Everything Conner Weigman and Taurean York said before facing Mississippi State in Week 8
Texas A&M (5-1, 3-0 SEC) is coming off the first of two bye weeks this season just a week after defeating Missouri 41-10, as the Aggies are nearly 100% healthy going into Saturday's Week 8 road test vs. Mississippi State, a team that the program has had trouble defeating consistently.
In Week 7, several SEC teams looked more average than good, as Alabama and Tennessee nearly fell for the second consecutive weekend. At the same time, Ole Miss dropped its second game on the road to LSU in overtime, damaging their college football playoff odds. Giant slayer Vanderbilt went on the road, beating Kentucky, and now sits at 4-2 and 2-1 in SEC play, a record none of us predicted for the Commodores at this point.
With the Aggie's focus completely shifting to Mississippi State, Elko, alongside starting quarterback Conner Weigman and linebacker Taurean York, spoke to the media on Monday afternoon. Here's what Weigman and York had to say on Monday.
Linebacker Taurean York on the progress of the LB corps
"It has been progressing a ton. I'm very pleased with the progress Scooby, Solomon and Daymion have been making."
York on how he attacks every practice
"Our next focus will be tomorrow's practice and continuing to get better from here on out."
York on the team's mindset no matter the score of each game
"That game was over whenever it ended. We put that in our rearview mirrors and started focusing on Mississippi State last week."
York on Mike Elko reminding the team of the program's losing record vs. Mississippi State
"Coach Elko has reminded us about our record in Starkville. It's 2-4. ... We're excited for it. We're looking forward to the challenge come Saturday."
York on how the team approached the Week 7 bye week
"very efficient."
"We weren't really practicing for Mississippi State until today. We went against our offense a ton, which is good because iron sharpens iron."
York's "stop the run mindset" is the right move
"Rule No. 1 for me on defense is to stop the run. I'm really happy with the emphasis that the defense as a whole has made on stopping the run."
York on what makes the Aggie defense go
"There's no magic defense. ... It's all about the mindset. We've taken great steps in our mindset in how we approach the game and how we approach practice as well."
Conner Weigman is 100% healthy for the first time this season
"Not being able to play a football game is always tough because I like being about to be out there with my brothers and having their backs. Not playing football sucks."
"Being back to feeling good finally is a good feeling."
Weigman on his mindset during his rehab process
All you can do is have faith."
"To be able to take it day by day and step by step, that's what I did."
This the the right mentality of a starting quarterback, that's for sure
"If I get backed into a corner, I'm going to come out swinging. I'm not going to do down without a fight. That's the way I was raised."
Weigman on what led to him starting vs. Missouri
"We were focused on having a full week of practice. That was our goal. I'd play when I got a full week of practice, and I got a full week of practice before the Missouri game. We were ready to roll."
Weigman on his close relationship with backup QB Marcel Reed
"That's my brother. I love him to death. We're in the quarterback room together every single day for the last two years."
"It's a really cool thing that we've got going on, and it doesn't happen everywhere. We're really blessed to have that relationship."
Weigman on how he deal with some of the criticism he received during his injury
"It is what it is. It's what we signed up for playing in the SEC."
"I love the game of football, and we're going to go out every day and play as hard as we can for our brothers."
This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Everything Conner Weigman and Taurean York said before facing Mississippi State in Week 8
