Auburn player quotes

QB Jonathan Wallace

On tonight’s performance…

“Overall, we have to find a way to win. We can’t go down early. We can’t win that way. We need to find a way to come out on fire.”

On scoring his first touchdowns…

“It was great. I thought that play really lifted some guys’ spirits. It gave us some momentum and got us back in the game. It was great to score, but it wasn’t enough.”

On his touchdown pass to Emory Blake…

“It was good, but it wasn’t enough to win.”

DE Nosa Eguae

On tonight’s performance…

“It was a tough one. We just fell into situations where they did great things and we didn’t. You have to give Texas A&M all the credit. They came out here and played a great game and we didn’t.”

On what the team needs to improve on…

“We just have to go out there and communicate better. We have to go out there and expect to win football games.”

WR Emory Blake

On the game…

“They came out clicking. We got beat today. Nobody quit, but I feel like they played a very good game today.”

On the passing game…

“We’ve been working on it all year. [Jonathan Wallace] came in and did a really good job for us. As receivers, we’re expected to make plays and the O-linemen started protecting pretty well. That’s what happens.”

On moving forward in offense…

“We need to just keep pushing. Keep getting better at protection. Keep getting better at running routes. Keep progressing at the quarterback position, and we’ll get better. There’s no quit in us and we’re just going to keep fighting.”

RB Tre Mason

On the game…

“They were a great team and we just got beat.”

On the rushing game…

“I’m not really sure, but between me and Onterio, we do what we can do when we get the ball in our hands.”

On moving forward in offense…

“Run the ball.”

CB Jonathan Mincy

On the game…

“It was a physical game. We were prepared for it. We just couldn’t execute the way we wanted to. We just have to get back at it this next week.”

On rebounding from this loss…

“We need to just learn from our mistakes and continue to work.”

On what was taken away from this game…

“This is just going to be motivation for when we play them next year.”

TE CJ Uzomah

On the game…

“We played together and fought to the very end, that’s what the coaches asked for. We fought and played for each other tonight. Obviously, the outcome wasn’t something we wanted, but we fought to the end.”

On personal performance…

“The touchdown catch was fun, but I still had a lot of mistakes throughout the game. The catch was a positive, but I also have things to work on.”

On what to improve going forward…

“We just have to keep fighting. The players are there. We had opportunities to convert on the plays the coaches were calling today. We just have to convert and keep fighting.”

DE Dee Ford

Thoughts on the game

“We put in a lot of work, never for this result. But people have to realize it’s a message behind it. I think God is making us go through a lot of things. We have a lot of guys here who have never really been through much as far as football goes. Freshmen came in, won a national championship. Last year was a decent year, but it wasn’t really like this year. These are trialing times that are going to make us into men.”

“We’re never going to enjoy the fruits of our labor if we quit. We said that at halftime. We’re not quitting. … If Auburn means anything to you, you’re going to fight.”

Sense of quit?

No. No sense of quit at all. Not one time. I can’t speak for 100 percent of the team. I wasn’t around everybody. But the people I was around were just like me – we’re not quitting, that’s not in our DNA. That’s not what Auburn represents. Auburn doesn’t represent losing either, but we really don’t represent quitting.

How are you physically recovering?

Coming along. I’ve been having very limited reps, against Vandy I had limited. This game, I had limited reps. But I think kind of coming into our next week I’m going to cut it loose.

What’s your injury?

I can’t really say.