Texas A&M Head Football Coach Mike Elko
(Ref: Opening Statement)
“Recap on Saturday, not much different. There were some positives in what was not a performance that was good enough to our standard again. The only choice you have and all you can do is go back to work and try to correct and fix the things, to put yourself in the position again, to go finish the way you're capable of finishing. We'll go back to work this week and we got a great opportunity Saturday. We have another blackout, which has been a really good environment for us in Kyle Field, an opportunity to host a top 10 team in Kyle Field. It'll be our sixth game against a ranked opponent this year. It's an opportunity for us to get up off the mat and prove who we are and what we're about. We'll have a great week of preparation and get ready to go on Saturday.”
(Ref: On Holmon Wiggins and potentially making a change at offensive coordinator)
“I’m just doing what I believe is the best thing to give us a chance to be successful right now. I think that's how we evaluate everything and if I felt like there were better options or better opportunities or better things that we could do within the program to help us win, we would certainly do them. Right now, I believe that's our best opportunity to be successful. I do think 450 yards points to that composure, finishing in the red zone, changes the outcome of the offense on Saturday. That's obviously in part coaching, but that's obviously something that we've got to correct and fix.”
(Ref: On practicing red zone offense more after struggling in previous weeks)
“Anytime things aren't going the way you want them to go, you try to create that emphasis. We emphasize inside the 20 a lot. Last week it was that stretch between the 30 and the 20 is really where most of it installed until we'll do a little bit more of that work this week and try to get our kids in those situations. It's extremely disappointing because I think we do more situational football than most. I think we spend more time doing situational football than most. So it's disappointing to not see it translate the way we want it to, but again, all you can do is keep working.”
(Ref: On if the red zone offensive struggles have been similar throughout the season)
“The last two games have really been a lack of composure in the environment. Obviously, when you get into the red zone on the road, the crowd gets going, the noise gets going, the environment gets going and I think at times we just haven't handled that well. It's been a lot of self-inflicted wounds, penalties and bad operation. Those things are extremely disappointing because we've been able to avoid those for the most part this year for all of the struggles. I do think those things have been better than they were at times last year. For them to show up the way they have in really critical moments in the last two games is really disappointing.”
(Ref: On if Marcus Ratcliffe will continue to be an option at nickelback)
“We'll evaluate every game plan and kind of try to identify what we think is the best thing to give us success on Saturday. That's kind of what we'll do when we go out there.”
(Ref: On how coaches instill discipline into a team)
“It's a hard thing to say right now because we're not disciplined enough, right? I think obviously it's how you demand it in practice, it’s how you demand it in the off-season, it's how you demand it from an accountability standpoint, it's how you live every part of your life that creates discipline in all of your decisions and choices. Then you see guys who do everything right in your program and really live life the way you want them to live and make undisciplined decisions in games, right? That's putting them in stressful situations and stressful spots and forcing them to act and respond the right way. I think it's one of those things that gets built over time and probably is a little bit harder to build in these one year teams nowadays but you've got to find a way to be better.”
(Ref: On how this season can have long-term effects on the program)
“I'd be naive to say that but we have a lot of confidence in who we are, what we're about, what we've done and what we've accomplished here and I think given time, we'll get this resolved.”
(Ref: On what he has seen from Tennessee’s offense)
“It's another awesome rushing attack. Last week, South Carolina went into the game as the number one rush offense in the SEC, we kind of knocked them off of that pedestal so now Tennessee is number one. They have a really talented running back, really physical offensive line, two elite tackles, I think the quarterback is getting better every week, getting more and more comfortable in the system. Talent on the outside, skill at wide receiver and a really good tight end. It'll be a big challenge for us.”
(Ref: On the response from his team with three games left in the season)
“The response has to be to go out and work. I mean that's the only choice you have, there's no options to it. You don't get bonus points for working; you get bonus points for figuring out a way to change the results on Saturday. The only way to respond is to come back to work and they'll do that, they did that today and they’ll do it all week.”
(Ref: On how he evaluates Marcel Reed’s performance where he has a good game but can’t connect when needed)
“It’s probably an understanding that he's not going to complete every pass even in his best performances. He was 25-for-43 with eight drops. If you look at that day, that's solid quarterback play. It's not elite quarterback play, but it's a good quarterback play. You don't then say, ‘he missed a throw in the last play of the game, and so it was a bad day.’ He had those that he missed for sure and there's things that he has to get better at for sure. But it's hard to put that one on him solely. The head coach and the quarterback are the two easiest targets for everything and that's part of the job and nobody complains about it. I'm not sitting here telling you he played like an all-SEC quarterback, but it's hard to put that game on him.”
(Ref: On if prior to the season they pursued any quarterbacks with experience)
“It's really challenging to find a kid who's capable of playing in the SEC who's willing to come in and be a backup. I don't think that's something that exists. It would have been nice to add an older veteran piece and we certainly explored options to do that. I wish it was grocery store shopping, it's just not unfortunately. You can do things to pacify situations, right? We can go get somebody just because he's an older guy and that will make everybody okay with the fact that we went and got an older guy but that doesn't mean that guy's qualified to play SEC football. That's two separate things.”
(Ref: On Tennessee having multiple defensive lineman that can get to the quarterback)
“It's an extremely talented front. It's why they're as good as they are on defense and I think it starts with what they do up front, they disrupt the game a lot. [Xavier] Gilliam's a phenomenal player and probably the best defensive tackle in the country. He'll probably be the first one drafted this year. The two edge kids, 18 [Tyree Weathersby] and nine [Mariyon Dye] I'm going to blank on their names because I've been watching a lot of film and not studying names, but 18 and 9 do a really good job with twitch off the edge. They're powerful, they're physical, they're long and they're going to present a challenge they've done to most people they've played.”
(Ref: On how injuries at wide receiver have maybe contributed to struggles with the offense)
“We don't point to injuries as being reasons. I mean obviously it's part of it. In the fourth quarter of that game we didn't have [Mario] Craver, [Ashton] Bethel-Roman, Terry Bussey and so it's not ideal, but it is what it is. It's football and we got to find ways to be successful. That's what we get paid to do.”
(Ref: On having five explosive plays versus South Carolina and how to build on that)
“I think we were able to find some leverages in the run game, that's where most of them came and I think we had three in the run game, two in the pass game. That helps Marcel continuing to get a little bit more comfortable and that helps, in the last two games I think he's been a little bit more comfortable delivering the football and that'll create better opportunities to do that as the O-line starts to gel a little bit. That creates a little bit better pockets to try to push the ball downfield. I think it's probably a combination of all of those things.”
(Ref: On if he feels like this is the best the offensive line has been all season)
“Again, it's relative. I'm not sitting up here looking for anybody to pat us on the shoulders for anything, but I do think running the ball for over 200 yards against that team the way we did certainly was our best performance of the year.”
(Ref: On if the performance against LaNorris Sellers brings confidence to go against Faizon Brandon)
“Yeah, I don't think he's going to be the quarterback though. I think they're going to probably stick with the guy they've been playing, [George] MacIntyre.”
(Ref: On the challenges to get everyone back on the same page to win Saturday)
“Our job is to put a team out there that can perform at the level that it needs to perform at. We've put a lot into this, we've invested a lot into this and our players have invested a lot into this. Just because you don't get the results that you want, the investment isn't any less. We're the leaders of this program. Our job is to show up every day and put our kids in the best possible position to be successful, to exhaust all possible options, to do that every single week. This fan base deserves a product on Saturday that matches their enthusiasm and what they do for us, and that's our job and we'll do that till someone tells us we can anymore.”
