Defense Dominates the Day, Aggies Top Auburn - Texas A&M Athletics

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Press Conference Quotes: Jimbo Fisher

COACH FISHER: All right. First of all, I'll say that was a heck of a football game. Auburn is a very good football team, very physical. Played very well, coached very well. But it was a good football team in that locker room over there, too, right there in Texas A&M. Those guys, that was a heck of a win. That was a lot of guts. That was physicality. That was toughness. That was competitiveness, which it took in this game to do the things we had to do. I can't be more proud of those guys. The guys at the line of scrimmage, our defense, is absolutely outstanding. Controlling the lines of scrimmage and doing it with discipline. We tackle well in space. We knocked balls down. We covered well. We rushed well.

Bo [Nix] is one heck of a football player, and you can't let him get out of the pocket. We created things and we rushed and collapsed the pocket, made the ball come out. And when it did, it wasn't for big, big gains. [Tank] Bigsby is a heck of a player, their tailback. We tackled him well, but he's a hard runner. He was fighting through there. Our defense was outstanding. Getting scores off defenses, that's super. I thought our kicking game, we missed one field goal which was critical. We didn't need to do that, but they missed one. But Seth [Small] hit four of them. That was big, especially getting us up three scores at the end, doing what he did there in that regard.

Punter was good, what we did there. Offensively, left too many chances on the board. Had five dropped balls in the first half, critical. Third-down drops. Had some drops in the first half, which uncharacteristic by some great players. But they didn't hang their head. They went back and kept playing. That happens sometimes in games. They made plays at the end of the game that made a difference in the game.  So I was very proud of those guys there. I thought our offensive line started really pounding and pounding and pounding. We started to keep that running game and almost had two backs with 100 again, 112 and 98. We got that going. Thought [Isaiah] Spiller was outstanding. [Devon] Achane was really good, had the one bad play we fumbled. That's uncharacteristic. Keep giving it to him, those things right there.

And your quarterback (Zach Calzada), I'm going to tell you what. He ain't always perfect, but I'm going to tell you what, that's a competitor, man.  That guy's got arm talent. He can throw the football. He can make plays. He's a competitor. He's a tough guy. The injuries and the pain he's banged through this year and the things that are happening, I wish he would slide. We have to get some of the Astros up here, get Dusty Baker up here and teach him how to slide and get down. Him to get off the mat like that and come back in the game and then make plays -- I mean, to get back and do what he did, unbelievable respect for that young man and how he competes.

And our team, just our team, how they compete. We've got to clean some things up on offense. We had chances to put them away. Had that fumble right there at the end. We had a missed assignment where we could have got another first down even before we kicked the last field goal and ate a lot more clock off.

When you play those games right there, things happen. There's going to be good and bad. Nothing is ever perfect. Sometimes when you play those -- I call them slobber-knocker games, those games that are really competitive. It happened. It's a tough football team in that locker room. It's got a lot to play for. We have to put this one behind us and get ready because we've got a heck of a team to play next week in Ole Miss.

Q. Jimbo, you mentioned the sliding part. Is that just instinctual, or is there a way you can coach them into doing that?

COACH FISHER: We coach them to do it. And we do it, and we talk about it. I think the competitive nature took over. You know what I'm saying? We had a couple of penalties right there. One at the touchdown, that was the last guy calling the draw before we come out. And I think his instincts just took over, and I would rather his instincts not because right now our situation there, just got to get down. But you respect him for what he did and how he did it. But at the same time, you have got to be smart. We talked about it. He knew it when he came over.

Q. Coach, what was the kind of initial prognosis? And how surprised or not surprised were you that Zach [Calzada] was able to come back in?

COACH FISHER: Sometimes your shoulder pops out or you get a little sprain right there. You can test -- we wouldn't have put him in if there wasn't no strength or anything in it to be able to function. He still had all of his strength. Sometimes it happens like that. So he was good.

Q. When you were in the tent, how much pain did he appear to be in?

COACH FISHER: It was more on the field when they popped it back in, I think, when they popped it back in. Listen, that's ball, man. I don't mean that in any disrespect. I mean it in pure respect. That's football. This game is a physical, tough game. When that leader is tough, the rest of them play tough, too.

Q. Jimbo, you had spoken after Colorado and Missouri that Texas A&M had trouble with both of those teams, especially on the road. Obviously, the Aggies having trouble with Auburn here at home. I know you said that wasn't necessarily a talking point. But does it feel good to finally get a win against an SEC opponent like that?

COACH FISHER: Well, I mean, played Alabama here, played Auburn. I think any great team to get a win on. Streaks and things like that happen. They get broken. That's all ball, man. What happens next year doesn't have anything to do with this year. You have got different teams, different people. You've got to make your own way through the world. Hey, that's part of it. 

Q. How big was that completion to Caleb Chapman to kind of help loosen things up? How nice is it to have him back?

COACH FISHER: It was great to get that post back.  And then we had some other routes in there. Zach [Calzada] seeing that read and making it over the top, making that throw was big-time, buddy. Opened it up and got it down there. 

Q. What I wanted to ask you about is, first of all, what level of frustration you had having to settle for field goals and then --

COACH FISHER: I didn't have frustration. I don't. I had disappointment that we did it. But I don't have frustration. Frustration leads to bad decisions. Listen, when you play good teams, big games, you're not going to get everything you want. You got to play the next play. You don't get frustrated. You figure out why. You get disappointed, why it happened, and then you figure it out, because frustration clouds your thinking. It's like revenge clouds your thinking. You don't play that. You play the next play and you play the situation. You can't think like that.

Q. When you look up and you see Micheal Clemons picking up that ball with the way things had gone offensively to get that defensive touchdown -- 

COACH FISHER: That was huge in the game. Huge in the game. I tell you what we did offensively, which I was proud of, we moved the ball because we were backed up so much. The first four possessions we were inside the 15-yard line. First drive was 85 yards. The next two were inside the 10. And you still weren't giving up field position. They had a couple of punt returns. we got a couple on them. That's part of it. Great teams.

Q. Jimbo, with four wins in a row and you're top 15 in the CFP, have a tiebreaker over Alabama, how big are you dreaming for the rest of this season, what's possible?

COACH FISHER: I'm dreaming playing Ole Miss. I always say this, just play it out and see what happens. A lot of ball left in this season, man. You look at the types of teams. There's a lot more parity than there's ever been in college football right now, what's going on. So let's play them one at a time and see what happens at the end, just like we did last year. Let's find out what it is. But right now, we better focus on getting ready to play up at Ole Miss. That's a tough place to play.  It's a Saturday night game up there, tough. They have a heck of a football team. Lane's [Kiffin] a good coach, a really good coach.

Q. Coach, you already mentioned 217 yards rushing, no sacks allowed. The offensive line has played so well last month. What in the world has changed since the Mississippi State game?

COACH FISHER: Experience. You've got time, man. You got two freshmen in there playing. You have got guys that moved in different positions. You have had stability playing in the same place.  You got a quarterback now who understands protections and can slide things and make the run calls and put you in the right things. He's had more saddle time.  Just takes experience.

We had a ton of guys, receivers -- getting some receivers back to play ball. Ball coming out of the hands, so the routes are getting open. Sometimes the sacks -- the routes and where they are, the spacing of it and how that happens, we got so many guys banged up early -- I keep saying it -- offensively, it was a bad time. It was just everything at once. You had skill guys, you had quarterback, the offensive line. Only thing you didn't have hurt was tight ends and running backs.

So when you getting that, it just takes time and those things are starting to gel together. They're getting better. I tell you what, our coaches are doing a really good job with them, really good job with them.

Q. Coach, if I told you before today you guys wouldn't find the end zone on offense and still find a way to win by 17, would you have believed it? And what does it say about this team?

COACH FISHER: I would have. I knew it was going to be a different type game. I really would have. Maybe not by 17, but it wouldn't have shocked me a little bit.

Q. We saw a strong performance from Tyree Johnson tonight with his two sacks and one forced in resulting in his fumble. How did you feel about his contribution to the defense's momentum? 

COACH FISHER: That guy is playing lights out right now, sacks and plays. He was SEC player of the week, what, two weeks ago, one week ago, whatever it was.  South Carolina game. He's making a difference and impact in the way he's playing. Him, [DeMarvin] Leal, Michael [Clemons], McKinley [Jackson], [Jayden] Peevy. You name it, they're all playing really well.

Q. Jimbo, you didn't mention -- like, all those defensive linemen, but another name you didn't mention Edgerrin Cooper, the way he's kind of immersed --  

COACH FISHER: I don't like him.

Q. I figured that was the reason why. (laughter)

COACH FISHER: No, that guy is going to be one heck of a player. And he is one heck of a player.  You can talk about can pull the pin and run and hit and play and loves ball. Can play special teams, can cover, can run. I mean, I love everything about him. I really do.  He's a heck of a football player, man. Heck of a football player.

Q. Coach, another player has got to make plays on defense. What did you make of the game that [Mike] Elko called? It seems like he was really dialing it up today.

COACH FISHER: We dialed them up. We had the fronts. We were controlling them. We were gap sound. The coverages were mixed in right and we were doing a great job. Mike is as good a defensive coordinator as there is in this country. I have said it all along.

Q. First of all, we're talking about defense. There in the first half, can you talk about your thoughts on Auburn had the ball in really good field position. I think they started a couple drives at midfield and weren't able to get anywhere.

COACH FISHER: No, they did. We held them back because we scored the first drive. We had the ball on the 15, drove 85 yards. Then when they scored, we got tagged on the kickoff inside the 9.  Then we didn't get the first down and they punted and they held them. Then the next time we hit it, we held them. Then they punted us back down there. Then we dropped the third-down conversion, which would have got us out of there. And then punted it back, and they held them again. Then the fourth time we got it, we at least changed field position and took a couple hit balls and took it down the field. They did a great job. Played midfield and got to that red zone, tight zone, just like they did. And we hunkered down and got points. 

Q. What kind of impact on recruiting do you think a win like this can have?

COACH FISHER: Just watch.

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