Aggies Hold South Carolina Week Press Conference

Following the win over LSU, Texas A&M began preparations for the South Carolina game by holding its weekly press conference inside the Kyle Field Media Center. Joining Mike Elko at the podium were defensive lineman Albert Regis and offensive lineman Trey Zuhn III.

Quotables: Mike Elko

OPENING COMMENT:

Thank you guys for coming out. Recapping the LSU game, again, I think even two days later, still a thank you to the 12th Man. It seems worth it. It really was a great night. Kyle Field, an unbelievable atmosphere.

Our players of the game, O-line, we gave it to Trey Zuhn and Dametrious Crownover. I thought that was Dametrious Crownover's best game, for sure. Defensive line wise, we gave it to Shemar Turner and DJ Hicks. Really proud of D.J. I think he's really starting to come into his own. Probably the last three weeks, I think you've seen a real upward trajectory from him and he's starting to really play the way he's capable of. An extremely productive player for us. So it's been great to see his development. Offensively we gave it to Marcel Reed, obviously the big spark that he provided coming off the bench with three touchdowns. He was also named SEC Freshman of the Week and excited for him. Also a shout out to Amari Daniels. I thought that was his best game of the year. The way he ran the ball and the way he carried himself, I thought that was great. Defensively, we gave it to BJ Mayes. Two interceptions obviously shifted the game completely. Talked about that after the game. And then, you know, the one guy that I didn't talk about after the game who certainly needs some mentioning is Tyler White again. He was our special teams player of the game who was also the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week again for the third time. He had five punts last week. Three of them netted over 50 yards. One of them was pinned on the seven yard line. And so he just continues to be a weapon for us.

So, you know, when you look at the game, I think it comes down to the critical factors. I think we won the critical factors. We won the turnover margin 3 to 1. That's always going to be a really good indicator. We won on special teams. We were +7 on our special teams game changers chart. A lot of that was how we did punting the football. So at the times when we weren't playing the way we necessarily wanted to, we were able to control field position and flip the field with with some great net punts. We won the fourth quarter 17-6. And when you do that, that's going to win you a lot of football games. And then I just think the line of scrimmage running game in this league still matters. And when you can out-rush a team by close to 200 yards, you know it's going to lead to a successful night.

We're excited with where we're at, and now we kind of turn our attention ahead to an extremely big challenge. I think this will be the biggest challenge of the year to date. This is going to be an extremely talented team, 4-3, coming off of a bye week. Certainly could be 6-1 easily. I just think they're a team that has grown every week. They're playing a lot of really talented young guys mixed in with a blend of talented veterans. This is going to be an enormous challenge for our program. And so it's back to work. It's do the things we've got to do this week to prepare to give ourself the best chance to move forward and kind of go where we want to go as a program.

And then just the last thing, and it's just comical that I actually have to do this, but it's necessary. In the post game, I was asked to kind of give a synopsis on how we sell culture to our program. In doing so, I made a statement, that seemed like a very benign statement, that somehow managed to be taken as a shot directly at people. You guys gave me multiple opportunities in nine months to take shots at people, and I've never done it. I have nothing but respect for Coach Fisher. I've said nothing but positive things about Coach Fisher. I'm the head coach at Texas A&M because of Coach Fisher. I appreciate who he is, everything that he's done. And for anybody in the media to think that that was what I was doing post LSU is, I mean, it's asinine. And for it to be about any other head coach who gave me an opportunity and hired me, that's not who I am. I've never been that person. And it's ridiculous. But it is what it is. And so I wanted to make sure that everybody knows I wasn't talking to anybody directly.

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO HANDLE THE QUARTERBACK SITUATION MOVING FORWARD? HAVE YOU MADE A DECISION ON THAT?

No.

COULD YOU POSSIBLY PLAY TWO?

I think the possibility's there for a lot of things. I think we're going to look this week, kind of figure out what we think the right thing is for us. What we think gives us the best chance to win moving forward. It's probably too early in our mind to kind of make that decision. And even if we did, we probably wouldn't tell you right now anyway. I think we just want to see how this week plays out, see what we think gives us the best shot to go into this environment and be successful. And then kind of go forward from there.

HOW HAVE YOU FELT ABOUT YOUR GUYS' ABILITY THROUGHOUT THE SEASON TO HAVE A BIG GAME WIN OR LOSE AND TO REFOCUS IMMEDIATELY?

I like what I hear from them when they talk to you. I think that means the messaging is getting through. We've tried to attack this thing from a mindset of we need to improve every week. We need to get better every week. We need to approach every challenge and give ourselves the opportunity to earn success every week. And, you know, you say those things a lot, and then sometimes they get up and you hear them talk and you don't hear those words come from them, right? I saw Albert today, you hear even guys like Marcel and BJ after the game, Marcel on national TV after the game, talking about the next opportunity. I think they're locked in and focused on what we're capable of. And I think what we're capable of is has got to be the next step, growth, development. Because I think if we finished 5-3 in the SEC, I don't think anyone in our locker room would be real happy with that.

DEFENSIVELY, I LOOK AT SOUTH CAROLINA'S STATS AND THEY'RE IN THE TOP 3 OR 4 IN EVERYTHING...

Yeah, they're extremely talented. Their front is phenomenal. The two kids on the edge, they've got the transfer from Georgia Tech and then the freshmen playing for them on the edge. Both those kids are going to be first-round draft picks, if not top 10, 5 picks in the draft. They've got an interior kid who's extremely dominant, plays very physical. They're athletic at the second level. They've got a first-round safety who's 6-3, 225 pounds back there. I apologize right now. It's a lot of numbers in my head, not a lot of names. But watching them, they allow their defensive line to impact the game. And when you look at them, what they've done is successfully turn people over and create opportunities for their offense. And so in the games that they've been really successful, the defense has taken the game over in so many ways. And so, yeah, I think it's by far the best group that we've played to date. Playing them coming off of the bye week where they got extra preparation and they're going to be really dialed in on what they want to do against us is going to be a huge challenge.

WHAT GOES INTO THE DECISION THAT YOU MADE IN THE THIRD QUARTER ON SATURDAY? HAD YOU ALREADY DISCUSSED THAT AT HALFTIME WITH STAFF? IS THAT TOTALLY YOUR DECISION? HOW DOES THAT COME ABOUT WHEN YOU DECIDE TO MAKE THAT QB SWITCH?

Ultimately it's my decision. Collin (Klein) and I kind of go into every week, and he comes up with the plans. But we have to have a plan for Marcel (Reed) ready at all times because you never know injury wise how the game is going to play. And so we go into the game and Conner (Weigman) is our starter and we develop a game plan around Conner and the best way we think Conner can attack LSU. But then you also have to have in the back of your mind, okay, well what happens if Conner goes down and Marcel has got to go out there and win us this game? What does that look like? And so I think it's a credit to Collin that he's able to do that in a way that doesn't create a lot of volume for our offensive players. It's real subtle tweaks and differences that you can change that don't change a lot for a lot of people. So it's not like we're practicing two completely different offenses. We just have enough wrinkles within our system that we can tailor it to who the quarterback is. And so you have that plan ready and you know it's there. So when the offense isn't firing or isn't being efficient enough and you feel like you have an opportunity to try to inject some life into the game, that's kind of what you do.

AS A DEFENSIVE COACH, HOW HARD WOULD YOU SAY IT IS TO PREPARE FOR BOTH OF THOSE GUYS?

Yeah, I think it's a challenge because I think their strengths are kind of contrasting. I think Conner's strength is his ability to see things, his quick release, his ability to function and operate in the RPO game. And so based on how you rotate, based on where you create access, if you are trying to outnumber the box, Conner has the ability to beat you with his arm. And he's certainly athletic enough that he can do some things with his feet and be a weapon in that regard as well. Marcel is kind of the exact opposite, right? He can do enough in the RPO game. He can throw the ball enough in the RPO game and then certainly has the arm talent to throw the drive back in the play-action game. But he has a different dynamic in terms of his ability to run the zone read game and the different types of read plays that you can run. When you're doing all of that, you're really touching the entire gauntlet of offense. You're kind of attacking it from every different angle. And so as a defensive coach, I'd imagine that that'd be challenging to try to get your kids ready for all of that.

AFTER THE LSU WIN YOU WALKED OVER TO THE STUDENT SECTION AND KIND OF DID AN EMBRACE AND A THANK YOU TO THE STUDENT SECTION. TELL ME WHAT YOU WERE THINKING DURING THAT MOMENT AND WHAT THE 12TH MAN HAS MEANT TO YOU GUYS...

I just think standing there sawing them off, that was such an impressive scene. And the energy that that student section brought that whole game, just kind of the whole way through. It was just in my mind and I didn't know the right way to thank them. And that was the best thing that I could think of. It was certainly still on my mind when I came to the podium. It's still on my mind when I came to the podium today. I just think for everything that they do for our program, I want them to understand how much we appreciate it and we appreciate their support, and we appreciate how they're there for us through thick and thin, no matter what. And for me, this is year five, really, with that support--four as the DC and one as a head coach, obviously--and the first time I'm really at ground level with the opportunity to show my appreciation. I think that's kind of where some of that stuff was coming from.