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No. 6 LSU Wins at No. 18 TEXAS A&M 24-19
Postgame Quotes
HEAD COACH LES MILES
On the game overall
"I'd like to congratulate Coach Sumlin and the Aggies; they played
awfully hard. You can see when we play here that it is a special place.
It's loud and it's an advantage for the home team. They played awfully
cohesive for a first year coach. My team came on the road and got
behind. But, we felt like it was only a matter of time before we got on
track. I like how our quarterback managed the game. We threw some deep
balls today and we need to hit those. We can win on the road in a
hostile environment. A win on the road in the conference is good. Texas
A&M definitely has an SEC environment already."
JUNIOR SAFETY ERIC REED
On the Aggie offense
"People say Texas A&M is a finesse team, but I disagree. We saw
Johnny Manziel on film, and we saw him do some things that we thought
we could stop. We give him credit; he knows how to work the pocket and
he does it well. We felt like we could get some pressure on him with
our three linemen. The game is all about momentum. We got some key
turnovers and put some points on the board."
JUNIOR QUARTERBACK ZACH METTENBERGER
On the Aggie defense
"I wasn't surprised with how tight they played us. Before this game we
hadn't really taken many shots downfield. We run the ball really well,
so everyone is going to try to stop the run against us. Next time we
have to capitalize on the deep balls. The wind was a big factor today,
especially on the deep balls. Johnny Manziel is a very good
quarterback. If he learns to minimize his mistakes he is going to be a
very good quarterback in this league. We have to get better this off
week and prepare for Alabama."
JUNIOR DEFENSIVE END BARKEVIOUS MINGO
On A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel
"Texas A&M came out passing a lot. Quick throws, 3-step drops, they
were trying to get the ball out of Manziel's hands quick. They moved
the chains and got a quick start. It wasn't fun chasing Manziel all
day. We did a good job of it, but it wasn't fun. They had more yards
than us. They passed for more and ran for more, but our offense did
what they needed to."
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH KEVIN SUMLIN
On what LSU's defense did to make the game difficult for Johnny Manziel
"They've made life difficult on everybody that they've played. They're
a talented football team. They continue to play. They have depth in the
secondary. They have guys that can rotate. They can pass rush and have
guys who can play man coverage. I think the story of the game is
obviously how we responded between the points off of turnovers. That's
a two-way street. You turn it over three times and regardless of the
situation, you win as a team, you lose as a team. We've got a
disappointed bunch in there - a team that played very, very hard. We
came up short and you have to give them credit. That's a big, physical,
talented team."
On Taylor Bertolet's rough day
"He's a young guy. He's got a powerful leg. He kicked off well, it's
just one of those things. He's still our guy. He'll continue to get
better. We've just got to keep working with him. You can see the
strength in his leg. I'm sure he knows. I talked to him. He's very,
very disappointed. He's going to get better. He's made some big kicks
for us this year and he's going to bounce back."
On the effectiveness of the LSU running game
"I thought that we let one get out of the gate right there at the end
of the fourth quarter. Other than that, I thought our defense played
pretty well. They were able to move the ball, with the exception of
that last touchdown. I thought we contained it pretty well and got off
of the field enough on third downs. We didn't force any turnovers, and
that's a credit to them too. You're playing a top-10 team in the
country and you don't get any turnovers, and we turn over three times,
it's difficult to win against a team like that."
On whether LSU's defense was what was expected
"They mixed it up just like they said they would. They didn't play one
static defense the whole game. They mixed it up and changed some
things. They're a good defense. There's a reason why nobody else has
moved the ball against them very well. We've got talented players. It
can take some chances with some of the guys they've got on the field in
man coverage. They did a good job of changing the looks and the
pressure. You've got to be able to continue to move the ball and show
some patience, which we did. It's difficult when the turnover battle is
what it is."
"I think it was all of those things. At this point in the year we've
been in two games like that, really. I'll have to go back and watch the
video and see. Like I said, effort was not the problem. As long as our
guys continue to give effort like that, we're going to be able to win
in any game. I think it should have been today. The hump we've got to
get over is execution and being consistent. It's no different than what
I said after game one. Against a very talented team, the margin for
error is really, really small. We made too many today. You've got to
give them credit too. They've got guys that were flying with balls.
You've got to give them credit. That's a very well-coached and talented
team."
JUNIOR DEFENSIVE LINEMAN DAMONTRE MOORE
On the mood in locker room
"It was depressing, nobody is happy after a loss. Everybody is
depressed but there is a 24-hour rule and we will watch the film, learn
from our mistakes, and move on and get better from here."
On matching LSU's offensive line
"They had a tremendously talented offensive line. Probably the most
talented offensive line we have played here. They were talented
athletically and they had the mean streak that you want your offensive
line to have. Second half we had some injuries that we were fighting
through. Not taking anything away from them, but they just seized the
moment and capitalized on our misfortune."
On LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger
"I felt like we were rattling him and had pressure on the pocket. Later on they made their adjustments. "
SENIOR LINEBACKER JONATHAN STEWART
On letting this game slip away after a lead
"That game was a real tough loss. Defensively we beat ourselves.
Regardless of how many turnovers we had, whenever their defense gets a
turnover we need to match that on defense and we didn't do that. Their
defense made more plays today and they played better. That was
ultimately the result of the game."
On whether the team got worn down
"No, not necessarily. We did not. They have a good offensive
coordinator over there. For that one drive, he was having success. Once
we got back on the sidelines we were able to stop them. During that one
drive he was having a lot of success and fortunately we were able to
stop them with a field goal."
On trailing at the half trailing after leading for so long
"That part is not what you expect but regardless of how many turnovers
we have as a team, we don't care defensively. We feel that if our
offense is able to get us a field goal, we're good enough on defense to
stop anybody. We gave them too many points. We gave them too many
explosives. We didn't make them drop balls and earn every single point
they got today."
SENIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN PATRICK LEWIS
On the 24-hour rule
"This one hurts a lot. It would have been nice to have a win here not
only for myself but for our team and for Kyle Field. It's a win that
we've needed for a long time now but we've got to get over it. We will
learn from the mistakes we made today and continue to get better."
On matching LSU's team
"I think we matched it pretty well. They have a physical defense,
that's what they are known for, a big time defense that gets the ball
back to their offense and give them a lot of scoring opportunity. We
had a lot of turnovers and their offense generated points, they are a
disciplined team. Unfortunately we fell victim to that today by giving
them the ball back and they capitalized on it."
On running up the middle
"Our job is to make whatever it is work. We would have liked to run the
ball more, and we did, they gave us a lot of opportunities; we just
have to make the most of it when they do."
On correcting turnovers
"We just have to try not to make those mistakes in ball games. They
happen, sometimes the ball may not bounce your way, they might strip
the ball, or the quarterback might make the wrong read. I don't think
there is any formula to stop turnovers. You just have to do your best
to not let it happen. We just have to do a better job of not
turning the ball over if we are going to keep winning games. "
JUNIOR RUNNING BACK BEN MALENA
On missed opportunity
"When you play against an especially talented defense you really just
have to focus on execution. Some plays we didn't execute the way we
wanted to, credit to them too, they made some plays also. We left some
plays out there with some penalties, some turnovers, and didn't execute
a couple plays right."
On the loss in general
"Just forget about it and move on. Just get in there study the film and
know what you didn't do right and correct it for the Auburn Tigers next
week. "
On moving on
"It's pretty tough, but that what the 24-hour rule is for. They were a
great team, we left some opportunities on the field. Hats off to
defense, I think they played really well tonight. We are just going to
watch film and get ready for next week."
On running the ball more
"We just take advantage of what the defense gives us. It's a system
offense; we are going to take what you give to us. They are a great
defense and they made some adjustments and we made some adjustments
also."
SENIOR WIDE RECEIVER UZOMA NWACHUKWU
On today's performance
"We just didn't do a good job of attacking what they gave us and
adjusting to some things. Also, if you turn over the ball that many
times, you're going to get beaten. We've just got to go back and focus
in on the little things and we should do that on Monday. It goes back
to that we are an attack offense and we can't take our foot off the gas
pedal. When we have them down and we have good momentum, we have to put
the ball in the end zone. We can't forget about what got us good field
position. We just have to focus on the little things and make sure we
put the ball in the end zone."
On comparison to top teams like Florida and LSU
"I think we are very close. We are a team that, defensively, they have
excitement going. They are jumping around and they are running to the
ball. We have a great defense. Offensively, this guy is doing it for
us. We have to focus on the little things that make great teams:
turnovers, penalties and things like that. We have to harp on that if
we want to that league status."
On 76-yard kick return that resulted in no points
"It was kind of deflating for us. We had the ball in great field
position. We couldn't ask anything more for out of our kick return
team, except to put the ball in the end zone and that is our job. In
that situation, we just have to focus in and really hone in on the
little details. The red zone is that type of feel where it only matters
in that moment. Whatever you did to get there doesn't matter. Only the
next series matters. We just have to hone in on what we have to do to
fix things and we should do that Monday."
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