Post-Game Quotes
Sept. 21, 2007
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Miami Head Coach Randy Shannon
On how well the defense played…
“That was a big victory for us tonight. It was an opportunity to bounce back from earlier this season in playing a good opponent in Texas A&M, ranked 16th in the country.”
“It was a team effort. The guys played hard, they played well. It was a Thursday night game in primetime where the nation could see what we really have as the University of Miami football team.”
“I’m pleased with the victory but I just said in the locker room, ‘You’ve got tonight and tomorrow and we’ll go back Sunday and get ready for our next opponent’ which is Duke. Those guys have to stay focused and understand that.”
“I’m upset about the turnovers. The turnovers will haunt us. I don’t think any score is out of reach when you have turnovers.”
“We were pleased with the red zone offense. There was one issue we had to address and we did that. We’re going to keep concentrating on that because if we can score in the red zone, we can score a lot of points.”
On the crowd chanting him name“They’re my buddies up there. I like them. It is good but you know what, that’s all about what Miami is about–we’re a family. The student section has a lot of my friends and family and I go on campus and see them and say hi to them. I’m kind of a different coach; I don’t hide from fans and stuff like that. It was great.”
Texas A&M Head Coach Dennis Franchione
On play today…
“We missed our field goal that would have made it 7-3, then we turned the ball over a rash of times at the end of the second half and kind of put ourselves behind the eight ball…and we can’t do that against a good team on the road. If we could have gotten to the locker room 14-0 you would have liked to think we’re still in it and keep playing. We have been there before. We have seen 19-0 leads disintegrate before, but by the time we could get to the locker room it had gotten away from us with the turnovers which were certainly an issue.
“We ended up even in turnovers for the day, but theirs were kind of meaningless in the second half and not as important to the outcome of the game as ours probably were in the first half.
“They are a good ball club. They played really well. I don’t want to take anything away from them, and if we continue to fight, we will see what we are made of now. The exhibition season is over and we will come back for conference play.”
Miami Players
Sophomore linebacker Colin McCarthy
On how well the defense played…
“I don’t think we were communicating as well as we should have been in the first couple of games this season. That’s something we’ve really been working on, and I think we did a good job today. You can see the difference when we communicate and when we don’t.”
On forcing turnovers…
“We really work hard on being physical on defense because that’s what helps create turnovers.”
On limiting Texas A&M’s rushing game…
“They have two really, really good running backs and we knew we were going to have to step up.”
Junior defensive end Calais Campbell
On feeding off the offensive success…
“When the offense is playing like they did tonight – scoring and moving the ball – we feed off that and seem to take our defense to a whole other level. That is something that we thrive off of.”
On the defense…
“We came out early and really played physical because we wanted to set a tone early. We wanted to show everyone how good of a defense we really have and I think we did a really good job of doing that tonight.”
Senior quarterback Kyle Wright
On what the coaches emphasized…
“I think what the coaches emphasized was us trusting each other – that is what you saw tonight. We’re going to play as good as our mistakes. If we don’t make any mistakes we’ll play well and if we do, then they would capitalize on it.”
On passing game…
“We knew we had this in us. The wide receivers made plays and I knew if I gave them the ball we would be successful in the passing game. That is what happened tonight.”
On beating a ranked team…
“We have confidence and I think that this is going to get us on a roll a little bit. We have to take it and run.”
On the win…
“We came out, got a big win tonight and that is what we are excited about now.”
On the opening drive…
“That was great to come out and execute. It was great to be able to go up and down the field like that and cap it off with a touchdown.”
Sophomore wide receiver Sam Shields
On winning in front of a national audience…
“It was very important to come out with a mindset that we have to trust each other. Come out, play hard and win.”
Texas A&M Players
Devin Gregg, Jr., Free Safety
On Miami’s opening drive
“I don’t think it took the wind out of us. It took some time off the clock but I think we did a good job. They just were able to move the ball down the field. It was just one of those things.”
On Miami’s speed
“The speed, it was there. We knew coming in to the game that they had the speed and the ability to break those plays. We wanted to keep containment but a couple of times we lost it.”
On Miami’s passing game
“They threw the ball and made some big plays early which I think got that spark for them early in the game.”
Mike Goodson, So. Tailback
“All the credit to Miami’s defense. They were really fast up front.”
On Miami’s speed
“We would make one guy miss and then another guy would hit you. They did a good job defensively. Whatever scheme they put together it really worked.”
Stephen McGee, Jr., Quarterback
“Give a lot of credit to Miami. We never got a rhythm going until late. And then it was too little, too late. Stupid penalties and turnovers. It’s tough to beat a good team like Miami, especially when you give them momentum and let them get going. They are a lot better team when they score first.”
On Miami’s pressure
“It was real tough. They have some very good players – really athletic, really big and really fast. They have a lot of talent up front and the linebackers are good too. They presented a big problem for us tonight.”
