Everything Mississippi State's Zach Arnett Said After Loss to Texas A&M
The Mississippi State Bulldogs fell to the Texas A&M Aggies 51-10 on Saturday evening after a poor showing on both sides of the ball.
This SEC rivalry seemed like it could be a shootout after Mississippi State's Zavion Thomas returned the opening kickoff 94 yards and Aggies quarterback Jaylen Henderson answered back with a score of his own a couple minutes later, but that wouldn't be the case...for one school.
Here's a full transcript of what Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett said after the game:
On the mood in the locker room:
"We’ve got a lot of angry football players. The game started off in as good a way as possible. And then not much went our way after that. We have a lot of frustrated, angry competitors, which is what you want. We have to decide how we’ll respond."
On how quarterbacks Mike Wright and Chris Parson played:
"We knew we were going to give the start. But it was very likely, against that defense, and the need for some quarterback run, there would be situations where both guys would play. With two picks early on for Chris, a true freshman making your first career start in this environment against that d-line, it’s a lot different than opening up against an FCS team. You have to give him a chance, have the coaches talk to him, put Mike in there and we were moving the ball a little bit. It calmed down a little bit for Chris. Mike took a couple of hits there later in the game where he was not moving as well. So, got Chris back in there."
On Wright and Parson's struggles:
"That’s a big part of it. Feel good about Will’s health progress. We believe we have the opportunity to get him back this week, depending on the newest doctor’s appointment, the evaluation says. Not having your starting quarterback leads to struggles. Either way, you can’t turn the ball over four times. And then we went for it on fourth down and didn’t get it either, so it’s like five turnovers. You’re not going to beat a good football team by doing that. The offensive coaches are working really hard, and trying to find a way to get it to our best players, and find ways to manufacture points. Obviously, we have to keep working."
On Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed:
"They did a good job of running the football, over 200 rushing yards. Early on, quite a few quarterback design runs. Something we didn’t see on film from the previous two guys. Not their bread and butter. It turned into a quarterback run, and then play-action shots off that. They out-physicaled us and ran pretty consistently all night. The few times we got them in third and long, you’ve got to find a way to get off the field. That way you can stop a drive."
What do you say to the fans?
"We have to be better than today. Fans ought to be frustrated. No one is more frustrated and angry with that result than the players and coaches. We have an extremely passionate fan base. They’ve done a tremendous job supporting the team and creating great environments at home all year long. We have two more opportunities. I believe this team is going to respond and get back to work. Hopefully, we will get a few guys back as well. Our job is to put a product on the field that fans are excited about and proud of. We need to do everything better. We need to play better, we need to coach better. No denying that."
On quarterback Will Rodgers' health:
"If the doctors say that Will is fully cleared to play, he’s clearly our starting quarterback. He will play. As long as he gets full clearance. That’s why he was the starting quarterback in the first place. If they don’t think it’s safe for him to play, you game plan knowing that Mike and Chris are in those reps."
Can he provide a spark?
"I know he threw for 487 yards at South Carolina, a career high. So, yes, I say he would provide a much needed spark and juice."
On how poor field position took a toll:
"Well, you can take the ball away too and create some short fields. Those are not ideal situations to be in. When you call a sudden change deep in your territory, a win is just making them line up for a field goal. The defense found themselves in those sudden change situations. One time, they got off the field with no points. And one time was a field goal. We allowed them to have too much offensive success and be efficient, and move the ball down the field."
On the crowd at Kyle Field:
"They stem in their defense, which every defense does. When you’re facing really talented players that want to get off on the snap, you’re a little too on edge, plus the 100,000 people, you have some of those penalties. Our job is to replicate that in practice and be ready for that. When you actually get under the lights and in the environment, you trust your training and you don’t do that. We’re gonna need to spend more time stemming on them in practice, giving them more of that, and have them as best prepared as possible. You can’t have that many penalties that set you back on drives. If you’re struggling to convert and score already, penalties that take you from second and 4 to second and 9, drastically hurt your chances of being successful."
