Here’s what Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin had to say in the postgame press conference after No. 9 Texas A&M’s 41-23 loss to No. 10 Alabama:
On trying to overcome turnovers and mistakes:
“It’s virtually impossible to win when you play that way…They played very well. When you play a quality football team like Alabama your mistakes are amplified.”
On making a game of it in the second half:
“At half-time, believe it or not, we actually felt half-way decent. I was pleased with how our guys approached the second half. Our defense played hard, the entire game, & we had guys playing up until the end. We didn’t have that last year in this game. There’s a lot of lessons to be learned for players and coaches alike.”
On Alabama running back Derrick Henry:
“He’s a man. We said that coming into the game.”
On what went wrong:
“We can’t play that way against a team like that. It all works together. Offense, defense and special teams”
On Alabama’s performance:
“That’s a good football team we lost to. We need to learn from that…this is where the maturity aspect comes into play.”
On looking for positives:
“We still have all our goals ahead of us. I thought our special teams were again, well above average. Games like this you try to manufacture points anyway you can… I thought our special teams played above average…”
On the road ahead:
“It’s a team game…there’s a lot to take away from this game and build on moving forward.”
On QB Kyle Allen’s response to throwing interceptions:
“Today was kind of a slap in the face…for him to go back in and throw a TD and give us a chance was big. “I told those guys, ‘Playing quarterback is just like being a head coach. Too much credit when you win and too much blame when you lose.”
Shane Mettlen is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Texas A&M, Missouri and Alabama.
