Key Comments From Shane Beamer’s Conference Call

• Good to see the defense playing at a high level right now, really, really played well defensively for three quarters, effort and physicality were awesome.
• They tackled well on defense and, on offense, broke a lot of tackles.
• Really liked how they handled the end of the first half, went down and scored, and didn’t give them a chance to respond; the offensive line played great.
• Not happy with how they played the fourth quarter, and left some plays out there on special teams throughout the fourth quarter.
• They aren’t really paying attention to being ranked this week in the AP Top 25; they want to be ranked at the end of the season. Their focus is on next week and the next game.
• Surgery for Matt Fuller went well this morning; he will need at least a month in recovery. Howell’s health is good but he was not healthy enough to play yesterday, expects to have Quay Scott back this week. Jordan Thomas was also banged up yesterday but is expected to be okay.
• Clements has done a great job teaching the offensive linemen so they can be moved around on the line to different positions.
• Nitro Tuggle was not on the dress list yesterday and felt the ones they took gave them the best chance to win at Oklahoma. They can only take 74 players on the road in the SEC, and special teams is a big part of that.
• You want your coordinators to have the chance to advance their careers in answering a question about the possibility of Briles possibly having some opportunities.
• Everyone on their defense continues to get better. The linebackers are playing at a very high level right now; they’ve worked hard at getting better at the coverage aspect of it. Disappointed not to have one of his guys on the Butkus Award list.
• Physical game: there was hitting going on out there last night, a lot of straining going on out there.
• Every coach can run his program as he sees fit, but he’s not a fan of players announcing resigning NIL deals for the next year during the season; if you have one, do it, a hundred will follow, though his front office people are constantly talking with agents and making plans.