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Mullen Previews MSU Matchup with No. 7 Texas A&M
“It’s
great to have a second straight home game here after a bunch of road
games. It’s great to be back home in back-to-back weeks. Coming off
last week’s game, it’s a big challenge for us playing another explosive
offense, a team that has a lot of playmakers all over the field. They
have a couple of really good running backs that are productive runners
between the tackles and get tough yardage, and then you watch them both
that have homerun hitting ability. They got a great combination of
receivers with size and speed on the outside, a great slot receiver
playmaker that you can put the ball in his hands and he can make
anything happen, and a quarterback that can improvise. He could beat
you with a quick release, with his arms, his legs, his scramble
ability, and make play after play happen. It’s a great challenge for us
there. On the defensive side of the ball, you have got dynamic pass
rushers and defensive linemen up front. They lead the nation in tackles
for loss. When you look at that combination, those guys could just
cause havoc up front with a bunch of potential NFL players and possibly
first rounders or first picks in the draft. You see why they are one of
the top teams in America, and it should be a great challenge for our
guys. They are going to have to come out and play a great game from
opening kick to the end.”
On correctable things with defense…
“It’s
tackling. It’s guys running to the football. It’s guys making sure we
are in the right position. You saw on film, we made a bunch of plays on
defense, and we missed a bunch of plays on defense. We gave up over 300
yards after the catch, and we just cannot do those things. We had over
20-plus missed tackles in the game. You just can’t do that. That’s just
guys trusting their base fundamentals and executing.”
On involvement with defense…
“I
am involved in game plan. I am on the phone with them while we’re on
defense. I am constantly trying to go back and forth with everybody to
the next offensive series ready and on the phone with the defensive
guys. I am involved with every phase of the program as I’ve been since
day one.”
On outscoring a team or a defensive battle…
“I
think sometimes you really don’t know how it’s going to play out, how
the course of the game is going to play out. Obviously, when you’re
playing a team as explosive as Texas A&M, in the back of your mind
you’re thinking, ‘We have to score some points.’ They’re going to put
some points up because they put points up on the board against
everybody. You’re going to have to score some points to put yourself in
the game. A lot times we’ll look at things and different game plans
throughout the year and say, ‘This is the type of game we want to play
against these guys,’ whether we want to slow the game all the way down
or want to score a lot of points. It all depends on the team’s
philosophy going into it.”
On last week’s offensive positives going into this week…
“When
we executed, we really clicked. I think there is still some guys out
there that still making some mistakes and guys really see that. It’s
the mental toughness that we make sure we’re executing every snap. It’s
that mental toughness aspect of the game. Just going out there and
playing is not going to work for you. You have to be mentally tough and
disciplined for every snap. When we are able to do that, we can go out
there and make some plays. Taking some shots down the field certainly
helped open some things up. We did a decent job at times converting on
third down during the course of the game. I think that helps us get
into a better rhythm on offense.”
On A.J. Jefferson, Kivon Coman, Brandon Holloway and others that missed due to injury last week…
“I expect everybody back.”
On Texas A&M’s Myles Garrett…
“He
is so explosive off the ball. He has a great length. He can get in the
backfield in such a hurry, it will get you off rhythm in your pass
game. Anytime you create tackles for loss, you are out of rhythm on
offense, you end up in second and long situations. When you’re putting
a game plan together, you have some calls, but you rather stay out of
second and long situations. On third down, you’re trying to convert.
When you get into second and long situations, they know you have to
throw the ball, so having dynamic pass rushers makes life pretty easy
for them.”
On Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin’s offenses …
“I
think he is a really good offensive coach. They do a nice job of trying
to be innovative with trying to spread the field, utilizing players the
same way we do and not afraid to think outside the box, and not afraid
to tweak and change around the players that he has had. I think that’s
a sign of a good coach. You have a system but your system is going to
be able to adapt to the personnel that you have from year to year, and
he has always been able to do that.”
On Malik Dear and Keith Mixon’s progress…
“They
are guys that we want to try and get the ball in their hands. There’s a
lot of different ways to do that whether it’s in the run game or the
throw game. You just want to make sure they get their hands on the
ball. We go into a game plan and we have a bunch of different ways to
get them the ball. We want to continue to do that moving forward
whether it’s screens, passing game or running game. We want to put the
ball in the hands of guys who can score. Malik brings a little bit more
thump and Keith brings a little bit more quickness.”
On how elite quarterbacks process information and make decision…
“Maybe
Dak last year not three years ago. It’s probably easier with a Tom
Brady, a Peyton Manning or Drew Brees or guys who have done it for 15
or 16 years. They have just had so many different reps at things over
and over. They key question of asking quarterbacks is why? Why are you
doing this? Not what should I do, why are you doing this because you
are the one making decisions out there on the field. The more
experience they have, the more comfortable they are with that
why. It doesn’t mean they are always going to make the right
decision. As long as there is a good reasoning why they are doing what
they are doing, they have a chance.”
On the role of seniors on an inexperienced team…
“Your
seniors set the standard. You are going to be as good as your seniors
play. If your seniors play at an extremely high level, you are probably
going to have a pretty good season. They are setting the bar for the
rest of the team.”
On freshman Leo Lewis leading all SEC freshmen in tackles …
“Leo
is trying to learn how to not just play hard but learn how to be a
football player and put himself in a position to make reads and make
plays. One of the things, you look at his attitude. He loves the game.
He loves to play. He works hard at the game. In the long term, it is
going to make him a really good linebacker. In the short term, you get
to see flashes of him doing great things. As he learns the defensive
system more and more, as he learns what offenses are trying to do more
and more, he will make even more plays. It’s a lot easier to make a
play when you know what the other team is already going to do, you know
what you are going to do and you know how I am going to use what I use
to win. The more experience he has, the more you will see him make
plays.”
On when he first saw Nick Fitzgerald’s toughness…
“We
saw it in high school. He’s a guy that played multiple positions. He
played receiver. He did whatever the team needed him to do. Those are
the things you look for in physically and mentally tough people.”
On appreciating winning…
“I
love winning. I guarantee you, nobody puts more pressure on themselves
or loves winning or hates losing more than me. I am sure there are
75,000 people on Twitter disagreeing with that factor, but I can
guarantee you that’s not the case. You want to enjoy it. It’s not easy.
It’s not easy to win football games. When there is no enjoying in
winning, I don’t know when you are going to put a smile on your face
when you are doing what you are doing for a career.”
On senior linebacker Richie Brown…
“He’s
very studious, intelligent in the classroom. He’s already graduated and
he’s working on a master’s degree. There are lot of things even beyond
football that are important to him. Being married and a very mature
young man, he’s a guy that’s going to have great success in his life
whether it’s in football or in other facets.”
On keeping young players optimistic…
“We
view things very much in a reality sense. Here’s where we are. Here’s
why we win. Here’s why we lose. Here are the plays that you did well.
Here are the plays that you did poorly. I’ll be honest with you, with
the exception of eating a better dinner at victory dinner last night
and everybody walking into the team meeting with a big smile on their
face, we are exactly in the same position this Sunday as we were in the
Sunday before. The game’s over. We have a new opponent, a very good
opponent that’s got a lot of talent on their team. It’s the second
straight week we are playing a team that has only one loss late in the
season. Better buckle it up and get ready to get back to work. When the
young guys realize that, you don’t have a lot of time to dwell on
what’s happened. If you do, we are going to put ourselves in a bad
position for this week’s game.”
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