Oct. 17, 2009
Vanderbilt Head Coach Bobby Johnson
Opening comment:
“They got off to a lead and we just couldn’t keep up with them. We didn’t put pressure on them and they were able to mix in the run and the pass. On defense, they played well and put pressure on our quarterback and didn’t give him a chance to execute.”
On Jamie Graham at wide receiver:
“That’s a tough thing to do in a week. Our first thought was that we’d try to mix him in, but he started picking things up more and more. When we moved him over last year, we had more people at the wide receiver position, so we felt like we’d get him over when D.J. Moore left. Jamie will be a good wide receiver for us this year.”
On Larry Smith:
“Larry took a lot of hits. We didn’t protect him as well as we wanted to. He was running for his life out there, even when he didn’t get sacked.”
On Vanderbilt’s special teams play:
“It was poor coverage on our part. That was a killer the last time they had a big return. It’s too much to ask of your defense to go out there and not give up a field goal. It makes it tough for the defensive coaches to call a game.”
On Vanderbilt’s 3-15 conversion rate on third down:
“Our pass protection was the key problem. We couldn’t give [Larry Smith] time to pass the ball. They were getting him out of the pocket. We wanted to move Jamie [Graham] to get a big play threat at wide receiver. I don’t think Georgia respected our big play threat and they played a lot of man.”
On whether Larry Smith will remain Vanderbilt’s starting quarterback:
“Sure. It’s good to know that [Mackenzi Adams] can go out there and play well, and he did.”
Vanderbilt tight end Brandon Barden
On VU’s opening drive of the second half:
“I thought we were really going to get it going after that. We came out and everybody executed, and that is the main thing we need to start doing as a team, and you saw the result of that was a touchdown. We’ve got to get more of that going on.”
On the team’s pass protection:
“Most of the time I was running and I only pass blocked a couple of times. But most of the time when I looked back, I saw Larry (Smith) running and I know that puts him in a hard position.”
On being 2-5 overall:
“It’s tough, but we have a good group of guys. We can rollover and die right now, but it’s not going to happen. Tomorrow we’ll be in the weight room and at practice going hard every day during the week, trying to get better. We’ve got five opportunities to win against five great teams.”
Vanderbilt running back Zac Stacy
On Georgia’s special teams:
“Georgia has good special teams, and they have good athletes, so their field position just put a lot of pressure on us as an offense to score a lot of points.”
On being 2-5 overall:
“It’s definitely not where we want to be. It is just one of those things where things haven’t gone right. We just have to keep battling and keep working hard in practice.”
On his ankle:
“It is bothering me to the point where I can’t do the things that I’d been doing, so it is just one of those things that I have to keeping hammering and try to get this thing going.”
On the optimism the team felt after getting the touchdown to open the second half:
“We definitely felt it. We tried to get momentum on offense. Our offense is struggling a little bit and we just have to just keep battling and working to get this thing going.”
Vanderbilt linebacker John Stokes
On the penalty he was called for on the blocked field goal:
“That was a tough one. I just ran up and jumped for the ball and blocked it. The official told me I took too many steps before I jumped. I don’t think I landed on anybody. I learned a long time a go that the refs are right.”
On if the defense wore down in the second half:
“I’ll have to look at what happened on film. We were certainly a little banged up and they got some things going. We were trying to be more aggressive. I really don’t know exactly what happened, but we certainly didn’t stop them like I think we are capable of, or like we needed to.”
Georgia Head Coach Mark Richt
On the game:
“We’re thankful for a great victory today. I thought the team played extremely well on all facets and this was the best we’ve done at this point in a game. I’m proud of the way that they approached the game and the preparation for this game.”
On preparations for Vandy game:
“The team was emotionally ready to play this game. They were able to battle through the week of outside distractions that can take your focus off. Before the game, I liked how they prepared mentally and I felt their energy today. I’ve had weeks like this in my career, but I don’t pay attention to the outside influences. I was convinced that the best thing for us to do was to put blinders on and put on a good performance today for Georgia football.”
On play of running backs:
“I thought that Washaun (Ealey) ran the ball well in the second half. He’s still a young back and improving. All of the backs ran well today and protected well against the blitzes by Vandy’s defense.”
On playing with a lead:
“It was big for us to get three points at the end of the half, but to Vanderbilt’s credit, they came out with a fire to start the second half but we were able to settle in and control the game the rest of the way. Towards the end, we wanted to get some young players in and let them play.”
On A.J. Green:
“I want to look at the tape again to see his touchdown. Good thing happen for us when we get the ball to him.”
Georgia quarterback Joe Cox
On the running game:
“I’m glad we stuck with it and as you can see, it wears people down. It didn’t do a lot at first but if you keep driving the ball, it opens up play-action and then you’ll starting getting big runs and that’s how you put teams away. We needed a good run game today. It wasn’t our best day running the ball, but it was effective when it needed to be, especially at the end when we had the drive where we only threw the ball one time. It put 7 points on the board and took a lot of time off the clock.”
On importance of having something good happen:
“It’s huge. I don’t want to know what it would have been like if we came out and lost three games in a row and then had an off week to think about it. We know we still have a lot of tough games left and luckily we’re getting a break and luckily we ended our seven game streak on a good note. We can go into the break, get refreshed, and get ready for the next team.”
Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green
On putting together a good performance with rivalry game coming up: “It felt good coming into the game and going into the bye-week with a win. We have nothing to lose. Going into the Florida game, we’re just going to walk in, play hard, and see what happens.”
On his career-long reception:
“I just do what I’m supposed to do whenever my number is called. I don’t really focus on things like that.”
Georgia cornerback Prince Miller
On red-zone interception:
“Well, you would like to see the guys throw it into the end-zone, but we have to just go back out and play defense and keep driving”
On watching team get first touchdown:
“I was happy. I do all I can to get my team good field position. Coach worked us hard and it paid off.”