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Vanderbilt Post-game Quotes
10/15/2005
Vanderbilt Head Coach Bobby Johnson
Opening Comments:
“We made too many physical and mental mistakes to hang in there with a team like Georgia. I thought we did some good things and had a chance, but dropped passes and let people throw the ball deep on us. Those are things you cannot do against Georgia and win.”
On Dropped Passes:
“We had opportunities. We had people open. We had to kick a field goal when we should have had a touchdown and those are the kind of things that prevent you from having a chance to win. I’m not saying we win the game if we catch some of those balls, but those plays prevent you from having a chance to win.”
On the Play of Georgia Quarterback D.J. Shockley:
“He broke our containment a lot and you know that going in. You know that’s going to be a problem. We tried to do the best we could, and probably pressured him more than we thought we would, just trying to keep him in the pocket. He’s a good player and that’s why he’s playing quarterback for Georgia.”
On Bouncing Back Next Week at South Carolina:
“I’m tired of talking about what might have been. We have to seize those moments and play as well as we can. If we play as well as we can and Georgia beats us, we can live with that. When you drop balls and don’t do things you’re supposed to do, then that’s what is frustrating. We’re going to try and get better with the people we have. I think our guys will accept the challenge and step up and work hard on fundamentals. We still have a lot of work to do. That’s the great thing about it — you get another chance next week.”
Vanderbilt Fullback Steven Bright
On coming back this week:
It’s fun any time you’re coming off an injury and get some playing time. It was fun except for the loss. We had some missed opportunities and it hurt us.
On catching a lot of trap passes and screens:
Coming into the game it was something we had not done a lot of and they were not expecting it.
On the offensive line’s play:
They really stepped up and we established the running game early. They had a big game after last week.
Cornerback Andrew Pace:
On UGA quarterback D.J. Shockley
He’s an elusive player. He was able to move around and makes plays happen.
On the game overall:
We expected to win this game and we felt confident. If we played to the best of our ability we could have. There are still four games left and we’re looking forward to them.
Quarterback Jay Cutler:
On the blocked punt:
It was big. We got a little momentum going then went 3-and out and it got blocked. We have to go to South Carolina now and move on.
On his receivers:
They’ve been doing well all year. I know Marlon and I know he’s hurting. But I’m going to keep going to him.
Georgia Head Coach Mark Richt
(On if Vanderbilt was the best offensive team they’ve played yet:)
They executed better than any team we’ve played so far. (Jay) Cutler is a great quarterback. I think he’s going to be one heck of a pro. I felt that way coming in and I was even more impressed when the game was over. He’s a very accurate passer, very tough, can run the ball, has good size — he’s just a heck of a player and he manages the game well. I think he’s going to be a first day draft pick.
(On the offense taking command after first quarter:)
Offensively, as soon as the second quarter began, I think we scored on three, four, or maybe even five drives in a row, and that was good. (D.J.) Shockley really made some good plays down in that red zone area, and there were some tremendous catches also.
I’m really proud of how the offense came to play because it was one of those games where if we don’t put some points on the board every chance we get, it would have been a lot tighter than it was.
(On the play of the defense:)
We had some great play by Quentin Moses again with a couple sacks, and Jarvis (Jackson) went in there and got a sack and nine tackles. Danny Verdun Wheeler made some plays and Tim Jennings had a big day. The defense did well, but the problem is right now we’ve got those interior linemen beat up with Gerald Anderson and Kedric (Golston) beat up. Tony Taylor is banged up pretty good. I don’t know if Jarvis got banged up there at the end, I couldn’t tell for sure. We’ve just got to get healthy hopefully, but it doesn’t look like any of these guys are going to come back real quick.
(On the status of Kedric Golston:)
I don’t think he’ll play this week coming up, for sure. He hurt his elbow — it’s no type of a career-ending injury, I don’t even think it’s season-ending, it’s probably a lot like what Tony Taylor’s dealing with right now — maybe a two to three week situation.
(On the keys to the game:)
One of the keys to me offensively was when Shockley sort of settled down and really began to play well. The first couple of series I thought he struggled a little bit with his accuracy. On that one drive, I (called throwing plays) three times in a row just to get him going and thankfully on third-and-long he hit Kenneth Harris on that corner route, and I think that got him going.
Georgia Cornerback DeMario Minter
Opening Statement
Vanderbilt played a great game overall. (Vanderbilt quarterback) Jay Cutler was great tonight. Our defense played great. I have to give Vanderbilt a lot of credit for making this such a tough game. Any misstep we made, they caught us and took advantage of it.
On Florida losing
We try not to focus on any other game or any other team. We have our own pre-game plan and just ignore what is going on around the country in other games. We learned Florida lost to LSU the same time the fans here in the stadium did. We knew we just had to ignore that, though, and keep playing Georgia football because otherwise it wouldn’t matter that Florida lost.
On Vanderbilt’s h-back Steven Bright
He is a great athlete. We watched him on film all week and saw that he could play any position. Although he is called a halfback, he could be a full back, running back, wide receiver, or tight end. He definitely hurt us with those big plays, but we had a hard time stopping him.
Georgia Fullback Brannan Southerland
Opening Statement
The standings really are nothing. We know we have to play game-to-game and only focus on what lies at the end of next week. We cannot let ourselves get distracted by the standings. Vanderbilt came out with everything in the first quarter. We’re proud of being 6-0 now. This was a tough game.
On Vanderbilt’s performance
Vanderbilt has a great defense. They were able to shut us down in several areas. They forced (UGA quarterback) D.J. (Shockley) to roll out a lot. I also was impressed with their offense. They got more first downs than we ever expected. They wore down our defense. They were within a touchdown of winning for a long time.
Georgia Wide Receiver Bryan McClendon
Opening Statement
D.J. Shockley had a great game. You can never count him out. Even when he is scrambling, he is looking down field and usually manages to find someone open. Vanderbilt’s defense definitely created a challenge for us, but D.J. had a great game and spread the ball around which made it much harder for them.
On Florida losing
We heard Florida lost over the P.A. system in the stadium. But we knew we had to focus on the next play and not on being two games up in the standings.
On standings
We’re two games up in the SEC East with a 6-0 record. Everyone wants to be in this position and knock us off. We cannot afford to make any stumbles. We have to improve every week to maintain this position. But we’re not caught up in the standings. We focus on the next week’s game and not the BCS talk.
On Shockley’s play
We had a great game plan and great coaching along with D.J.’s mobility. If D.J. doesn’t find anything on his first read, he can move around and get another read or two. He is strong and athletic. He is a great player, and great players make great plays even when they look like they are going down.
On his touchdown
It was not a designed play at all. I saw D.J. scramble left, so I broke my route and started running left with him. He just kept looking and eventually saw me downfield.
On Georgia’s offense
The offense this year is more spread out than last year. There are so many receivers who can catch passes and get open. There are not set people who we always go to and that makes it much harder for defenses to stop us.
On Vanderbilt’s defense
Vanderbilt’s defense played really well. You can tell they are a very disciplined team. They are well-coached. Overcoming a disciplined team is hard — they wear you down.
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