Everything Spencer Rattler and Nyck Harbor said after the loss to Texas A&M

What happened on the intentional grounding penalties and how crucial were they to stop the momentum?
Rattler: They’re tough to judge. The first one I think it was kind of a bad call, honestly. I had Xavier over there. The next two, I mean, trying to not take a sack, trying to get the ball out. We had all the routes headed into the middle on one and then all to a left on one. I got pressure off both sides that naturally took me to the other side and nobody was up there. But I don’t really know how to judge those in a moment. Dowell said good job, keep throwing it away. Keep throwing it away and don’t take a sack and risk a fumble. But they definitely hurt.

Nyck, what was going through your mind after the drop and how were you able to shake that off?
Harbor: Everybody was telling me to keep my head up and go make the next play. And that’s what I did. After that I think I was perfect catching the ball. 

When Trai Jones went down how did that affect you emotionally and with the game plan?
Rattler: Unfortunately, we just can’t catch a break. We’re very unlucky with these injuries. I feel for all these guys that can’t play and help us win. We had two Trais (Trey Knox) that went down, which was not great, both starters. Next man up mentality. Those guys came in and worked their tail off and tried their best. In the second half we came out a little hotter, we’re getting the ball out and not holding on to it too long. It’s just one of those games, you have to keep chopping and chopping. It’s very unfortunate, all these injuries.

You could have folded after the second quarter but you kept fighting. What does that say about the team?
Rattler: You’ve got to find a positive out of every game. We came into one of the biggest environments in college football. Crazy environment, it was awesome to play in. Credit to A&M. They’ve got a great defense. A lot of NFL players on that defense up front and on the back end, all over the field. So for us to come out here and compete the whole game, down two scores going to the half and come out and get the field goal, and then really make the game pretty close. It was 24-17 at one point, and we just couldn’t get it done. I feel bad for Coach Beamer and all the coaches, all the players who put in work every single week. I feel horrible. I’ve got to be better. We’ve all got to be better as a team

What did you see out of Mario Anderson and the run game?
Rattler: Mario’s a tough runner. Rarely goes backwards, he’s always falling forward. I thought he had a good day. (Dakereon Joyner) as well. I thought he contributed when he needed to. The guys did a good job up front in the second half blocking up those holes for the running backs to hit. That makes it easier for an offense to convert third downs and do stuff like that. And you can see we have more rhythm in the second half because of it.

Do you still feel like a freshman? How settled in are you at this point?
Harbor: After the first four games, I feel like you’re getting your feet wet. (…) Once you get over like 20 snaps, you know better. You can’t have that freshman mentality. You’ve got to make plays at that point. 

Rattler: This dude is a freshman, like you said. He gets there 30 minutes before practice starts. Gets out there early, catches probably 50 balls. After practice catches another 50-60 balls. He’s been working hard. And I’m happy to see him starting to (produce). We targeted him a lot this game and he made big plays for us. 

How do you guys approach these next four games? 
Rattler: Next game up. The record isn’t where we want it right now, obviously. It’s not a great feeling as a group. But we’ve got no other choice. We’ve got four more opportunities this year to finish out strong and all at home. We’re looking forward to finishing out at home. Should be good environments every game, and we’ll try to get four wins.

Was Legette 100% or did they do something to take him away?
Rattler: It’s a good question. I just felt like we could have gotten him in rhythm a little more earlier. That’d be a question for Xavier. I don’t know. I know he’s playing as hard as he can. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes (it doesn’t). I know he’ll bounce back and have a strong game. He’s always coming every day to work. He rushed back this week and got cleared. He’ll be back.

Can you still learn things about the team at this point in the season?
Rattler: One thing I know about our team is we’re tough as hell. We never quit. That’s one thing. That’s a positive about our team. Won or lost, we’re going to (indecipherable) and get back to work Sunday, and back on Tuesday. We always get back to work and figure things we need to clean up. It’s all about the work and the process. We had great week of practice. I know that only says so much. We had a great week of practice, we’ve got to go out there on Saturday, like Coach Beamer said, and perform at a high level. We’ve got four more opportunities and we’re trying to win out.

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