Ole Miss 31, A&M 28: Postgame Notes and Quotes
Oct 29, 2022 | Football
Postgame notes, quotes and press conference video from Texas A&M's 31-28 loss to Ole Miss.
Team Notes
- Texas A&M tallied over 400 yards of total offense for the second time this season, finishing the Ole Miss game with 480 yards.
- The Aggies are 22-of-25 in the red zone this season after going 4-for-4 in the red zone against the Rebels.
- The attendance for the Ole Miss game was 101,084, marking the second-highest attendance at Kyle Field this season.
- Tonight’s captains against Ole Miss were TE Max Wright, DL Fadil Diggs, DB Demani Richardson and DL Isaiah Raikes.
Individual Notes
- True freshman Conner Weigman made the start under center for the Aggies, marking the first time since the 2002 season that the Aggies have started three different quarterbacks in a regular season game in the same season.
- Weigman finished his debut with 338 yards on 28-of-44 passing and four touchdowns. His passing yards were the most in a game by a true freshman in program history and his four passing TDs were the most in a game since Kellen Mond (2017-20) threw four against South Carolina in 2020.
- Junior RB Devon Achane racked up 138 yards on a career-high 25 carries for the eighth 100-yard game of his career. He also added seven catches for 41 yards and caught his second receiving touchdown of the season.
- Achane became the 22nd Aggie to pass the 2,000 career rushing yards mark, upping his total to 2,039.
- Sophomore WR Moose Muhammad III registered his second 100-yard game of the year, tallying 112 yards on eight catches, including his fourth touchdown grab of the season and his third in the last four games.
- Freshman WR Evan Stewart added 88 yards on six catches and made his second trip to the end zone this season, bringing in a 15-yard pass late in the first quarter.
- Freshman WR Noah Thomas scored the first touchdown of his career on a 2-yard grab as he backed into the end zone to get the Aggies back within three in the fourth quarter.
- Junior DL McKinnley Jackson set a new career high with 12 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and the first sack of his career.
- Freshman DB Bryce Anderson matched his career high with eight tackles against Ole Miss.
Jimbo Fisher Press Conference Quotes
Very good football game out there today. Again, I thought our kids competed hard. Came up one play short. Had opportunities throughout the game, which we know they're a good football team. But I thought we played really well in stretches and not well -- we've just got to -- offensively, I thought we moved the ball very well, come out very well. Wished we could have got drives -- points in that last drive down there where we were at the 30 there. And I can't tell -- he said he went to step around and he said he tripped on somebody, Conner [Weigman] did. And get some points is there. There was a drive. We missed the third and one, which was critical. We missed -- didn't miss it, just whiffed him out, man outside. We were moving the football so well there at that time. Thought we could get down and get points. Defensively, at that time, they got the running game going early and ran. Man, they ended up running for a bunch of yards. We didn't get the run stopped most of the night. And all that, too, quarterback scrambles in some critical situations. We've got to do a better job in the pocket of getting those guys down, getting off the field with third and long. Then we had three in one drive -- three penalties in one drive that they converted there in the second half. We had them backed up on the five and stopped and got a scramble. And then had two interferences, and I think it was a facemask on that. And they got points and got in the groove. We got back and got the ball and scored again. Then we couldn't get the stop. They went ground. We moved back and just couldn't -- like I say, we've got to play better complementary to each other. I thought some guys in the game, McKinnley [Jackson] looked like he played a really good game. Did some really good things inside. Devon [Achane] played an outstanding football game, throwing and catching it. I thought Conner [Weigman] was -- to go out there and do what he did, I thought he was outstanding in the game. Showed a lot of poise, a lot of composure, what he did, how he did it, made throws. Gave us a chance to win the game at the end. The guy's got heart, toughness, charisma. Got it all. Like I said, I thought some of our receivers really made some nice plays in the game. What we did, we gave up -- we got to protect. We took some shots at the end. They got some good rush guys when they have to and can get there. And, you know, just didn't make the play. Had one more play we needed to make and had a shot with a minute to go and couldn't get it done with the pressure and things they did. Just got to get better and find a way and move on to the next game. Questions.
Q. Jimbo, before the last offensive possession, looked like Conner [Weigman] was talking to somebody. Maybe the trainers and you called him over. Was he getting evaluated for an injury?
They were talking to him to make sure he was okay when he got hit. And Lou [Duran] looked at him and said he was okay. And then I yelled back at Lou. I said Conner -- Because I didn't know who he was talking to. I said Lou, is he okay? He said, Yeah, I've already talked to him. He's good.
Q. You weren't concerned he had any kind of injury at that point?
I just asked Lou [Duran]. That's not for me. I yelled at him and he turned and come over. And then Lou was talking to go him. I said, Lou, is he okay? He said, Yes, sir. I just finished talking to him and he was good. If he was talking with the trainer, I always check with them first. And then he came back and, heck, he led us to a touchdown drive.
Q. I meant before the last possession, 44 seconds left.
Then we scored a drive. I asked Lou. I yelled. I didn't know he was talking to Lou. I said, Is he okay? Are you done? Yes, sir, I'm done.
Q. What consideration did you give to an onside kick at the end?
I would have, but I knew they were going to be -- we didn't want to kick it out of the end zone. We wanted to pin them back. We had three time-outs. Instead of giving that up, I thought the odds of trying to kick them back and put pressure on them and try to make them make a throw or a run, which we did -- we got the stop. Having three time-outs -- if we had two time-outs, I would have definitely onside kicked. But having three and knowing they would play the onside, we were trying to hit that thing down the five, ten-yard line and then trying to have it covered down there really low and short. We only needed a field goal. I thought the odds of trying to get a stop in three time-outs would be better than try to get them midfield. If we got them at midfield and used them and punted it, we would end up getting it where we got it. We didn't catch the punt. That was another thing. We needed to catch that punt. Even if we didn't return it, we needed to get -- got about a 15, 20-yard roll or something like that in what we did.
Q. Jimbo, with the run game obviously they've got some talented backs. But what was their offensive line doing so well up front?
Again, I can't answer that yet until I see the field. Inside zone stuff, a little tackle trap looked like, speed of the game, and fits. We said we made some adjustments. Early we went three down and they went through it. Then four down. Then we had a really good -- I guess until the second half. The first drive, half a quarter -- next quarter and a half we did really good the rest of the first half, very solid. Second half, I have to make the adjustment. We talked about the first half adjustments at halftime, and I have to see the film. I can't answer that.
Q. First few drives of the game you all went pretty quick at times. And then, of course, at the end you needed to go two minutes. Did you consider going --
We were tempo and getting things out. They may have checked us because of blitzes, but we had a high tempo the whole game.
Q. Did you feel like Conner [Weigman] works better in tempo?
When you get in a rhythm and your whole offense gets in rhythm, that's the way you want to call it. When you get first downs and get completions, you can get into that. That's our whole goal to do all the time. We didn't change anything. That was our basic way we wanted to do things.
Q. Jimbo, understand game's just over. You haven't had a chance to evaluate. It's going to take a while. But the run defense has been an issue quite a while. What has been the problem?
Last week it was pretty good except for drives. I have to look. Sometimes it's a fit of a backer. Sometimes it's a fit of a safety. Sometimes it's a defensive lineman gets out of the gap. It's usually one of those three things. Sometimes -- one game -- I remember a couple games ago, our backer, we did not fit right. Even though they made tackles, we weren't fitting the runs the right way. A couple of times we got linemen stick their nose in two gaps, in the same gap. Or sometimes the safeties. Your safeties play a big part of that, too, and how you bounce things to them or how you fit inside. So we just got to do a better job and evaluate it.
Q. Are there things DJ [Durkin] could have done some, adjustments that could have been made?
DJ is a really good football coach, and we'll get it right.
Q. Jimbo, looked like Conner [Weigman] was pretty comfortable in the read game, getting the ball out of his hands pretty quick. What did you think of his decision?
We had a lot of RPOs, a lot of throws, a lot of runs, decisions. He did a good job of protection on the mic calls and getting the ball out to where he did. Red zone, third down, I thought he did a really nice job. He's got a great feel for the game. I said he's very instinctive. He's had enough at-bats at practice he feels really comfortable on the offense, and he's going to do a really good job.
Q. Did you change your play calling at all with Conner [Weigman] behind center tonight, or is it all the same?
There are certain plays he may like different certain calls and also dictated by what they're doing on defense. They blitzed him a lot early. There was a lot of blitzes and pressures, and we did a good job. He was getting the ball out and find the seams. And then they quit doing it and started dropping eight and doing things. We were more patient. He was checking it down. We got the running game going. Very similar but there's some nuances that are different because of things they like and what he can do a little different.
Q. Coach, was there something that was an issue with Haynes [King] that caused you to go with Conner [Weigman], or did you like what you saw at the end of the game last week with Conner?
No, I liked what I saw, and Haynes [King] was banged up. And we knew it. He could have been available, but it wasn't right to play him again this week. Felt very comfortable with Conner, like I said before. He's done it in practice and really getting the reps and jumped in there.
Q. Along the same lines, is Conner [Weigman] now the QB1 moving forward?
Yeah, should be. Looking for him to playing next week, and we'll get the other guys healthy and see where they're at. But I'm very comfortable with Connor playing and starting for us.
Q. You guys showed a lot of fight. And you have showed a lot of fight lately. But do you have any concern about this team sticking together?
No, honestly, I don't about that. I don't mean that in a -- not saying it just to say it. You see them in that locker room, and you see them together. And they'll take: We're going to figure this out. We're going to fight. I don't. We just got to help them find one more play, and they've got to help us find one more play to get over the hump. The disappointment is there, but I'm going to tell you, it's -- they've got -- we just had those talks, and those kids come up to talk to me all the time. They're very dedicated to each other and love each other. I really believe that.
Q. It seemed to me the guys really responded well around Conner [Weigman], responded to him really well. Could you sense some extra energy? Obviously, a young guy making his first start.
I think the guys want to do well for him and take care of him. And he has a very charismatic personality. Guys like him. And I say that. They like to play for him, and he gets the ball to them.
Q. Continuing on Conner [Weigman], from what you saw tonight, what do you think that impact with him in there is going to make for the remainder of the season?
Well, I hope so. You know, hope he learns how to prepare and keep preparing like he does. Connor loves ball. And he's very instinctive. He's a very good player, and hopefully, he'll continue to lead us offensively. And we moved the ball. I don't know what we had. I don't know what he threw For. 338. 480 yards, ran it, do it. You know, we moved the football and scored points. And very happy with him and what he's doing. I mean, guys like him and he's a very good player and I love coaching him.
Q. Is there any hindsight 20/20 on bringing Conner [Weigman] earlier in the season, or did he need this amount of time?
You can always say that. But at the same time, you've got to make sure when you put a guy in there, you could ruin a true freshman. We're talking about a true freshman. He had a bit of a fall and he had some other guys. Now, that does limit reps. You had other quality guys getting quality reps. If you don't have guys, you get more reps, more guys and you could have done that. But at the same time, you can ruin a guy a lot quicker than you can make a guy, when they're a freshman like that. Everybody wants to throw them in there. You've seen in the NFL when they throw them rookies in there, there are some teams that aren't doing as well and things. But I love him. I knew he's going to be a good player. I said it all along. Hopefully, it's the right timing for him to play and he keeps playing like he's playing. I love him to death.
Postgame Quotes: Albert Regis
Albert, what was it about what Ole Miss was doing in the front that allowed them to accrue so many rushing yards?
Honestly, I would just say as Coach [Jimbo] Fisher said earlier, just gap fitting because there were times when they couldn't run the ball at all, when everybody would fit their gaps. And there were times when either a D-lineman wasn't in their gap, linebacker or safety didn't fit properly, that led to them getting the extra yards. And also us not wrapping up on first contact, and them getting yards after contact allowed them to get so many accumulated rushing yards.
Albert, I'm following the ball a lot with the camera. But on some downs and plays, only one linebacker behind you guys, how tough does that make your job up front knowing you only have one guy in the middle you?
Honestly, we view it no differently than if two, three, four, five, six. You know, it's all a mentality for a D-lineman. Because we know what we do is a sweep, and you know it's going to be a battle from the first whistle to the very last. So we don't -- we just focus on our job. And we always say with Coach Elijah [Robinson] and Coach [Terry] Price, die in your gap. No matter what we have to do, die in your gap. So the linebackers, yes, some people would like to have two, three behind them, but for us, we could have zero behind us, but we know it's a mentality, and we're going to die in our gap.
Q. What did you think about four for them, [Quinshon] Judkins after his performance tonight? What kind of a back is he that you faced tonight?
He has my respect. Playing in the SEC at this level is not easy. So that's already a respect right there, and I've seen how he plays. He has my respect. Nothing more, nothing less.
Q. Albert, how difficult was it to tonight to know that you needed a stop to get off the field, and then they would get a first down or they might bust one more 20 yards, that kind of deal?
No different than if it was the beginning of the game, and we wanted to get a three-and-out. I don't see a difference in it.
Q. Albert, I know you guys have been fighting. It hasn't turned out the way you wanted. How do you stick together despite the results not coming?
As Coach [Jimbo] Fisher always tells us, love is the reason for the fight. And we all love each other, no matter what we go through, we're a family. And as a family you'll hit highs, lows, hills, and valleys. But in the end, when you stand side by side and you know that the reason you're doing what you do is for your why, and you know your brother's why as well, it strengthens our bond. So that's how we all are able to stay together and love each other.
Q. Albert, what do you pull from tonight's ball game that you think will help you against Florida?
I say our effort. I really believe our effort is there. And it's been shown countless times throughout these games that our effort is there. But we just need to push it over the edge. Without holding anything back. And there's times we do, and we still fall short. But our effort and how we morality-wise come as a team, we can take that into Florida and fix everything else, and we can win this.
Postgame Quotes: Max Wright
Q. Max, can you talk about Conner [Weigman] getting the start tonight, maybe how he rallied you guys? You certainly started off, looked a little bit like a different ball club in the first quarter.
Man, Conner came in and did great. I'm super proud of that kid. I think just, like you said, he comes in with the poise and with the confidence, it's really infectious. He kind of has that laid-back personality. But whenever he's out there on the field, he has a laid-back kind of confidence, kind of persona to him. It's really infectious. And the kid played his heart out. He performed really well, and I'm super proud of him.
Q. Max, moving forward, how do you look at Conner [Weigman] going into the Florida ball game? I think we kind of found out last night he was going to be your starter. You guys probably knew all week long. But moving forward into the Florida ball game, knowing he's going to get another set of reps, how much confidence does that give this offense?
A lot. I think that whoever we put back there at quarterback, I have complete faith in them and I trust them fully. If it's Haynes [King] or if it's Conner or if it's even Max [Johnson], I trust all three of those guys and have complete faith they're going to go out there and do the job that they need to go. Conner jumped in tonight and he did great. I think that keeping this rolling to the next week, just see how he performs during the week, and just kind of go from there. But I'm super proud of him and really kind of excited to see where this goes.
Q. Max, what did you think of the tempo you guys played with, especially early on?
That was something we wanted to do, pick up the tempo a little bit. I think that we caught them off guard a little bit early in the game and even into the second half with how fast we were going. It was something we really emphasized this week, was trying to have a faster pace, being able to get up on the ball, run plays whenever they're not ready, they don't have a play call in, which we did do tonight, fairly well. That's just a testament to the work we've been putting in this week and also a testament to Conner being able to come in and take things on the fly and as a young guy be able to run the offense that quick.
Q. Just one play short seems like a lot this season. I know frustrating might not be the right word, but you just need one more play a lot of times. How do you guys find that one play?
It's hard. Sorry, it's really frustrating. You know, we've been one play away, quite a few games this season. And I think whenever we go back and look at the film we'll find five or six plays that were there. Just one thing happened or one thing didn't necessarily go the right way. I think that anytime that you have games like this, you've really got to rally together and bring the guys in close because these are heartbreakers. These are really tough. I think if anyone was in the locker room they would have seen how hard it hit us tonight. This is really frustrating, but games like this are what make teams grow together. It's us in that locker room against the world right now, and we know that. But just making the play that we can, just going out there with the effort that we can and practicing through the week, we obviously got to eliminate some of the woes that we have on offense and just kind of go from there.
Q. Max, to follow up a little bit on the tempo, you guys seemed pretty effective when you go with the up-tempo attack. What is it that makes that effective for you guys?
I think any time you can catch a defense while they're still trying to get a play called in. Being a former defensive guy, whenever you play against high-tempo teams who do it effectively, it's tough. When you're having to look to the sideline, get the play called in, then look at the offense and see what they're running because play calls are kind of determined on the alignment of different players on the field. And whenever you can catch defenses trying to figure out what you're doing and still in that moment of trying to find everything that's going on, you can really catch guys off guard and get guys in wrong gaps. Get two people in one gap and have gaps open up. You know, I think that's something that we're definitely looking to do more. And something that we did fairly well tonight, and we hope to do more in the future.
Q. Do you guys kind of simplify a little bit when you go in that up-tempo? Maybe not the whole playbook but these certain calls?
Not necessarily. There's sometimes whenever we're going hurry-up or tempo, we're throwing different things at them. Whenever we go tempo, I think that's what makes it so successful, because we don't limit our playbook to just a few plays. Looking forward, if we can do that effectively, it will make our offense way more dangerous.
Q. Max, for you personally, how has your outlook changed this season? Obviously, I know a disappointing 3-5. So when you're looking at guys like Conner [Weigman] who are still young and so many young players building for the future, how does that change as you go about things as a senior?
Man, you know, looking at the future of this program and the guys who are in it right now, just trying to give them any advice and any old-soul knowledge that I can. The talent we have in this program is phenomenal. And there's a lot of young guys who are not just great athletes but also great people. We're still bringing things together. There's a lot of young guys out there playing. But when we put it all together, we're there, man. For me being a senior looking forward, just try to give any advice, give any knowledge that I can to these young guys about how to carry themselves, how to go about their business. There's a lot of things that change when you go from high school to college ball, obviously, and just trying to be there. You know, even if they just need guys, someone to talk to. Me and Donovan [Green] talk a lot. Love that kid. Me and Conner [Weigman] talk a lot. All of those guys are great dudes.
Q. Max, you said if you could see what was going on in the locker room, you would know how much it affects them. Can you give us a look? Can you give us a description of what that scene was like?
I mean, it was hard. Guys coming with just their -- honestly, a little upset. You know, got some tears here and there. You know, anytime you lose a game like that, where it's kind of within your grasp and you feel like you're about to go take it, it really rips your heart out. You know, we played hard tonight. There was a lot of guys who came in and did a lot of3 really great stuff for us, put in positions, in new spots, and they performed. I think that locker room was a -- it was tough to be in. And nothing bad happening in there or anyone geting upset with anybody. It was more just a "man, this sucks as a family" kind of thing. Looking to the guy to your left and right, like, Man, I've got to do this for you. I see how much it's hurting you because it's hurting me about the same. It's tough. There's a lot of good things we can take away from each week, and we're getting closer and closer and closer. And we're going to get over the hump. We're going to get over the hump. We'll be all right.
