Kevin Sumlin has things rolling in College Station right now. Coming off a bye, the 5-2 Aggies will host 5-2 Mississippi State this weekend in a game that could determine each team’s final standings in the West by season’s end.
The A&M coach previewed the Mississippi State game during Wednesday’s SEC Teleconference. Here’s a summary of what he said during the call:
- Opening statement: “Facing a very talented and explosive Mississippi State team here at Kyle Field. Our guys are ready to get back to playing football.”
- Have you noticed a difference in your teams coming off byes in the past? “We have approached it different this year. It has come at different times for us. It’s about when it comes and how you are playing leading up to that… You have to heal up, not only physically but mentally (during the bye). We’ve had guys that have never been on a plane before this season. The stress level is high for some of these guys. I think the bye came at the right time.”
- How has your team rebounded from the UCLA loss? “I think the biggest thing is our players and staff was pointing to the awful things in that game. For three and a half quarters, we were playing really well in that game… We are capable of playing well, how do we sustain that? We focus on us more so than the opponent and fixing mistakes… The fact we were able to do so many good things in that game gave us confidence.”
- What have you noticed about MSU defender Montez Sweat? “We’ve noticed him a lot since we recruited him. He’s an explosive player. He was a dynamic player before he got there. I’m not surprised by his production. We went after him pretty hard. He was a player we had looked at and compared to Myles Garrett. We talked to him about replacing (Garrett). I was hoping he didn’t hit his stride this early but he has.”
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
