What Kevin Sumlin said after Texas A&M's win over New Mexico State on Saturday
Texas A&M stepped outside the SEC to round out the month of October, hosting New Mexico State on Saturday night.
In the “Aggie” battle, A&M had little trouble with NMSU, taking home a 52-10 win to improve to 7-1 on the season and stay within one game of the SEC West lead. Head coach Kevin Sumlin offered his thoughts after another win at Kyle Field.
Sumlin talked about what it means to be 7-1 and alive in the SEC race and the College Football Playoff battle:
Sumlin: It's hard [to not scoreboard watch] because they have the games going on up on the big screen. It's great for our fans and our team.
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) October 30, 2016
Sumlin: Great for our team and fans that we're relevant in November. It's great that our fans are able to root for people to win or lose.
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) October 30, 2016
Texas A&M put together a pretty complete performance but Sumlin wasn’t pleased with how the Aggies ended the first half. They held a 24-3 lead after 30 minutes:
Sumlin: Not pleased how we ended 1st half. Things we can control. Coaching staff addressed that at half. Pleased with how team responded.
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) October 30, 2016
Sumlin: How we ended the first half was the low point in the game. Coaches made adjustments and guys picked energy level up and executed.
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) October 30, 2016
He touched on the big day from Josh Reynolds and his improved play throughout the season:
Sumlin: Team appreciates how hard [Reynolds] plays without the ball. Time after time he's had knock-down blocks. An aggressive guy.
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) October 30, 2016
Sumlin: [Reynolds] has really increased his play as an overall player. He made a great decision by coming back. More physical on perimeter.
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) October 30, 2016
Reynolds had three catches for 71 yards and a TD.
To wrap up the conference, Sumlin talked about getting guys into the game who haven’t seen much playing time this season:
Sumlin: I know the crowd was happy Conner McQueen got in the game. He's like a rock star around here.
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) October 30, 2016
Sumlin: It was really valuable [to get Hubenak in game]. We wanted to get Jake in with the [first team] OL. 7-of-10 with TD. Pretty good.
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) October 30, 2016
