Texas A&M moves into their bye week coming off a grueling 26-23 win over South Carolina.
Several players said this week is important for recovery and focusing on the small things, as the Aggies prepare to to take on Mississippi State on Oct. 27.
“We have to worry about the small wins,” sophomore linebacker Buddy Johnson said. “We have to get in the film room and correct the things that need to be corrected, take the time to handle our business, make sure our bodies are right. We need to have great practices.”
The Aggies currently stand at 5-2, a position they’ve seen time and time again in the past, but the feeling is different this year. Redshirt senior fullback Cullen Gillaspia said having the two losses come early in the season has helped motivate the team to keep pushing through what has been a mid-season drop in the past.
“Now we’re fighting our way from the bottom instead of being at the top and falling off the ledge,” Gillaspia said.
Senior defensive lineman Daylon Mack said the team’s mentality going into this week will be the key factor that keeps the team from faltering in the second half of the season.
“I think the mentality from those teams in the past is way different than what we have right now,” Mack said. “Just not losing that edge that we have right now — that’s going to be the main focus.”
Senior linebacker Riley Garner credits head coach Jimbo Fisher’s involvement in practice for the new mentality.
“Jimbo’s just really preaching to us never relax, never take your foot off the gas,” Garner said. “He’s involved in every part of practice. It’s very different. You’ve always got to be on your toes, bring your A-game because the minute you mess up, he’s on you.”
Against South Carolina, the Aggie offense had possession of the football for 41 minutes and 29 seconds. Mack said that was very beneficial to Texas A&M’s defense.
“I’m loving it,” Mack said. “I’m loving every bit of that. It makes us play harder because we’re fresh.”
In addition to recovering from the first half of the season, the Aggies are using the bye week to prepare for their next game against Mississippi State. Johnson said the defense’s goal moving forward is creating more turnovers.
“We just have to go after the football,” Johnson said. “That’s one thing we’re not good at, getting after the football, but we put more emphasis in practice on turnovers, so we’ll get there.”