Sept. 17, 2011
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Vanderbilt vs Ole Miss
September 17, 2011
Vanderbilt Stadium
Vanderbilt Head Coach James Franklin
Opening Comments:
“That win is for Chancellor Zeppos and Vice Chancellor Williams. That win is for our kids. That win is for our coaches and how hard we worked. That win is for our loyal fans that have showed up here for a long time looking for something to believe in. [However,] we have a long way to go. We’ve done some good things and we’re playing as a team… but we can still play better. We lost our composure at the end there a bit.”
On Whether the Win Carried More Weight Because it Was an SEC Game:
“The feelings [I’m having] aren’t because this is an SEC game. The feelings are because we’ve gotten better. It makes me feel so good to know how hard [our team] worked for the last nine months to have them have some success… They deserve it. The fans deserve it.”
“It’s a tremendous sense of pride. I know how hard they’ve worked… It means a lot to me.”
On Being Halfway to Bowl Eligibility:
“We don’t even talk about that. It’s one game at a time. Those goals are too big for us to handle… Our focus is on… preparing for next week. We’re going to focus on the things we can control.”
On the Statue of Liberty Play:
“We’re going to be aggressive on offense, defense, and special teams. We’re going to have to be creative and aggressive and put our kids in situations to be successful. Everyone has to buy into it. To get to where we need to be, we’re going to have to take some risks and take some chances.”
On Vanderbilt’s Trey Wilson:
“He played pretty well, but it’s not all about Trey Wilson. Trey Wilson has been good because the defensive line has gotten some pressure. Individual statistics are great, but it’s team football.”
On the Injury to Brandon Bardon:
“We expect him to be back next week.”
Junior Running Back Zac Stacy
On his 77 yard touchdown run:
“The offensive line did a great job opening up holes today and they did on that play in particular. Those guys do a great job getting better each week and preparing.”
On whether he expected to have the success they did on the ground:
“That’s what you watch film for. We did a great job preparing and were able to execute.”
On the offense’s success opening up the playbook:
“We have a lot of playmakers on the offense and we need to get all those guys to get the ball so that they can make their plays.”
Junior Cornerback Trey Wilson
On the interception return for a touchdown:
“I wouldn’t say it was any easy catch, but it definitely helped having the line get the pressure they did.”
On the pressure created by the defensive line:
“It’s a complementary thing. We did our job with the coverage and they put the pressure on them. Throws like that are what we look for.”
On whether he believed this start was possible three weeks ago:
“We expect to come out every week and win. With as hard as we’re working we’re going to come out and approach every game like it’s the first one.”
Senior Defensive End Tim Fugger
On the performance by the defense:
“The coaches had all the right calls and we came out with a great effort. We forced a lot of turnovers and had a lot of tackles for loss, which led to getting the win. It was a great win for us.”
On the defensive pressure:
“We’re working hard in practice and coach is calling blitzes that are very unorganized and they have no idea where we’re coming from. We’re just working hard in practice so that we can create enough turnovers to help the offense out.”
Senior Quarterback Larry Smith
On opening SEC play with a win:
“It feels good. We’re just taking things one game at a time. Ole Miss was the next game on the schedule so we had our focus on them and played well on both sides of the ball today.”
On the progress the team has made since last season:
“We try not to talk about the past at all and we just focus on 2011. We’re really excited with the position we’re in now and we’re excited for next Saturday against South Carolina.”
On Zach Stacy’s performance:
“He told me he was due for a big game and a touchdown. We really needed him today and he stepped it up.”
Ole Miss Head Coach Houston Nutt:
Opening statement:
“I’m just real disappointed in our execution, especially on offense. I thought our defense hung in really well that first half, gave us enough chances and field position to really win the first half and we could never get anything in sync; could never get anything going offensively. That’s what was frustrating. Just looked bad, looked really bad.”
Were you surprised how bad you looked today?
“Yes, after the week we had at practice, I’m really disappointed. Looked really bad. It’s a little bit of everything. Never felt that way on the sideline. Just felt not right. We just didn’t have that confidence. We didn’t make first downs, move the ball like we normally do. Just didn’t feel right. That was a first.”
What are the issues on the offensive line?
“We haven’t been playing well early on, but I thought after this week–practice, the way we went about things–I really thought we’d see a good offense today. And that’s why it’s so disappointing. I think the first interception that Zack Stoudt threw, he got hit in the back. We had him protected inside good but the back wasn’t. It’s just been like that: it’s been one guy or the other. You gotta have 11 on offense to make one play go and we’re not getting that.”
Vanderbilt went to a no-huddle a bit, did that cause problems?
“We’ve seen it before. Everyone’s doing that these days, so we expected it. But they’ve got a lot of momentum going for them.”
“They did a good job out there. Our rush was good, we’re quick, putting some pressure on them and trying to keep them out of synch. They did a good job of getting the ball out quick.”
“I’m just disappointed, very disappointed because I know we’re better than that.”
Where were the mistakes coming from?
“I think a lot of them were because of pass rush, and because we were trying to make something happen, especially in the second half. He was trying to back shoulder the last throw, to whoever was the deepest.”
What differences do you see between the Vanderbilt of last year and this year?
“They look very similar, a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of momentum right now. We always catch them right there at the top when they’re healthy and doing good.”
What was the most surprising from your play?
“Most surprising to me goes back to the offense, because I thought first half defense played well enough that we should have put points on the board, but we couldn’t get that seven.”
Brandon Bolden, Senior Running BackOn the loss:
“It’s tough. We lost, we lost big. It hurt everybody and it should. It should be almost an eye opener that we need to work harder and that’s pretty much the attitude of the team.”
On how the team can move on from the loss:
“Going back to work. Cover everything, trying to correct everything we did wrong, everything we did right try to make it even better. We got to draw it up and see what we did wrong. Like I said it’s basically putting your hard hat back on making all the corrections possible.”
Zack Stoudt, QB:
“We were pressing too hard, trying to make too much happen.”
Did you have enough time to make your throws?
“Sometimes…sometimes not…but it all starts with me”
Ja-Mes Logan, WR:
Reflecting on the loss:
“I really don’t know…I really don’t know what to say about this game, we got a lot of work to do.”
Reflecting on halftime locker room attitude:
“…We were thinking in our mind, come back out here and not let them score again and put up more points than they do.”