did good for their first start. I knew they would do their job well. They've been preparing well, practicing well, and they've been on everything they need to be. So I knew that guys do their job. I knew they were doing their job.
Q. Can you talk about the shutout and how, when you see that goose egg on the scoreboard, how that kind of pushes your defensively? And how the longer that that stays up there, the more aggressive you guys seem to be able to get?
DEMANI RICHARDSON: Just like everyone says, if the offense doesn't score, we win the game. So just pitching the shutout just, it's like a defense dream. It's always our goal to play perfect -- not perfect but pitch a shutout. So just seeing zero points up there just makes us feel better and go hard and want to keep it up there.
Q. How much does that do for you guys with that rolling as a defense when you've got some of the younger guys in there later in the game, just that extra level of kind of everyone --
DEMANI RICHARDSON: I hope they feel like it's pressure when they go in, because it makes them better. So just having that pressure and having that zero stay up there is a good feeling when it's all over.
Q. Is there anything in particular -- I know it's pretty fresh after the game -- but you guys were most pleased with how you performed?
DEMANI RICHARDSON: Particular, I feel like we did -- our main point was affect the quarterback and play good on edges. So I feel like as a defense, I feel like we did those jobs, and I feel like we handled the storm and the delay well, like coming back out there playing, and not being sluggish and not playing, like, slow or, like, sluggish. I just feel like we did a great job of picking up where we left off in the game, and just going harder.
Q. So as a defensive back, how did you feel about what you saw from Denver Harris today?
DEMANI RICHARDSON: I feel like he did a great job. He has great technique. He's aggressive like -- he has swag to him. You all seen a little bit of him fighting a little bit. It's going to happen with freshmen, but he's going to be a good player. I'm glad to have him. Glad he's locked in, but we have to keep standing on him and making sure he's maturing through every game.
Q. Y'all's offense had a lot of big chunk-passing plays. As you've seen them go through fall camp, is this an offense that is a little bit more capable of spreading the field with the passing game than the past couple of years?
DEMANI RICHARDSON: For sure. There's a lot of guys that can go deep, make plays like on reverse screens, deep ball. They're fast, they're shifty. So I just feel like once they get the ball in their hands, it's over with. So just allowing -- I just feel like we have a depth to allow us to go deep, create plays and more big plays.
Q. Demani, when you look at a guy like Jardin Gilbert and his maturity, what have you seen him get really more -- I don't want to say more talented, but more so complete with his game. Where has he gotten?
DEMANI RICHARDSON: Oh. I just feel like overall, I just feel like he's been more of a student of the game. I feel like he knows what the weaknesses are, what the strengths are on the defense. So I just feel like he knows defense better, and I just feel like he got the game down where he can play and not let it be too fast. So I just feel like he's comfortable and getting more and more comfortable.
Q. And then when you go up against receivers like Chris Marshall and Evan Stewart in practice, how does that help you better prepare for the level of competition that you're going to see in conference this year?
DEMANI RICHARDSON: All of those guys help me prepare well because they're good receivers. So just to line up with those guys help me to get ready for Saturdays by their quickness, their speed, just all that. So just lining up against those guys have helped me know what I'm going against when I play Saturday.
Q. Demani, obviously a shutout is what you guys are after week in and week out. How does that play into next week's game against Appalachian State?
DEMANI RICHARDSON: It really doesn't. We won this game. It's a new week. We just have to go out and practice well, prepare well, watch film and do all the little things. But I just feel like we played one game. It doesn't matter anymore. We've got to move on, practice well, and take this week as it go.
Fadil Diggs Postgame Press Conference Transcript
Q. Fadil, it looked like you were a standup pass rusher an awful lot today, which seemed like it was something now. How did you feel about that and just basically the performance of that line overall?
FADIL DIGGS: It was just something I was working on this whole week. When we read the stances, I was getting out better in the two-point stance, so I wanted to try it a little bit. And I think the line did pretty good today. We had to constrict the pocket more, but that's something we can work on.
Q. Hey, Fadil. A lot has been made of this freshman class. A lot of them got in today. What did you make of some of those guys mixing in alongside you and some of the other veterans?
FADIL DIGGS: Those guys are very talented. They're going to strain, run to the ball. And I'm glad they got to do that today, because, you know, it can be nerve wracking playing your first game as a freshman. So I'm glad that they got that out today.
Q. Fadil, with back-to-back three-and-outs to start the game, is there anything you feel like that established for you guys as a defense or maybe forced them to change a little bit that just kind of set the tone for the rest of the game?
FADIL DIGGS: Yes. With us coming out striking the line of scrimmage, tackling the line of scrimmage as a defense, they had to switch up the game plan a lot. So those two three-and-outs were big for us to get the game started.
Q. Fadil, can you talk about getting the shutout and what it means for you guys defensively.
FADIL DIGGS: That's big. For our first game, a shutout, that's -- we're going to appreciate that. Any shutout is a good game, a good game of defense. But like Demani [Richardson] said, it's on to the next game. We've got to focus on App State.
Q. Fadil, when you look at the level of competition on the defensive line, especially with these younger talents, how does that make you get better?
FADIL DIGGS: I've got to make less mistakes because if I make mistakes, those guys -- you know, they come out and perform very well. So they keep me on my toes. Any mistake I make, that means they can outperform me and we compete every day for a spot.
Q. And then when you're able to go get enough pressure up front, like you were today, how does that help affect the secondary?
FADIL DIGGS: Big. Our job is to get the quarterback to be uncomfortablne so we can force him to make bad throws and that turns into turnovers. So getting the quarterback to become uncomfortable, that's deal for us on the D-line.
Q. Just out of curiosity, I know obviously App State (Appalachian State) coming in next week and the way the rain delay kind of timed up a crazy ending to their game as y'all were in the locker room. Were y'all able to kind of look in on that? Or just trying to block that out and stay focused on this game?
FADIL DIGGS: Yeah, we was focused on our game. We were staying off the phones. The TV was off for the most point. So we was all just trying to stay warmed up and focus on Sam Houston.
