Oct. 20, 2007
Recap | Box Score | Notes | AP Action Photos 
Vanderbilt Head Coach Bobby Johnson:
General Comments:
“I’m proud of the effort of our team. They played extremely hard and ried to execute the game plan while they were out there. We didn’t always do it, but the majority of the time we played extremely well. I thought we played extremely aggressive on defense. On offense, I thought we were efficient enough to get some points on the board.”
On his team’s play in the fourth quarter:
“We were there in the fourth quarter. Our guys were getting pretty tired, there’s no doubt about it. But our guys sucked it up and gave it a good effort, especially on the last drive. We held them to four and out, and they got the ball back for us.”
On winning a big SEC road game:
“We’ve won some big games on the road. We beat Georgia last year. We beat Arkansas and Tennessee the year before. Those wins don’t guarantee you. You have to come out and play every week.”
On his team’s defensive play:
“We were aggressive on defense. We were bringing five at least 70% every play.”
Vanderbilt Player Quotes:
Cornerback D.J. Moore:
On winning at South Carolina:
“It feels pretty good. Besides them being the #6 team in the nation, we’re trying to get to a bowl game. We haven’t done that in awhile, so it’s a big step towards it.”
On the play of the VU front seven defensively:
“They had a lot of pressure on the quarterback. They had a lot of sacks. He was on the ground a lot. He wasn’t throwing the ball, I guess, as accurately as he could.”
On his effort during the game:
“I tried to make plays and just do what Coach told me to do.”
Linebacker Patrick Benoist:
On the team’s preparation heading into the game:
“We had a great week at practice. We prepared really hard. We had a chance to stay in it. South Carolina’s a great team. We just had a great week of practice and came out here and executed well.”
South Carolina Head Coach Steve Spurrier:
General Comments:
“You have to give Vandy credit. They beat us. They played smarter than we did. It’s amazing that eight games into the season we have five false starts by the linemen.”
On third down performance:
“If we would have scored on a few chances we had, we would’ve done well. We went 1-for-12 on third downs, that’s the second straight game.”
On the defense:
“Our defense played great. They had a lot of good plays. We forced seven punts. They played well.”
On the quarterback rotation:
“Today it didn’t really matter who played quarterback. They both had their ups and downs. They both had pressure on them and this, that and the other.”
On losing to Vanderbilt:
“I’m not shocked at losing to Vandy. They’re a good team. They were obviously a lot better than us today. We knew all along that we were sort of living on the edge at 6-1. We’re not clobbering anybody, but we certainly played better against Kentucky and Mississippi State than we did today. We had our chances today. We had our chances and went backwards and couldn’t score a touchdown. It’s as simple as that.”
On Vanderbilt beating SEC opponents:
“This was a crucial one for us, but then again Vandy beat Georgia (last season). They can beat Florida. Heck they can beat anybody. We have a lot of goals that are still out there, but we have to play a lot better.”
On South Carolina’s next game at Tennessee:
“We’ll regroup and get ready to go to Knoxville. If we had to do it again, we’d try to run a lot more.”
On the offense:
“It was one of those days. We started inside the 3-yard line three or four times. We intercepted on the one-yard line and I thought we were going to have a 99-yard drive, but we kicked the field goal on that drive. We couldn’t score in the red zone. We kicked two field goals and had the interception. That hurt too.”
On his team’s attitude following the loss:
“This should not be a shock to our team. This should not be a shock. Hopefully it will straighten them out. They sure did lose to a great team.”
South Carolina Player Quotes:
Linebacker Marvin Sapp:
On the team’s defensive play:
“I was surprised that we didn’t play up to our ability. We knew they’d play well, but we can only control what we do on the field and we have to get better. I am not shocked we lost – anybody can beat anybody every week, but you have to play your hardest and not let down.
On this next game:
“This week we have to work to get better and get ready for Tennessee.”
Quarterback Chris Smelley:
On the team’s offensive play:
“We came out flat. We let Vanderbilt jump on us and we weren’t mentally ready to play. We were well prepared by the coaches – they had a great game plan – but we didn’t execute. But you have to give Vandy credit – they played well. They schemed, they blitzed. They played great on defense. They were well prepared.”
On the team’s offensive struggles:
“We still have a positive outlook and we have to get our heads straight. We couldn’t get the whole offensive team on the same page. Somebody was off all day – a lineman, a receiver, the quarterback – we couldn’t get it together. But we have to put it behind us and get ready for UT.”
On the quarterback rotation:
“Neither of us could get it going. Coach Spurrier was trying to get one of us to spark the offense and band together. We had a good week of practice. We have to get ready now, refocus and get ready for UT.”
Quarterback Blake Mitchell:
On the team’s offensive struggles:
“Things didn’t go well with the offense. We didn’t play well as a whole offense. We kept killing ourselves with penalties and bad plays. I take the responsibility as the quarterback. We have to get better as an offensive unit. Over the last few weeks I stayed ready and did the best I could.
On the quarterback rotation:
“Whatever happens – it’s the coaches decision. If he does call me to play – I will be prepared. I wish I’d played better today. We just all have to get better. It’s disappointing.”
Wide Receiver Kenny McKinley:
On the loss to Vanderbilt:
“It really hurts. Vanderbilt is an SEC team. We had some big goals coming into this game. Coach Spurrier told us some teams get better and some get worse in the middle of the season and this loss is shocking. We didn’t take them lightly, but we expected to beat Vanderbilt.”
On the defense’s performance:
“The defense played great. The special teams played pretty good. The offense has to get better. We have to stick in there. Coach Spurrier will get a plan together and put some people out there that want to play. Everybody needs to step up.”
On losing to a ranked team:
“This loss is really frustrating. They aren’t even ranked and we beat ranked teams this year. Maybe this will spur us to play better because our schedule gets tougher. We have to shake this and win out.”
Cornerback Captain Munnerlyn:
On the defense’s performance:
“We should have stepped it up a little more on defense. We could have played a lot better.”
Safety Emanuel Cook:
On the defense’s performance:
“I don’t think I played good at all, but we are a team and all we can do is come out and try harder.”