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Aggies Fall to Florida in SEC Opener, 20-17
Team Quotes
Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M Head Coach
General Statement
"What we failed to do today was penalties. We talked about it last week
- penalties and turnovers making a difference, and they're things that
we can control. It's disappointing the number of penalties we had. It
set us back, offensively we couldn't get moving and right before that
we jump offside, we lose a timeout for the ten-second runoff. And in
the second half, it was basically the same tale. Florida did an
excellent job in the second half. We didn't make enough plays in the
second half to be effective offensively and penalties also got us
behind the chains. Those are things that we have to address that we've
been addressing. Obviously that point was not taken. We talked about it
after the game and we've got to spend time, as we have, but more time
on us, in doing the things that we need to do to win the game. That's
not to take anything away from your opponent. Florida played very well.
You look at a game like that where it's a tight game, there are no
turnovers, the ball security was very good on both sides, you start
looking at where the difference is. Penalties were a big factor in this
football game today."
On whether he left the running game too early in the second half.
"No, we looked at it. There are lot of things that basically because of
how they were playing in the first half, we were able to we were able
to run the football a bit more effectively. They made some adjustments
to kind of show that up and make us do some other things. It's not that
we left the run game. We ran it. We just didn't get anything. We've got
to change and we've got to throw it and we're off the field. I'm not
sure the number of runs that we had in the second half, but I know
obviously that the production of the running game was nowhere near the
first half."
On freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel's debut
"It's hard. I did the same thing after the scrimmage. You have to go
back and look at video. What you see from the sidelines is different
than what you see in where he is in the breakdown with his protection,
did he screen and did he go through the reads. Obviously he's a young
guy and he made plays in the first half, but they contained him in the
second half and took away the other part of his legs, really, in the
second half. This is a real learning situation for him, as it will be
every week. I'll have to look at. The first thing that you start to
look at with a young quarterback is did he give the ball to the other
team? That didn't happen. From a game management standpoint he did
that. That's the first thing that you want to look at with a young guy.
As I go back and look at video I'll be able to give you a better
answer. The thing about quarterbacks is that they're like me, they get
too much credit when they win and all of the blame when they lose.
There are 10 other guys out there that have to do their job, too. From
a game management standpoint, to go through his first football game
against a ranked opponent, an SEC opponent, and not turn the ball over
- that's a real plus for him and for us."
On the Aggies' SEC debut
"It was great energy. I'm disappointed, obviously, like anybody else
that we didn't win the game. We've got some things that we have to fix
that we're working to fix. We talk about all the time that there are no
excuses. In any game like that, when things are that close, execution
becomes key. We didn't make enough plays during the game. Florida did.
You've got to give them credit. They made the plays that they needed in
the second half to win the game. Coming out, I thought that the energy
level of the crowd was fantastic. It's the reason I wanted to be here
and the reason that Kyle Field is such a great place. I'm disappointed
that we didn't win.
On how the loss affects the players' psyche after losing a first-half lead
"We were winning at halftime, 17-10, so that's a close game. That's
something that we've been addressing. It's the elephant in the room.
When you have a game that is that close, the first thing that you have
to fix is yourselves - from a penalization standpoint, and an execution
standpoint. Then the other part of winning or closing up games become a
little bit easier. That's a good question about the psyche of this
team. I've said it before - walking in this spring, you could feel it.
It's something that, based on this game today - which is the only game
I've coached here, I didn't feel that. I felt like we just couldn't
close or make plays in the fourth quarter. We're still there. We have
the chance to win the game. Drive the ball and score, or tie it up at
the end. We failed to do that and our defense really gave us an
opportunity two-or-three times. And it really turned into a punting
game. I thought our kicking game, with the exception of the fake to
keep them on the field, obviously. I thought we traded with them.
Coverage was good on both sides. We just didn't make enough plays to
close it out."
On Johnny Manziel
"Anyone who's watched him play knows he's not a normal freshman. That
is a big job to start at home in front of that crowd, against a ranked
team. You can watch his play and anyone who saw him play knows he's not
timid. He's very, very confident in his actions and I think as we
review the video with him, I think he's going to be able to see,
'Alright, here's where I need experience and where I can get better.'
The thing that created some more offense for us in the first half was
his legs. In the second half, without looking at video, I don't think
he felt comfortable doing that. There are fast guys in this league.
You're not the fastest guy on the field anymore. That became evident in
the second half."
Ryan Swope, Senior Wide Receiver
On Florida
"I mean, they were fast and had a good defense...those guys run around.
We've just got to take a look at the film and try to improve on it."
On the second half performance
"I think we came out in the first half and we felt good, we felt
confident. I really can't vouch for the second half. It's just doing
your job, and the coach talked about that all week. We do our job, do
our assignment and we'll win the game. I think we beat ourselves, just
with penalties and assignments that we missed. We've just got to stay
positive and look at the film and just go on to next week. "
On this loss compared to last year
"Yes, in a way. I flashed back. It's hard. This is a whole new year, so
I've just got to put that behind me. It's one game. I know we've got a
great group of guys and a great group of coaches. We've just got to
accept it, prepare, and put that one behind us."
On the effects of the loss on the fans
"That's probably the biggest disappointment...myself, my team. You
know, as a whole, just let down Kyle Field today. We let down the great
fans. It's so electric in that stadium. I don't think they ever sat
down today. Like I said, we have the best fans in college football and
it's tough. We don't really know why. And just knowing how many people
we let down, I think that's the biggest thing for me. We let down this
university. Not just that, but we let down each other. But the good
thing is that we've got 11 football games left to play. We've just got
to stay positive and we're going to need those fans behind us the whole
year."
On Manziel's performance in the game
"I think Johnny played a great job for us. Just played smart and making
plays. He's a tough guy and you could just tell today that Johnny was
going to throw the ball right for us. I think he did a great job today.
I think that he's obviously got some improvement. Everyone does,
including myself. We can all get better from watching this film and
just carry it over to next week."
On the team's future in the SEC
"It's way too early. We just go out there and play football. We don't
look at what conference we're in. When we're playing, if we go out and
play football, then that's all we have to worry about. We put all the
rest behind us. We watch the film on the other team and we prepare just
by ...We're just going out there to have fun and play football."
Jonathan Stewart, Senior Linebacker
On the Aggies' defense
"It's a very tough loss. We had opportunities, we had ample
opportunities out there today in the first half and the second half and
we didn't capitalize. We made too many mistakes, too many missed
tackles, too many penalties. If we cut those down, we would have come
out with a victory but unfortunately we didn't do what we needed to do
to win the game."
On whether the game felt like the 2011 season
"Not really. The result, the end result felt like last year. But
overall we were confident, we had plenty of opportunities and
unfortunately we just didn't get the job done. The sun will come up in
the morning. We have to wake up, move on to the next game, get ready
for SMU. That's the great thing about football, it's twelve-game
seasons, and we lost the first game, so now we've got to move on. We've
still got 11 games left, and we've just got to look forward to SMU. We
can't hang our head on losing to Florida and everything that surrounds
it."
On the move to the SEC
"The move to the SEC is great, for the school, and the fans, and all
the hoorah that goes along with it. As a football team we still go out
there. The football field is the same dimensions, and there are still
just going to be eleven people on the field. So regardless of if we're
playing in the MAC, the Big 12, the Big 10, high school football or
whatever, we've just got to go out there and compete no matter what
conference we are in."
On Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel
"Jeff Driskel did a heck of a job getting them out of tough situations.
He really used his legs today. Whenever we had coverage sags and he'd
break a tackle and get out of there, he did what Jonny did some of the
time. We just didn't wrap him up enough and missed tackles. That's what
this game came down to. They made more tackles than we did. And we
missed more tackles than they did."
Mark Snyder, Texas A&M Defensive Coordinator
On the defensive line
"I thought we played fast and we played with some aggressiveness. We
had too many missed tackles, in my opinion. You know we warned them
about the first game. I said it after watching the games last week that
there was too much ankle biting going on, across the front and in the
secondary. But I did think the kids played fast, I did think they
played aggressively I think they did show some want-to. I felt no quit
in them through the whole game. They want to keep making stops and get
the ball back to our offense. That was very, very pleasing because
being the first game, you don't know exactly what you're getting, with
the exception of five or six plays and after the first drive, I thought
we did okay."
On not having any turnovers
"There is no doubt that's frustrating. Driskel frustrated us all day.
He's got that ball out there swinging all over the place and we're
trying to get him down let alone knock the ball out and that goes to
show you some of our athleticism, right now. Those are dangerous plays
for a quarter back. There were five or six times I saw him going down -
he's got that ball all over the place and we're not going for the ball.
We have to create turnovers, there's no doubt."
On young players
"I had to pull Deshazor out of the game for ankle-biting and showed
that he's a rookie. He had bad leverage on some things and he's not
real strong on the top yet. I'm not discouraged but you can tell that
they are really, really raw. They are very, very young. And at times
today, they hurt us, there's no doubt."
On Damontre Moore
"Damontre has been showing me through camp, since I've been here in the
spring, when he put his hand in the dirt, he had the chance to be
pretty good. Unfortunately we're reaching for people. We have three
personal foul face masks on defense that changes the field position
dramatically. Five yarders, not so bad. Fifteen yarders, absolutely
kill you. Damontre had one of them during the very last - we're trying
to get off the field and we grab a face mask. We've got to get out and
then there's nowhere to go. It's uncalled for, but those are learning
experiences for us, and I think as this year goes, Damontre is going to
make a lot of noise. I really do."
On the energy of Kyle Field
"It was pretty cool. That was really neat. Our fans got our kids on our
side of the ball really jacked up. And we were able to go with a little
three-man rotation. We did sub a ton of guys. I think they were feeding
off the crowd, it was pretty special. It was really special. And it's
just nice to have that. You know, defense is about emotion and when you
get the crowd into it like that, that helps tremendously."
Kliff Kingsbury, Texas A&M Offensive Coordinator
On Johnny Manziel
"I couldn't be prouder of the kid, the way he fought. It wasn't perfect
by any stretch, but he fought and he's going to win a lot of games
here."
On the offensive line
"I thought they battled, and it's an experienced group. I think Johnny
is a playmaker. I thought the whole offense fought the whole game. We
just made too many mistakes."
On Manziel's performance
"He's just got to get better. It's his first game that he's played here
in this offense. Like I said, I couldn't be prouder of the way he
fought and he's got a chance to be a really, really good player. He'll
get better."
On Florida's defense
"I think we caught them off guard a little during the first half and
they were on to it some of the second. I tip my hat off to them. They
are a great defense."
On ways to improve
"We've got to be better at completing passes. We've got young receivers
out there...we've got to find a way to get Ryan [Swope] the ball
because he's a big player. We're just going to do that from here on
out."
FLORIDA
Head Coach Will Muschamp
"It was a good win for our team. The guys continued to fight hard and
play the game for 60 minutes. Third down was an adventure for our team.
[Freshman Quarterback] Johnny Manziel is an amazing athlete. He made
plays for the team. We did a better job in the second half controlling
the line of scrimmage. That was the difference. There is no magic
potion. I told my guys to quit running up the field. You get the
illusion that these guys are a passing team, but really they are not
right now with Johnny [Manziel]. They are a running team. We ran the
ball well, stayed balanced in the game, and moved the football. Coming
into this solid environment I thought our guys hung in there well and
did what we had to do to win the game. This is who we are. We are going
to grind it out; we are going to win. That's our mentality as a
football team. We are going to grow and mature throughout the year."
Junior Tight End Jordan Reed
How did you adjust in the second half...
"In the second half we got used to their stunts and blitzes. They had a
bunch of exotic blitzes that we had to pick up. We opened up our
playbook this week. A win is a win. We won the game and we are excited.
We are going to get better as the season progresses."
Senior Offensive Lineman James Wilson
How big was the last drive...
"The last drive to kill the clock was huge. The O-Line knew we had to
stay on the field to secure a win. We have been practicing that all
spring. We played our game and stayed focused.
Sophomore Quarterback Jeff Driskel
"Texas A&M was all that was advertised. They were in it the
whole game. It's great to come out of here with a win."
The teams feeling at the half...
We were composed at half time. No one hung their head. No one was
pointing fingers. We just corrected the things we needed to correct. We
knew we had another half to play. Only being down a touchdown is really
nothing, especially with the defense playing the way they were."
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