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FRANKLIN AMERICAN MORTGAGE MUSIC CITY BOWL: TEXAS A&M VS LOUISVILLEDecember 30, 2015Tra CarsonKevin SumlinBrandon WilliamsNashville, Tennessee Louisville - 27, Texas A&M - 21 Q. How much of a distraction was the whole quarterback situation for you leading up to this game, and how were you able to recover from it? KEVIN SUMLIN: You know, it happened early enough that during practices that we were able to really work with Jake, and so the main part of it was that it was early enough that we were able to practice him. The team knew he was going to play, and you know, I thought that we practiced and responded well before the game, and I thought that after he settled down early, he got a little bit better towards the end of the second quarter and really gave us a chance to win the game at the end. It was a heck of a position for a guy that makes his first start, and a lot of guys rallied around him. Q. Did you think Ben Christian had that catch at the end? KEVIN SUMLIN: I just looked up at the Jumbotron and saw a big circle. I was too busy going through scenarios of 3rd and 9, what hash it was on, where the ball was going to be. If it wasn't there, we had to get a played called. If it was 1st and goal, it would be -- the hash marks we came and set the ball, then set it on the other hash. Everybody was a little confused right there. I was more worried about, okay, let's get to the next play. If it's 1st and goal, we're doing one thing; if it's 3rd and 9, we've got to have a play ready to go. Q. You discussed your team's fight as a whole, Jake included, but the whole team -- KEVIN SUMLIN: No, they played right down until the end. It took three phases at the end to give us a chance to win the game. We got stops on defense that we needed. You know, really the story is we had, what, three turnovers -- Q. Two. KEVIN SUMLIN: Two turnovers, and we couldn't get -- we knocked the ball loose, and it would either go out of bounds or lay on the field, and we just couldn't get the ball back, couldn't get a turnover when we needed it. Any time you lose the turnover battle, it becomes tough to win the game, and you give up 300 yards rushing. Give Louisville credit; they played very, very well. It was a hell of a ballgame, and like I said, they played well. Q. Can you talk about Jack's explosiveness as a runner and then being enough of a passer to kind of keep you on? KEVIN SUMLIN: Yeah, he picked up where he left off at the second half with Kentucky. Explosive, and he's got wheels. Really gave us fits on the edge, and we shored up the interior, but we got the ball on the perimeter on us, and he's an explosive player. Q. Was Jake better than you expected him to be or did he play about -- KEVIN SUMLIN: Like I said, I thought early, you could see a little bit of -- he was -- once he settled down, he was fine. Early, that can be a little bit expected. But I thought he had great demeanor during the game. He was really upset about the fumble. But there were some other things going on on the interceptions that could have gone either way, and sometimes you get those calls, sometimes you don't. But we had a couple balls down the middle of the field obviously that there was some contact, and those are plays that we make most of the time. We didn't make them, and then like I said, you've got to give Louisville credit, too, in those situations for making plays. To answer your question, for a guy to come in and do what he did and our team to give us a chance at the end of the game with everything that happened for really the 55 minutes beforehand, you've got to be proud of him. Q. Tra, did he say anything, or if you could just talk about the way he was talking to you or the way he handled himself when you came out for that last drive. TRA CARSON: Yeah, Jake just got to keep his composure the whole time. You really can't tell. He keeps a straight face throughout the whole game whether he makes a mistake or he makes a big play, so to me he never seems rattled, and I think he did a great job of taking control of the huddle and giving us a good chance to win at the end. Q. In that last period when you all went out, he was just the same as he was at the first? TRA CARSON: From the first snap of the game to the last, he never changed to me. Q. How difficult for the players is it to walk off for the final time in an A&M uniform? BRANDON WILLIAMS: I mean, it's very difficult, especially with this loss. It would have been better with a win, but it's a sour taste in your mouth just because we lost, but through it all, I'm glad I'm with this team and I'm glad I'm with these coaches, and I'm glad I play for the University. TRA CARSON: Same way. I'm very thankful Coach Sumlin gave me an opportunity to transfer in from Oregon and gave me a chance to come in and play and compete against some of the best guys in the country at that time at the running back position. I'm just thankful that I got to play at Texas A&M. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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