Oct. 28, 2014
Mason | Butler & Dudchock | Gameday Central | Game Notes & Depth Charts
Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason, defensive tackle Adam Butler and tight end Davis Dudchock met the media Tuesday to talk about the Commodores’ next game against Old Dominion. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. CT Saturday in Nashville. The non-conference matchup will be televised on ESPNU.
Head Coach Derek Mason
Opening statement:
“Good to be back. Coming off the Missouri loss, there’s a lot to be learned from that game. I thought our team showed progress. Defensively, we came out solid and played well through the first and second quarter. I thought we covered well and we put them in situations that were the situations we wanted. Offensively, we struggled to get off to the fast start that we wanted. It was great to see before halftime, (quarterback) Johnny (McCrary) taking that offensive down the field. The run game was clicking, the pass game was clicking and he found tight ends. We gave him protection and then we get into the end zone. From that point on, offensively, we started to gel a little bit. You come out the second half and you look at that game and you say to yourself, you have to get off the field defensively. That fourth quarter was something that was different to be a part of. They had the ball for 10 minutes and 24 seconds. When you talk about time of possession and our offensive, after coming off a score, just wanted to get the ball back and get on the field. That game would’ve been interesting if our offense got the ball back and had a chance to go down the field and put some points on the board. Again, a lot to be taken out of that game. We have a young secondary that’s growing up. Johnny McCrary, in his first start, does a terrific job of managing the game. The tight ends showed up and play well. The offensive line looked good in pass protection. The down side was that we wanted to run the ball better and more effectively. We came away knowing we need to be better at the point of attack. Again, those are the lessons learned coming out of it. We are growing and are still a young team. We’re going to continue to gain ground on our opponents but we need to do it faster and better.”
On Old Dominion:
“You’re talking about a group that’s well-coached. It’s a program that has been ascending, they are now in Conference USA. They have a terrific quarterback in Taylor Heinicke. He was a Walter Payton Award winner as a sophomore. He’s tremendously talented. He doesn’t miss throws and doesn’t take many sacks. He can put the ball in tight places and reminds me a lot of a guy like Drew Brees. He’s short but has a nice, compact motion. He has receivers on the outside that can make plays for him. Specifically, Antonio Vaughan, he is their go to guy. He had six catches last week for 224 yards. His shortest catch was a 19-yard touchdown. One thing he puts on tape is that he’s a burner and can do it in all phases, outside or inside. He’s just that guy you have to be aware of all the time. When you look at their receiving arsenal, they can all make plays. You’re going to see those guys all over the field. Their running back, Ray Lawry, is a young kid who stepped on the scene and ran for 146 yards last week. They have a run game to match their pass game. They are going somewhere between 451 and 471 yards a game. We have our work cut out defensively. We have to defend on the perimeter and tackle better. We need to make sure that we can get them to long third downs but you still have to play on fourth down because they’ve gone for it on fourth down as much as anyone in the country. Defensively, they’ve had trouble stopping people. That’s one of those things where you have to bring your hard hat and your lunch pale and get ready to play. Offensively, we are going to have to prepare like they are the best defense in the country. We’ve had our fair share of struggles and we have to get the run game and pass game on track. It’s going to be an exciting game for us because any time you face a high-powered offense, it’s a challenge for the defense. Offensively, we have to make sure we can get ourselves jump started and play fast, physical and can finish.”
On the play of the tight ends:
“Our tight ends are pretty good and have maybe been underutilized in terms of the matchups that we can create with them. We’ll always be about tight ends here but we are still a receiving school as well. Until those young guys can grow up and become mainstays or big time targets, our tight ends can really fill that void for us. That’s part of what you saw last week. We just have to continue to function within what we do in making those guys options for our quarterbacks because they are bigger and longer and give us bigger windows to actually throw in to. Our quarterbacks have showed that he can find those guys.”
On the health of quarterback Patton Robinette:
“He’s just getting back to shape. When you look at Patton, he was just cleared on Thursday. When you are cleared coming off a concussion, that doesn’t mean you’re in game shape. He has missed almost a month. What he has to do is come back and show from a conditioning standpoint that he can get these things down, manage the offense and can play. I know from a leadership standpoint that those characteristics are still strong in his game. With that being said, Johnny (McCrary) is the guy and we’ll get Patton ready to go.”
Tight End Davis Dudchock
On whether or not he thought the tight ends would be utilized like they have been:
“We definitely felt that at the tight end position. We had a great summer of work and a great training camp of work at the tight end position, and we know we have a lot of guys that can make plays that have a variety of skill sets, so we’re thankful for all of the opportunities we have to make plays on the field run blocking, receiving and all phases.”
On whether or not Mason intended to use the tight ends more:
“We knew going in that we were going to use more tight end oriented packages moving forward and we’re excited of the opportunity to make more plays and put this offense in the position to make it the best thing it could be.”
On the key to getting it done on the field:
“I think it was more about me needing to prove more as a player but also we have great guys across the board at tight end so I think that our movement toward a more tight-end oriented offense has helped everyone.”
On if there was as much in the tight end schemes here as at Stanford:
“I think it evolves over time as guys develop more as players. Like I said, we have four guys that can play multiple spots and that helps our versatility across the board. We have to show each and every day, week in and week out at practice, that we can get the job done and that the work you put in on the field at practice translates to games. The better we do at practice translates to coach (Karl) Dorrell wanting to use more tight-end oriented sets.”
Defensive Lineman Adam Butler
On if they see this as an opportunity to face a smaller offensive line than what the Commodores are used to in the SEC:
“In a way I would say so, but we have to approach every offensive line the same. You know we can’t take anyone for granted; not at this point. I wouldn’t say we’re in a position to just say we can just go in and whip anyone.”
On the fast tempo of Old Dominion:
“You have to prepare for it during the week just like any other team. I would say the tempo teams, they vary in terms of speed because you could say Missouri ran tempo at times and then slowed it down. Again, it all depends on how the game flows.”
