Elko, Specialists Highlight Aggies' Weekly Press Conference

Texas A&M coach Mike Elko was joined by the Aggie specialists--punter Tyler White, kicker Randy Bond, and snapper Jacob Graham--as the team held its New Mexico State week press conference Monday inside the Kyle Field Media Center.

Quotables: Mike Elko

OPENING COMMENT:

Thanks for coming out. Obviously another productive bye week. I thought we got a lot of good work in last week. Kind of stayed in a very similar routine that our last bye week, went Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and then got the kids Friday, Saturday off so they can kind of rest and recover. Got back in here Sunday and then turn our attention now to New Mexico State and an opportunity to get back on the field and kind of get this thing going back in the direction we want it to go. And so we're excited for Saturday. Saturday is going to be senior Day. We're going to honor, we believe, 30 seniors. And then before that list comes out, I'll just caution everybody by saying that list is not going to be 100 percent indicative one way or the other of next year's roster. So as you guys go and make all of your conclusions about that when that list actually comes out, I'll just caution you that I already know of a couple things that will not be exactly what you think they will when you see that list. And so just be careful with that. But any time you have Senior Day, that's always a special day, a special opportunity. And you want to send those guys out the right way. And so back to work, have a great week and get ready for a big Saturday night.

NO SCHEDULE IN THE SEC IS EASY. IT'S NOT EVEN CLOSE TO EASY. BUT WHEN YOU SIZED UP THE SCHEDULE WHEN YOU TOOK THIS JOB, DID YOU SAY, HEY, THERE'S A CHANCE WITH THIS SET UP TO REALLY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A PRETTY FORGIVING SCHEDULE?

Well, when you say that, though, here's a unique piece of this. Because we talk about this, and I think we do this based off brands, not off wins/losses. If you look at our combined winning percentage of all of the teams at the top, we have the third hardest schedule of all the teams at the top. And that's seven or eight of them. So like I don't know where the perceived 'ease' is. The home part for sure, but still I think when you look at the win/loss percentage, when you look at the fact that we're the only team that's played an out of conference playoff team...we've had a lot of opportunities at home. That's a big piece of it, for sure. And I think anytime you get those big moments in Kyle, that's an advantage for you, for sure. I'm not stepping away from that at all. It just doesn't feel like an easy schedule. It hasn't felt like an easy schedule. I think anytime you play in the SEC as a coach, the word 'easy' never comes to mind. I think what our kids have done is they've gone out into some big moments, into some big opportunities--Missouri, LSU--and played the way you wanted them to to keep this thing going in the direction you wanted to. Played in games against Notre Dame and South Carolina, not exactly the way we would have hoped, and kind of eliminated our margin for error. But I think we've managed some pretty big moments, you can see by the primetime games we've played. It's been nice to have a lot of them in Kyle, for sure.

DID YOU SENSE ANYTHING DIFFERENT IN THE GUYS' APPROACH TO PRACTICE THROUGHOUT THE BYE WEEK OR WAS IT JUST BUSINESS AS USUAL?

No, I think business as usual with maybe a little bit of an understanding that the urgency has got to go up. I think everybody in our building understands these opportunities don't come along all the time. We have a special chance where we're at this point in the season and we control everything. You certainly want to take advantage of those opportunities when they present themselves. And so I think business as usual, but with maybe a little bit of a heightened sense of urgency that we don't have any margin. And we've got to go. It's time to go.

TALKING ABOUT THE INCREASED URGENCY AS THE SEASON WINDS DOWN, HOW DO YOU RATCHET UP THE THE INTENSITY WHILE ALSO MAINTAINING THE PROCESS-ORIENTED THINKING TO, WHERE--TO USE A BASEBALL ANALOGY--YOU WANT TO KIND OF GO ABOUT YOUR AT BATS THE SAME WHETHER IT'S THE BOTTOM OF THE NINTH OR THE FIFTH?

I think it's a little bit like how we talk about big games, right? There's a process that allows for success. And you have to understand what that process is, and you've got to stay true to that process at all times. But there's also an understanding that this is a little bit different, right? And how you control your emotions through that, how you control your energy through that, how you just emphasize how special the opportunity is that we have in front of us and we want to take advantage of it. All of that drives the daily preparation to be higher, the daily routine, the daily performance to be higher...that's what you're trying to get accomplished. And I think if the kids can understand, okay, I've got to elevate within this process and push it to the limit within this process, I think that's what you're looking for. I think that's what--you mentioned baseball, bottom of the ninth, game-winning at bat, that at bat feels different. You have to be aware of it. And then how you enhance your process--the breathing, the fundamentals, the mechanics--to function in that moment, I think that's what you're trying to get accomplished.

NEW MEXICO STATE, JUST FROM WHAT YOU'VE BEEN WATCHING, WHAT DO THEY DO WELL AND WHAT KIND OF POTENTIAL PROBLEMS COULD THEY PRESENT ON SATURDAY?

Yeah. Offensively they've got quite a few talented, skilled kids. They've got two running backs who are really talented. Seth McGowan's a Texas kid who signed at Oklahoma out of high school and has wound up at New Mexico State. He's a really, really talented back. The other back, #4 (Mike Washington), is a really talented back. He runs really physical and really hard. They've been over 200 yards the last half of the season it feels like. I think they're trying to find their way at quarterback, but they've got two really talented wide receivers, one in the slot, one on the outside. Both of those kids have the ability to make plays. That part of it is a challenge. Defensively they're very multiple. They get in and out of three down, four down. They play a lot of different coverages. And so they're going to challenge us to identify fronts, identify pictures, and make sure that we're operating at the level we need to operate.