A&M Football Weekly Press Conference

The Aggies held their weekly press conference yesterday, reviewing the SFA game and talking a little about the upcoming game with Louisiana Tech. Some excerpts and my thoughts follow:

Jerrod Johnson:

On establishing the run. "The offensive line played really well. Luke (Joeckel) played a heck of game for his first game. Matt Allen and Evan Eike had great games inside too. I know we tried to stress the downhill running game. Those guys played well, the backs and offensive line are gelling together and finding synergy, which is good."

The play of the offensive line in the game pleased me. I think they only gave up two sacks all game, and one of them was Jerrod's fault, when he held onto the ball too long and didn't make the decision to run or throw the ball away quickly enough. He really didn't face any pressure all night. Working to establish the running game first takes some pressure off of our offensive line, and it gives us a foundation on which to base our offense.

On what has to be done to get better. "We have to have more downfield throws. We didn't have many last game, but I missed some. We came in knowing we'd try to play it safe and take what they gave us. We really wanted to stress the running backs getting the ball and getting the balls to receivers in space. It worked out well for us, but we have to complete more deep balls and that starts with me.

I like how Jerrod is accountable here, and acknowledges that he was a little off on his throws.It seems we played it pretty safe on offense, though, simply taking what the defense gave us (which was passing game to the flats), but that isn't going to work against the better teams we'll face this season. We need to be able to attack the whole field with the passing game.

On grading himself. "I'd give myself a B-plus. We talked about needing our running backs if we wanted to win games. They are such a vital part of our offense. Being sound at what we do will pay off in the long run. If you fine-tune things and have the meat and potatoes of your offense working, that will take you further. That's what I tried to do."

Best quote right there. Get the basics of the offense working, get the bread-and-butter plays established, and then move on after you've built the foundation of your offense.

Ryan Swope:

On running bubble screens. "They are a check at the line. You just look at the defense and see what the linebackers are doing. Jerrod will check it at the line. You just have to be prepared for the ball, and you need to get receivers blocking downfield and get the ball in space.

If the defense keeps giving it to us, we need to keep taking it, within reason. We don't want to base our whole passing offense around hitting the flats, because then you become too predictable.

Jeff Fuller:

On whether this wide receiver crew can rewrite the record book. "Definitely. I feel like we're one of the strongest wide receiver corps we've ever had here. We still have a lot more to accomplish. Records are great, but we need to continue to improve and get better."

Although personal records aren't as important as the overall record of the team, I'd love to see us finally have a wide receiver break 1000 yds this year. Even better, if we can get two receivers over 1000, a RB over 1000, and Jerrod with 3000+ yds passing, we'd know this offense is close to achieving its potential.

On WR coach Troy Walters emphasizing blocking. "Not only does he, but Coach Sherman as well. They definitely emphasize pancake blocks. I had one but it was on a pass play, so I'm not sure if they will count it. Blocking is definitely huge. Especially when you saw Swope catching those bubble screens. Us blocking on the outside is definitely critical to his success.

I love the fact that the coaches are emphasizing receivers blocking downfield. A downfield block can be the difference between a nice gain and a big play for a TD. In the game there were a few times where I saw receivers not sure who they were supposed to block downfield, but the effort was there.

Mike Sherman:

On evaluating the offensive line. "I thought from a run-game standpoint we did some good things, but overall I had higher expectations. I don't think we always hit the hole that was there. The backs were quick to make decisions, and they probably have to have a little more patience. Overall I think the offensive line did a good job. They are still a work in progress and will continue to be. It's very important that we run the ball effectively. I think we had one minus-yard play in the run game on Saturday."

We ran 99 plays on offense on Saturday, 55 of which were runs, and had only one running play that lost yardage. That's a pretty good job by the offensive line. Our ypc for the game was only 3.5, but our top two backs (Michael and Gray) averaged a combined 4.4 yds per carry.

On the play of Jerrod Johnson. "We went into the game with a fairly conservative game plan. We wanted to run 100 plays, so his tempo and how he runs the offense were key. We ran 99. We wanted to be penalty-free, and we had three. We didn't want to turn the ball over, and we didn't. SFA played quarters coverage, which pretty much takes away the deep ball. We didn't challenge them much down there, but we missed on a couple we should have completed. I think because we preached conservatively, Jerrod may have waited a little too long to see if (the deep ball) was there. Normally he'd just throw out there.

"He managed the game very well. Obviously he wasn't spinning the ball as well as he had in practice or in previous games. In spite of that, he was able to corral what he was doing well. He didn't have his best stuff on the deep game, but he didn't get us in trouble. He made great decisions. You have to play the game based on how you are playing. He played within himself. I appreciated the fact he took our plan to heart and took what (SFA) gave him, instead of trying to make something happen.

It is good to hear that Jerrod was disciplined enough to stay within the game plan and not force anything. It is interesting to me that none of the reporters said asked about Jerod's shoulder, or if they did, it wasn't reported. I'd rather keep our future opponents guessing, anyway.

On the play of the linebackers. "I thought the linebackers did a nice job. Garrick Williams had a very good game. Mike Hodges was very steady. Kyle Mangan did nice things. He tackled better than he had in the past."

Garrick Williams led the team in tackles for this game with seven. The fact that we had so many tackles spread out over the team, that he is able to be the team leader with such a small number, attests to how well the defense was working together and gang-tackling.

On the play of the defensive line. "I thought they played hard. Tony Jerod-Eddie played really hard in the game. He had a pass deflection and a number of tackles. The nose guards stepped up and played hard. They had a tendency to play high sometimes as the game wore on, which we need to work on. Lucas Patterson was a factor out there, he got quite a bit of penetration. I think they played well and will continue to get better."

The play of the defensive line was the most pleasant aspect of Saturday's defensive performance. With the interior line shutting down their running game, it freed out linebackers up to make plays, and helped our defense execute.

On what to expect from Louisiana Tech's offense. "They did play with two quarterbacks. Coach Dykes was an offensive coordinator out there in the Pac-10, so he comes over with his offense, The offensive coordinator is from Middle Tennessee, and they brought their thoughts together to create offense. We're going to have to plan for a two-quarterback system because that's what they showed. They're very balanced. They have a very good runner, so they want to highlight him. They have a good group of receivers too. They will present challenges for us."

I was expecting more of an aerial, Air Raid-type attack from Dykes, but the numbers from the game show a fairly balanced offense.

Tim DeRuyter:

On his evaluation of the defense. "We played at about a 'B' level I think. Too many times in the play-action game we didn't have our eyes in the right place. A lot of times we can overcome that with fanatical effort, and we did that, which is a plus. But I think we have to fit patterns better and put our eyes in the right place better. If we're more disciplined that way, we'll be able to play this defense better."

I just DeRuyter's energy, and how he's always emphasizing fanatical effort, and getting after it on defense. This level of intensity and effort was missing in years past.

On his thoughts and his family's thoughts on the first Kyle Field game. "I absolutely enjoyed the experience. Our families did too. They'd never been to Kyle Field either. They got here at 3 p.m. and tailgated, watched march-in, and the whole deal. They got a little nervous when the stands were swaying. They really enjoyed it and I really enjoyed having them out here. It was a great weekend. We had a house full. For me, the experience was unreal. It's college football. When you think of the storied programs around the country, this is one of the venues you think is college football. The whole experience is unlike anything at any other level. It was really, really cool to say I'm part of this now. We've got the best fans in the country here."

Always nice to hear that despite however much some old Ags may complain, Kyle Field is still a special, special place, and a phenomenal atmosphere for a game.

For those of you who want to watch the whole game, the video is now online at Aggies All-Access.