Nov. 6, 2010
Vanderbilt Head Football Coach Robbie Caldwell
Opening statement:
“Rough day at the office. We got beat in every phase: offense, defense, special teams. We got beat in every way. We couldn’t seem to catch a kickoff. It wasn’t a good start to things but tomorrow is another day and we have to get up and go to work and get ready for our next opponent. We have three teams left and an opportunity to make some things happen and hopefully we will. We have a lot of people nicked up.
“Zac Stacy is doing great. He’s getting a MRI right now and it seems to be just a concussion. He’s doing better and should be over here in about 30 minutes.”
On where the team goes from here:
“We have to go back to work, it’s all we can do. That’s what I was telling the team a minute ago. We have to bring the desire to compete and get ready to roll. We have an opportunity to come out with some victories and progress from last year.”
On the receivers dropping passes:
“We practiced it quite a bit but I don’t know. We couldn’t throw more balls than we do and we couldn’t hit them when we were open and we couldn’t protect and it was a combination of a lot of things and it starts with me.”
On the blocked punts:
“I have no clue. I know we were down to our third person in the back end and I’m sure there was some confusion. I know what happened but I don’t know why.”
On if he saw this coming:
“Shoot, no. If I did I wouldn’t tell you. I knew Florida was that good and knew they had an opportunity. They are playing some young people and got them fitted into the right slots now. They used [Trey] Burton and played fast to try and confuse us. It was very difficult. The officials did a good job today keeping things under wrap. We were able to adjust and do some things.”
On the fake field goal:
“We were supposed to score. We weren’t moving the ball very well. We have executed it probably seven times a week since we started. We didn’t get out and get to where we were supposed to be. Everything was like it should be and we had a chance to score and it should have been an easy one for us.”
On Wesley Tate:
“He ran strong and ran hard. I think he has a chance to be a great player for us. He’s a bigger back and weighs 220 pounds. I think productivity from him down the road should be pretty good.”
Punter Richard Kent
On the faked field goal:
“Well it’s always tough when what you’re trying to do doesn’t work out. We were down by seven points and Coach just thought we should go for it. I think we should have. It was a good try but it didn’t work out.”
On the blocked punts:
“I don’t think we can put that on any one guy. It’s frustrating when something like that happens. We knew they were going to be coming for it because they always do and we didn’t stop them.”
Wide Receiver Jordan Matthews
On his touchdown:
“I am just thankful for the opportunity. It was a big interception by my friend Karl (Butler) that even led to the opportunity for me to get a touchdown catch and the Coach just trusted me. It just so happened Keemo was out of bounds and I got my opportunity on the next throw and I just decided it was my time to make a play.”
On the dropped catches:
“It’s lack of concentration. I was one of the guys who had a drop too so it’s just one of those things where we have to get back to the drawing board and start catching those balls.”
On playing while down by 40 points:
“We never feel like we’re taken out of the game. If we’re ever down we just say “It’s 0-0″ and just keep playing. I’m not going to say it’s not deflating ever because we know we can play better than this.”
Quarterback Larry Smith
On his feelings about the game:
“We gave up 55 points and only scored 7 points on offense. That’s embarrassing to the Vanderbilt community as a whole.”
On whether the outcome was expected:
“I didn’t see it coming at all. We had a couple guys go down and we had to have other guys step up. We couldn’t stop them and we couldn’t score on them we just couldn’t do anything. Everything just went wrong for us.”
Florida Head Coach Urban Meyer
On the game:
“I’m very excited about the way our guys have played the last two games with the energy as a team. I think we’re finishing strong. It’s championship week in Gainesville, Florida and everyone is excited about it.”
On the team picking up momentum at the right time:
“I think it’s good. Our players are playing hard, blocked punts, big hits on defense and some explosive plays on offense. That’s kind of been the formula around here for quite a while. But more than just that, I like the chemistry of our team. You see a gelling right now.”
On not overlooking this game after an emotional game last week and a big game next week:
“I was very concerned about that. Early morning start. Our Florida guys don’t like that cold weather too much. But you have to give credit where credit is due; the leadership on this team did a really nice job today.”
John Brantley
On his first touchdown pass since the Kentucky game:
“It felt good. I mean it was a heck of a catch by Rainey. It kind of floated on me and slipped out of my hand. I’m not used to this cold weather, but it was a great catch by Rainey and all my other receivers did a great job.”
On the play of Jordan Reed:
“He’s been practicing really hard, and it showed today. He did a great job running the ball and throwing the ball. That’s what’s impressive about him, because he never warmed up his arm or anything, so for him to come out here and do that is awesome.”
On the upcoming game against South Carolina:
“It’s going to be a tough game. South Carolina’s a great team. We’re just going to have to prepare real hard in practice and Coach Meyer does a great job preparing us for big games.”
Frankie Hammond
“From special teams, to offense, to defense, as a whole we lean on each others’ backs. When defense isn’t doing so well, offense and special teams need to pick it up. That’s what makes up a good team, because when one’s down, the others pick it up. We win as a team and we lose as a team.”
On the play of Jordan Reed:
“He’s a real good quarterback. As you could see, he’s pretty hard to tackle. He can hit the holes hard, and then he can drop back and pass, and put it where it needs to be. He’s coming along as a quarterback.”
Solomon Patton
On next week’s contest against South Carolina:
“We’re going to come in and work hard tomorrow. We’re going to work hard all through the week and just try to come out next Saturday against South Carolina and win this game.”
On his catches on offense:
“That felt really good. I’ve been waiting on that chance for a while now, and finally I got it. Hopefully it pays off this next weekend for the South Carolina game.”
Terron Sanders
On the team’s play today:
“We’ve had a lot of good weeks of practice. The team’s starting to gel, and we’re starting to show the type of team we knew we could be. “
On his fumble recovery for a touchdown:
“When I picked it up, all I could think about was running as fast I could and praying that my teammates blocked for me. I had a fumble recovery in ’08 against Georgia, and I felt like I didn’t want anything to keep me from scoring this time. My teammates did a great job blocking for me, and it’s something I wanted to do before I graduated.”