Texas A&M Week 14 Press Conference

Texas A&M put up their first really bad game of the season on Saturday against LSU. The defense was a known quantity at this point, and there have been a few young guys who have shown signs of starting to mature into their positions. The biggest surprise was seeing no signs of turning to the run game. In a game where passes seemed to be off, and with wet weather conditions, one would think you'd see more than 6 carries from a team boasting one of the countries best offensive lines and running back corps.

When asked about the mood of the team, Coach Sumlin had this to say:

I drive through here into the gas station and it's like Henny Penny, "The Sky's Falling". Heck we lost to LSU as an underdog for the first time by double digits.

The worst part of the last game wasn't losing to LSU. It was our first road loss, and it was to a legit SEC team that finally found it's legs for the first time all year. The worst part was the feeling that the bottom finally fell out offensively, and that the play calling issues people have been speculating about finally culminated into one bright dumpster fire of an outing. Coach McKinney was asked about why A&M was lacking a run game:

Early on you wish you could have gotten the run game going. First couple of series we didn't execute, we got down a couple of touchdowns. You try to get back quick, and running the ball isn't the way to do it.

Now, Sumlin led into the presser talking about a lack of execution by the team. There's no doubt that this was the case, but that term was repeated so often by Coach McKinney that it seemed like a compulsory statement. When asked about plays being changed at the line, or how they mix up plays, this was the answer given by Coach McKinney:

Our philosophy is to get what the defense gives. ... We try to take what the defense gives us, and we just have to execute those opportunities we get.

McKinney on why the offense seemed to come out so flat:

I have no idea why. We had some opportunities where balls were thrown, were very catchable, we didn't catch them. We had some other opportunities where guys were open and we didn't hit them. For whatever reason, those things didn't happen this week.

Our last game of the year is coming up in just a few days. The coaching staff recognizes that this is not only a big game for Missouri, but is also huge for determining the bowls that we will have access to after the season. As the saying goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it. In our case it appears that we shouldn't worry, because what looks broke will just execute better and fix itself right up next week.

Coach Kevin Sumlin

Coach Clarence McKinney

Coach Mark Snyder