Josh Pate: A&M's trip to Arkansas is an opportunity to 'reinforce' stature

Key notes from Josh Pate interview

• I don't know what tier Marcel Reed is in the middle of. The top tier, probably. You watch all of your team, and you remember highlights of other teams. You see Ty Simpson’s best, Gunner Stockton’s best, etc.
   
• You end up comparing your guy’s best, good and bad against the other guy’s best, and it fools you into thinking your guy’s worse. I think Reed is better than the middle tier. Now, let’s look at numbers. They are good. There are still more plays to be made. More meat on the bone, and they won 34-17. Absolutely got overlooked. People look at Florida’s record, and they don’t understand. That was a last-gasp effort by Florida.
   
• A&M handled them, and Reed has a lot to do with that. The third thing is that they have more than two ways to win. If Reed doesn’t light the world on fire one week, and they still win. This team is a winner. If you have the fifth-best quarterback in the league, but you have the confetti raining on you in Atlanta. What did you accomplish? Everything you set out to.
   
• This offseason, at the tailback position, we didn’t talk about just one name. We knew A&M had depth. They were blessed to have not only one guy. We’ve been talking about the complementary nature of the team. They can win in multiple ways. It is only October, and more injuries will happen. Please cross your fingers they won’t. They are not vulnerable to one position if there are injuries. Think about another world you can be in. Let’s pretend Le’Veon Moss at SEC Media Days, and he’s the face of the offense. If you saw him walking into the tunnel, you would be gutted. That is the season. It’s over. It’s done. There are certain players on certain teams whose fate hinges on. That is not A&M. That is a good thing.
   
• The Notre Dame win was such a mental hurdle to clear. Now that you are going back on the road, there is so much to be said about doing something. If you are a field goal kicker, and you missed to end a game last week. Next week, you need to go out there and hit a field goal in the first quarter. A&M gets to look in its rearview mirror at the last time it went on the road. It was one of the biggest wins in program history. Why would I be scared to go to Arkansas? Why would I not look forward to this opportunity?
   
• This is a playoff-caliber team, an SEC title-caliber team, maybe a national championship-caliber team. If that’s the case, you don’t shy away from anything. You have opportunities. You go on the road, and instead of wilting, you get to try to reinforce the belief you already have about yourself. You get to right a lot of past wrongs.
   
• If I were an A&M fan, I’d have the added motivation that the entire world doesn’t think A&M can do it because they haven’t done it before. If Mike Elko is there for 10 years, like Kirby Smart at Georgia. Success will come. People will expect you to win. No one will doubt you anymore. That is not right now for A&M. This is the real fun part. Flipping narratives and creating a new identity for the program. A&M fans are right in the middle of this special, blooming, new way of doing things. I would not take that for granted. Then you can look back at this season and say those years were so fun.
   
• It would be a 10 out of 10 on the shock meter if Mike Elko entertained the Penn State job. I’ve seen that stuff circulating. They are dealing with this at Nebraska right now. Nebraska might have something to worry about or not. They are worried that they are going to lose Matt Rhule or not. But they need to look at the alternative. Would you rather him not be in demand? Would you rather no one want to touch your head coach? So at A&M, you’d say the same thing, but you can say that he has a better job than what is open. Unless he played there or there is a really special and emotional attachment there, even then, I’d wish them well, but “I am not leaving College Station, Texas right now. I have one of the best jobs in the country.”
   
• I have never been given any reason to think the SEC will fix officiating. We had another disaster on Saturday. It’s not just the SEC, the Big 12, and some G5 conferences. It is almost corruption. That’s how you can describe the behind-the-scenes mechanisms at work. I am talking about the typical B.S. you deal with now. The inconsistencies in the conference. The heads of officiating don’t want to give up their power. My problem hasn’t been with bad calls. It has been the lack of transparency. This ridiculous curtain they hide behind because they don’t make the money coaches do, or they are only part-time officials.
   
• The nature of those media rights deals, there are billions invested in this sport. You are telling me we can’t full-time employ officials and make them accountable. Auburn’s Athletic Director is under fire for yelling at officials on the field going into halftime. I’d probably be the same way. When else am I going to get an explanation? Head coaches and players have to answer to the media when they screw up, but the rule enforcers get to skate out of there with an escort. And you get lucky if 48 hours after the game, they send a letter saying, “My bad.” They don’t answer to anyone.
   
• I don’t think LSU had a higher ceiling than Georgia in the preseason. But now, I could still be wrong about it, but can I get more out of Garrett Nussmeier? What I am trying to say with Georgia is that we’ve got what we've got with them. For LSU, it may also be the case, but wait until they get Aaron Anderson back, wait until Nussmeier is fully healthy. It’s if, if, if. Now, if that doesn’t happen, then Georgia has a higher ceiling. The LSU situation is hanging in the balance right now. They are going to Vanderbilt, and they are two-point dogs. They are vulnerable. If they lose that game, it’s their second conference loss.  They still have three games where they would be underdogs. That whole situation at LSU is very interesting to watch.
   
• I think I lean toward Notre Dame in the game vs. USC. This is the season for Notre Dame. You knew this would be the season for Notre Dame. Their top three games are in the first half of the season. They could be out of it. USC just beat Michigan. People are saying it is a statement win. It is a good win. A statement win is not made at home when you are a favorite. The statement is going on the road as an underdog. Like A&M did. A statement is letting me know something has changed.
   
• For USC, I won’t know they’ve changed until they go on the road, against a surging team, a team that looks more physical than them. That is another game on the landscape this Saturday.