Transcript: Everything Mike Leach Said Following Mississippi State's 42-24 Win Over Texas A&M

Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach had praise for his team but also noted potential areas for improvement following its big victory over Texas A&M on Saturday.

Mississippi State football improved to an overall record of 4-1 following Saturday's 42-24 victory over the Texas A&M Aggies.

Here's a look at the complete postgame press conference transcript following the win.

Question: What did your team do offensively after that fumble recovery?

Mike Leach: "I’m not sure which fumble recovery, but the biggest thing was just playing together. I thought we played too close to the vest early on. When we opened up, I thought we had more success. They had more stuff to cover. We did a good job of run and pass combination. They had a tough time teeing off any one thing."

Q: What did you see on that Emmanuel Forbes block and Decamerion Richardson return?

ML: "He’s been close on a lot of them. But we haven’t seen him get them. I thought D Cam did a good job with the ball in front of him. Some guys will stumble around trying to get their hands on the ball. He waited for that second jump. The other thing Forbes did was go down and get several blocks on guys trying to get to D Cam."

Q: How big were the stops your defense made early on in the game?

ML: "A&M is tough. They have some really good players. Everybody says they have the top recruit guys in the country, but the biggest thing is just do your job. They played petty tight and sharp. You try to keep them off-balance by playing the extremes…either come after them or look like you’re going to come after them and drop everybody."

Q: What were your thoughts on Rara and the receivers?

ML: "I thought Justin had a good game for a debut, as far as playing that many snaps. I thought Rara was explosive. We’ve got to get where we’re consistent in practice. We did some good explosive things against some good explosive people."

Q: You had a lot of guys making plays on defense.

ML: "A&M is so big and strong, you have to. You’ve got to keep people fresh. I thought it was good. Coming down the stretch we have to do more of that."

Q: What’s the decision to go for the big shot to Rara?

ML: "We had other options on the play, but he was pressed, and Rara is a big target."

Q: How happy were you with the offensive line?

ML: "I thought they played good. We didn’t play perfect, but we didn’t get rattled. If something didn't go correctly, we’d regroup and play the next one."

Q: How important was it for the offense to keep answering?

ML: :"I thought it was gigantic. Any time someone is powerful, you need to hold the edge. It’s a situation where momentum can bounce back and forth if you’re not careful. Some of that is just mental toughness."

Q: Have you seen the shift in practice of your team dealing better with adversity?

ML: "It shifted in practice. We’ve got a highly motivated group that wants to do well. They’re eager to do things well. The toughest thing is to do your job over and over so that things come your way. I think we’re getting better at that."

Q: How important was it to have experienced guys make plays?

ML: "It’s pretty important. This thing was a little tighter than the score. Any time you have two pretty explosive teams, you take what you can get. Timing of it becomes even more important."

Q: How would you assess the offensive line and Nick Jones in particular?

ML: "Nick does a good job. Nick’s been doing a good job for a while. I think sometimes he’s an unsung guy. But I thought the whole offensive unit did good. Who played the best? The O line and the D line... the D line in particular."

Q: What do you attribute the pre-snap penalties to?

ML: "I debated whether I needed to do a press conference on that. Currently, I’ve decided against it. You saw the same game I did. And I value your opinion."

Q: You score right before halftime and keep them out right before halftime. How big is that?

ML: "Huge. Scores right before halftime are huge, probably really bigger than they should…Those things can have an effect either direction."

Q: Do you feel like you have A&M’s number?

ML: "I don’t know, I hope so…They’re a great team and they’re fun to play. A great legendary team on and off the field."

Q: After that run down the field to call time out, are you competing with DJ and Woody now too?

ML: "I don’t know, but there was a point where somebody lost track of something. I had to get some verification. I’m not sure I didn’t blow our momentum. It required three extra downs to score."

Q: What did you see from Will tonight?

ML: "I think his O line and receivers and running backs have improved. He’s definitely improved. He’s gotten better at utilizing the weapons around him. More quickly and more decisively. There is a rhythm of timing that goes on, he’s doing a better job of getting back on balance... "He was younger and some of our players developed."

Q: Did A&M do what you expected it to or were there some wrinkles?

ML: "It was pretty similar to what we expected. Consistent with what we saw on film. One adjustment we expected them to make, they were different on the two backs. When we started running the two back sets, that had an impact. That was a little different than what we saw on film."