Texas A&M Football Weekly Press Conference - TEXAS A&M OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Texas A&M Football Weekly Press Conference

Nov. 9, 2009

COLLEGE STATION, Texas--Head Coach Mike Sherman and players of the team meet with members of the press to talk about the upcoming game against Oklahoma.

A full transcript of Coach Sherman's press conference, along with selected quotes from players, will be available soon. Audio clips are available in MP3 format to the right.

Michael Shumard [mp3]

Trent Hunter [mp3]

HEAD COACH Mike Sherman TRANSCRIPT

You had some decent field position during the Colorado game but didn't seem to capitalize. When you look back on the offense, where do you feel some of the breakdowns happened?

"When I looked at the game, more so than anywhere else, the first half we were 6-for-9 on third down and in the 2nd half we were 0-for-5 on third down. When you don't convert a third down...which we've been pretty dang good--I think we've been over 50 percent most of the year--when we didn't convert in third and fourth quarters the way we had been in the first half, that was a problem. And conversely, I think defensively we were 3-for-9 holding them pretty good in the first half, but in the second half we were 5-for-7. So it was a tale of two halves in relationship to third down. I would say that would be a major reason why we were ineffective when we should have been effective."

Was it anything they did in particular to cause that?

"Well, there were plays to be made, we just didn't quite make them in the second half. When you have them 3rd-and-16, 2nd-and-25, you should be able to win that down and distance. Most of our third downs on offense were very manageable. They weren't third and extra long, they were pretty manageable third downs. We just didn't make the plays that we had been making at that time."

What's the status of your walking wounded this week, Howard Morrow and Dustin Harris?

"Morrow is touch-and-go again. He had an ankle sprain. We're going to see where he is at the end of week. He probably won't do a whole heck of a lot in the early part of the week. Dustin is kind of the same thing. We really had him kind of out as doubtful early Sunday, but he seemed to come back a little bit this morning and make a little bit of progress. He won't do much this week as well."

How do you feel like Ryan Swope did on Saturday?

"I thought Swope did a very good job. He made some plays and was physical. Even the last offensive play...we really felt like with two minutes and I think eight seconds on the clock, we would have a chance to go down and win the football game. I remember talking to Jerrod (Johnson) and looking in his eyes and I said, `We're going to win this game, you know that?' And he said, `There's no doubt, coach.' He took the field and moved the ball little bit. He put us in a situation where we were in empty, got us into the right check, and Swope was wide open on a post move. We allowed pressure to happen and the quarterback was hit as he threw ball, and that's where the interception occurred. But he was in the right place doing the right thing, and would have been the hero of the game if we were able to get that ball out to him. I think we would have had a chance to, if not get in field position, possibly even score."

So that's where Jerrod was going with it?

"Right. Ryan (Swope) put a post move on the guy...there were four across in coverage and nobody in the middle. He made a move on him and beat him, and we had a great chance there for a big play. We had pressure off our right guard. He didn't get the protection call, didn't hear it. It was very loud. He didn't hear the protection call and didn't block the guy the way we were supposed to block him, keep him on the board and reach him a little bit, as we rolled to the right. But those things happen."

What about Garrick Williams, is he injured as well?

"Yeah, and again I apologize, I don't have the extent or the nature of his injury, I think it was his ankle. I know there were a couple of conflicting things he had that got him out of the game. He probably won't do much today but I think he'll be okay for the game."

How much do you think the defense missed him, particularly in coverage?

"Well, I think Sean Porter is going to be heck of player. Obviously Garrick is more experienced. I don't know, they are kind of the same guy, with the exception of the experience Garrick brings to the table, and size...he's a lot bigger, 240 pounds."

Can you discuss OU's defensive front, especially Gerald McCoy?

"Their whole defense, and I've been studying them since the game has been over, they probably have one of the best defensive fronts in college football. They are very active, very athletic, they stay on their feet and can apply pressure. They are excellent against both the run and the pass. To highlight McCoy over everybody else...I don't know, I think they are all pretty dang good."

The defense did a good job of getting pressure on (CU quarterback) Tyler Hansen but they couldn't keep him in the pocket. What happened and why did the defense struggle against him when he got in open space?

"It's ironic. We sacked him eight times...I don't think I've been in a game where we sacked them eight times for 60 yards, and we had one sack for two yards, they had eight or nine penalties for about 90 and we had three for nine, or something like that. And to lose that game like that is hard to take. They did sack him eight times, but the young kid did a great job. He has great feet, he moved around. Guys were trying to make the play on him. The longer the play went the deeper the coverage. Our guys stayed in coverage and covered the players they were supposed to cover, but the front guys could never just get a handle on him and keep him in containment, where he was able to get sacked. If we didn't get him right away...it seemed like when he started running around in space he was pretty elusive. We knew that going in. We didn't have any misconceptions about his athletic ability. We were pretty impressed with him coming in that way."

From a special teams standpoint was that one of the better games you've played all year?

"Our kickoff coverage was exceptional. We got them down inside the 20 with the exception of that last one. That last one I think they got the ball around the 38-yard line, which is one we really needed. So the consistency there had to hold up for us the whole extent of game, which it didn't in that last one. The kickoff return was very well blocked and run by Cyrus Gray for 99 yards. Our operation time on our punts wasn't as good as I would like, or the distance, but we covered them okay. We missed a field goal that could have made a difference. So other than that, yeah, it was a decent day."

What about Jerrod Johnson's play, how did you grade him when you went back and looked at the tape?

"Jerrod Johnson was so into the game and did such great job of leadership on the sideline. He was really working the sidelines, with the linemen, with the defense, just going back and forth trying to keep guys going in the game. I thought his leadership was exceptional. His poise and demeanor was outstanding. His understanding of what we're trying to get done is off the charts. Did he throw his best balls? He had a couple of chances for some plays that we overthrew guys or missed guys on. He didn't throw the ball extremely well, but well enough for us to win the football game. He just keeps better in my mind. Did he throw the ball as well as he has in other games? Probably not. But that's a quarterback. He's not going to come every single day he plays with the same exact game throwing the football. But he was dang close. We missed a couple that we wished we had."

Where would you say he's progressed most in the past year and what does he need to work on?

"Every quarterback needs to continue to work on mechanics. He's no exception there. He can get a little bit sloppy in his mechanics sometimes. I would say his decision-making process has probably been the most impressive. He's taken himself to an area that I didn't know he could go to at this point, where he's really trying to make the right decision. Last year, he would throw some up that I really had trouble with. This year, those are very few and far between. He threw one to EZ (Uzoma Nwachukwu) down the sideline on a 3rd-and-5 call, and we had (Ryan) Tannehill open on the other side. He had a matchup over there he liked, but he had the easy one, being to Tannehill...he had trips on one side and a single receiver on the other side. But he had bump over there on EZ and really wanted to take a shot over there. That was a 3rd-and-5 or six and he probably should have taken the easier of the two throws. But even the interception, he put us in the right play and made the right throw, he just couldn't get enough on the ball to get it out there and gave us a chance to win the football game. His ball security in the pocket is so much better. His pocket presence is so much better. We talked about staying in the pocket more and he did that this week. I don't know if I've ever been around a guy who takes what you say to heart and is able to make the adjustments as readily as he has made them. And he has a long way to go. I knew he was a smart kid, but he has football smarts. And that probably has a lot to do with growing up with his dad being a football coach. But he has very good football smarts."

Is he a guy you see being able to take his game to the next level, meaning the NFL?

"I think he definitely has that potential. Fundamentally we have to continue to work with him on some aspects of his game. If you remember early in the season, he would hold the ball down low, and now he's holding it up high. The ball would come out a little bit late, now it's coming out a lot quicker. If he keeps taking to the coaching mechanics of his position I think he'll have an opportunity, yes."

Did Colorado take Jeff Fuller away other than that one catch, or is he not 100 percent?

"Well, they played a multitude of coverages, and they'd roll coverage up on Jeff couple of times. So from a coverage standpoint there were times that he didn't have opportunities. And there were other times when we'd run the ball, there were, but we didn't have a pass on on that particular play. He didn't get a whole lot of single coverage. There were two times I remember where we were running the ball that I wish we had thrown the ball, because they did have him singled up. It seemed like when we threw the ball, for the most part he had two over him to his side."

Do you feel like the team's in a similar situation then you were after Kansas State, heading to Texas Tech? Another difficult road game coming after a tough loss?

"Not really, because I think we did a lot of good things Saturday. I thought the guys competed, they fought, went up to Colorado on the road and I'm proud of how they played the game. I'm disappointed we lost, but they did everything I asked them to do. They competed. We had the lead for 56 minutes of the ball game, so I'm not going to throw the baby out with the bath water because of the last four minutes. It's certainly disheartening. I'm still struggling over this one. That was a heartbreaker. I'd rather get my butt kicked then lose them like that. But at the same time I've got to look at the positives. We had a bunch of freshmen out there playing, they did some good things, they made some mistakes, and we had a chance to win the game. And we should have won the game. You can't take anything away from Colorado. I've said this many, many times, the most dangerous team in football is a team when it's faced with a lot of adversity. They had lost three in a row, they were talking about this and that up there, they lost a player who transferred out. They had a lot to rally around and they did. Give them credit, they stepped up and won the game in the last four minutes when they had to."

What do you make of the Oklahoma offense, especially since Sam Bradford went out for good? They did well against Kansas and Kansas State but then they got basically shut out against Nebraska Saturday night...

"Well, you have to understand, I've seen Nebraska on defense and they have a couple of players that are just unblockable. They have a couple of guys over there that are physical players, as good as there is in football. That plays a part in it. They have a couple of running backs, a great receiver, the quarterback is trying to find his way but he's done some very good things. Those are tough shoes to fill obviously. We have to come ready to play because it'll be a physical game. I think Coach Stoops, if he has his druthers, would like to run the football and control the game and the clock, being a defensive coach. So I'm sure we'll see heavy dosage of those running backs and that offensive line, and then mix in the passing game. They're a good football team. I look at our team, and I look at Oklahoma State and this last game...we're seven points away from having seven wins. They are equally as close, if not more so, to being undefeated. They really have played well and have had some tough breaks in some games. They are a very good football team. Their four losses could have gone either way."

You talk about being a few points from seven wins, and a few of the players were in here earlier talking about just finishing games. Is that something that has to develop?

"Yeah...we didn't close the games out obviously, so that's why we don't have seven wins. We have to be accountable for that. We can't assume anything. We have to finish the game out. It wasn't so much finishing the game...it was the other day, but in both games we missed a field goal, both games we missed a 4th-down conversion, both games we missed touchdown passes. I know Jamie (McCoy) had one he dropped in the end zone against Oklahoma State. If we could have protected the other day I thought we could have had a touchdown to Swope. But those are wouldas, couldas, and shouldas that don't really equate to what reality is. Reality is we are not 7-2. We are 5-4. That's the reality."

Landry Jones seems to have a little trouble with pressure. With your defense do you feel like that plays into your hands a little?

"I don't know. We pressured the quarterback the other day pretty good with eight sacks, and it didn't seem to play into our hands when it counted most. That'd be a tough call. I'd hope it would."

With all the mixing and matching you've done on your offensive line this year, the one guy that we really haven't talked a lot about is Kevin Matthews. Can you talk about how he's progressed since you've come back and what he means to that line?

"Kevin has been the starter there since I've been here. He's a guy that's there every single week. There's times where he's banged up and beat up, and you don't hear a whole lot about him, but he's playing through those issues, as any offensive lineman going into this week of the season...I don't think there's a healthy one out there. He deals with that. His leadership and his ability to make calls, he's put us in some pretty good blocking schemes. His position is such that in pass protection and also in run blocking, he's the quarterback of the offensive line so to speak. He tries to get us in the right position to make blocks. He's done well. He's really developed this season and I look forward to him having a good finish here."

Do you see the bloodlines working with him?

"I know the phone lines work pretty well, because his dad calls him a lot to tell him how he did and what he needs to work on, which I totally enjoy because his dad and I see things kind of the same way. I'm sure the bloodlines work there as well."

Kirby Ennis is starting to see more time on the defensive line, is he progressing well?

"This probably wasn't one of Kirby's best games, but he has progressed and is making good strides for a young defensive lineman. Any linemen playing, when you talk about Patrick Lewis and you talk about Kirby Ennis, and (Spencer) Nealy...Nealy made a great play on the screen the other day. It's hard to be a lineman and play at this level your freshman year I think. Those three guys have done a nice job for us. I think they'll become good players. Kirby has made progress, to answer your question. This was not one of his better games, but he has done a good job this year, and filled in, and given us an opportunity to rest guys. With that defensive line it's so important to roll those guys through because of the amount of snaps you get in college football today. Actually, I think offensively with the amount of snaps, Houston might be number one and we are number two. Defensively, when you're playing against teams like that, you've got to have fresh guys. An offensive lineman can play 85 plays a game, but a defensive lineman, with all the running they have to do, you have to have two groups at least to rotate through there."

What makes Cyrus Gray an exciting kickoff return guy?

"You know, it's funny. I remember last season when he started off, he wasn't as instinctive as I would have liked him to be. But as the season went along he kept getting better and better and better. That's kind of what we saw again this year. Last year we started off with Mike (Goodson) at the tailback position, so Cyrus was a little more expendable. This year since Cyrus started to start, we backed off on him a little bit. Slowly but surely, as he's gotten more work in there, with his eyes and seeing things, he's reacted to the blocking schemes real well. He's a little more instinctive, and obviously he showed a tremendous power and burst on that run he had for the 99-yard kickoff return. His speed had a lot to do with it, but he had good vision, good blocking--we blocked it very well. That was a highlight of the game and it came right at the right time too."

Jordan Peterson came in the other day and had a couple of nice plays. Do you appreciate guys like him who've been around a long time?

"I love Jordan Peterson. Here's a guy that's been a starter, and the injures have just backed him up and slowed him down. We talked about him maybe just coaching this year. I asked him in camp, I said, `Hey listen. You never know when we are going to need you. Can you just keep working?' So he took Coryell Judie and he tutored him for preseason camp for the most part, and tried to teach him the corner position before Coryell went down. Then when he went down, we just asked (Jordan), `Hey, if you're feeling a little bit better, we'd love for you to dress out and see what you can do.' He's done everything we've asked him to do. I can't say enough about him. He's a pleasure to be around, a great kid. He's all about A&M and us being as good as we can be, and he's a totally unselfish kid. He made a couple of big plays for us the other day, and I was happy for him and for us."

Do you sometimes get as confused by the duplicate numbers as we do, and why is that such a trend now?

"(Laughing) I don't know. I'm watching the tape coming back on the plane, and it looked like Tannehill was back there in the wedge. I said, `That can't be true. What the heck is he doing back in the wedge?' It was (Chris) Caflisch. But yeah, it's confusing. I don't know how you go about it when you have 130 jerseys."

It just seems like in the old days there weren't many guys who had the same numbers playing prominent positions...

"The fact of matter is we have a lot of freshmen playing. Those duplicate numbers normally go to the freshmen, and they don't normally get on the field quite as early as maybe these kids have gotten on the field. So you see a little bit more of it."

If Dustin Harris can't go Saturday, who do you see returning punts or is that something you'll work on this week?

"It's something we'll look at this week. Again, we put one on the ground, and it wasn't good. It was another opportunity we let slip by. Even though it was late in the game, we still felt like we had the opportunity to at least get to a position to kick a field goal. Even though we had no time outs left, thought we could still take a couple of shots. But we'll figure that out this week. I can't give you a definite answer right now."

You always talk about matchups, and you mentioned Coach Stoops running the football...will your interior line be one of those key matchups of the game to see how they hold up, or what do you see as the key matchups?

"I would say that, from a defensive perspective. They did quite a good job of it last year, running the football. They're still going to throw the football, there's no question that they have a great passing attack. But I'm assuming they're going to run the football on us, so that's a key matchup. I think our receivers versus their defensive backs. I thought going into the game last week that Colorado, from a defensive back standpoint, presented the most challenges that we'd faced all year. They had very good corners and safeties and coverage skills. This group right here is very special. And obviously the defensive front, it's just crazy. They are a bunch of talented young athletes that run around and make plays."

Will we see more of Brandal Jackson and Kenric McNeal? Kenric came in and made a good catch early in the game...

"It was a great catch, actually, against two man. He ran a corner route and adjusted to it. It wasn't an easy route but he ran it exactly how you had to run that route against that coverage. He did a great job. When we went to five wide receivers, he was out there for that. With Jeff (Fuller) coming back, it did limit Brandal Jackson's reps, to a degree, and understandably so. But I still think Brandal's got to get out there a little bit more. He gives us another dimension. We've got to find a way to get his athleticism out there."

ADDITIONAL QUOTES

ASST HEAD COACH/DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR Joe Kines

on Oklahoma... "When you look at the Oklahoma program, it's a quality program. Coach Stoops has done a tremendous job with that program. I remember when he was the defensive coordinator down in Florida. He was a bright young guy and did extremely well there and made his mark. He got a chance and has really done a great job at Oklahoma. They're quality players. They're what a big time college football team should look like...a big offensive line, strong running backs, really good at the receiver slots. They're a quality football team, that if you don't play well you could get embarrassed. It will take your best effort to play over the top of it."

on the team's inconsistencies... "We've played well at times this year. Consistency obviously has been our problem, so it's a week where we're going to have to go to practice and be able to get consistent, do things the right way and get lined up right. Be where we're supposed to be, do what we're supposed to be doing and you've got a shot."

JUNIOR QB Jerrod Johnson

on losing to Colorado... "I just think we made some crucial mistakes at some crucial times. I don't think we made that many mistakes, just when we made them it was not very fortunate for us."

on any similarities to the game at Texas Tech... "We understand that it's a different situation for us. But at the same time, I think you can look at it and understand that we are capable of doing it. You can put them together and consider them kind of similar. We understand it's a whole different nature and different coaching staff, different style than Texas Tech. But the good thing about the Tech game is that we know we're capable of doing it. We're also going to stress the fact that it's different. We're excited for the challenge."

SENIOR DB Jordan Pugh

on the team's inconsistencies... "Just learn how to finish. We had the lead the whole game until I want to say the last five or eight minutes, whatever it was. We just have to learn how to finish. That's the biggest thing, we just didn't finish that game. And if we can do that, it will all take care of itself."

on the environment in Norman... "I think it's one of the toughest in the Big 12. Especially at their place, they're at home. They play tough there. They protect their house. It's going to be a challenge for us and I think it's something that we can do. It's the same thing as going up to Lubbock--we haven't won there in a long time and we went up there and accomplished that. I think if we just handle our business and prepare we'll be fine."

SENIOR OL Michael Shumard

on the challenge of playing OU... "We have to work really hard this week to do something against them [Oklahoma]. It will be our biggest challenge of the year. But we knew that going into it, we knew that all summer when we were working. When Coach K (strength coach Dave Kennedy) was running us, they didn't say, 'We're training to beat New Mexico.' They said, `We're training to beat Oklahoma and Texas.' That was how our offensive line took it, is that we've got to keep training to be able to match up against those guys that are going to be in the league for 30 years."

SOPHOMORE DB Trent Hunter

on the team's inconsistencies... "You just can't see the inconsistency in a couple of weeks. We've been dealing with this since the beginning of the season. We'll come out and have great weeks of practice, we'll practice hard and we'll practice fast. At the same time, come game day, you can't play up or down to your opponent's level. You have to play all out every game no matter who you're playing. We came out in the Kansas State game thinking we were going to win and we came out and they whooped us, and we played down. We came out at the Tech game and played up to where we should have been, or can be, playing. Obviously it wasn't the best we could have played, but we played at a really high level. And that's something we have to work on. Every year you have something that you work on during the offseason. This is definitely something we're going to start working on now going into next year. It's being more consistent and coming out week to week playing at a high level, not just up and down week in and week out."

JUNIOR JACK Von Miller

on being in the national spotlight despite the team's struggles... "I really just want to win and go to a bowl game and all the other stuff is second tier. If you don't win, it really doesn't feel as good as if you were winning. All that other stuff is bonus. If you don't win, it's really not quite as important. I'd trade every last sack to be undefeated right now."

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