Sept. 8, 2015
Mason | Williamson | Sims & Bernstein | Gameday Central | Game Notes
Head coach Derek Mason, safety Andrew Williamson, specialist Darrius Sims and offensive lineman Jake Bernstein met the media Tuesday to discuss Vanderbilt’s next game against Georgia. The Commodores’ Southeastern Conference opener is set for Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT at Vanderbilt Stadium.
Vanderbilt Coach Derek Mason
Opening statement on Georgia:“We’re excited about the opportunity to play Georgia. Our football team is coming off a tough loss to Western Kentucky, but excited about where these guys are. This football team showed a lot of promise. We had some opportunities. We have to be opportunistic. Talking to our guys, they understand what is in front of them – and that is the most important thing. We’ve made the corrections. We’ve talked about we need to do to be better. Now it is just about the work. We’ve had two great days of work, and this football team is excited about taking on a Top 10 team.”
“When you talk about Georgia, you talk about a well coached Georgia team with Coach (Mark) Richt. Extremely good coach. Good man, good coach with good players. They have maybe the best trio of running backs in the country in terms of what they do, how they play. Quartback Greyson Lambert played, along with the backup quarterback (Brice Ramsey) who was good as well. I like their skill on both sides of the ball. Well-coached defense, extremely gifted offense, good on special teams. But, again, I feel like our football team played a good Western Kentucky team, and now what we have to do is turn our focus toward Georgia and let’s get ready to play a great game.”
How many corrections to make before Georgia game?
“Enough corrections for us to clean it up. We want (to force) turnovers. We want touchdowns. We are always going to strive to be better and work toward the things that make us better.”
On the play of the offensive line:
“I thought they played well. When you look at our offense, our offense moved the ball. Other than that putting it in the end zone, scoring in the red zone, they played well. They kept Johnny (McCrary) upright. Johnny had some opportunities.”
On whether the success as a defense against Western Kentucky’s passing offense translates to playing against a run-heavy Georgia team:
“Two totally different animals. You’re talking about a (Georgia) team who is built to run, can throw the football. The run sets up the pass. I said last week and I’ll say it every week, we have to continue to work hard to stop the run. You got to make teams one dimensional or as one dimensional as you can make them. For us this week, it is a great challenge. We welcome the challenge. This defense is going to work to get better. We’re challenged with again playing one of the top offenses in the country. It is going to be a great test for us. I’m excited. Our guys are excited. We’ve had two great days of practice so let’s go.”
On Darrius Sims taking an increased role on the offense:
“Darrius has done a good job, I believe, of the opportunities that are there for him. We’re going to get him touches whenever we can. But, with that, we’re going to stick to our game plan, continue to make sure we move the ball around. Find ways to get guys like Darrius, Trent (Sherfield) and those guys the football and we are going to keep this thing moving forward.”
Nine receivers caught passes against Western Kentucky, what does that say about quarterback Johnny McCrary’s ability to see the whole field and understand the offense at this point?
“We had nine different guys touch the ball. That’s what you are looking for. You’re looking for spacing, just in terms of number of touches. You’re looking for his ability to make sure he gets the ball to the open guy. For us, that means that we are moving the chain. You just have to continue to allow Johnny to be accurate, to be consistent and get him in the flow of the game. I thought toward the end of the game, you saw some nice things from him. You just got to continue to keep moving the ball around, get it to our playmakers and find ways to manufacture points.”
Wide Receiver Darrius Sims
On how close the team is to where they want to be:
“Looking back to last game, I think we are in pretty good shape. Last game we had a few mishaps that we fixed. I’m really confident and looking forward to Georgia.”
On McCrary’s demeanor during the game:
“Johnny is a tremendous player. Johnny is the type of cat that doesn’t let one mistake judge his game. He is going to keep playing. Even after the balls that he did throw that were picked off, he just kept playing.”
Offensive Guard Jake Bernstein
On the offensive line against WKU:
“Coach Lightner gave us a pretty rough score. Obviously, we wanted to control the line of scrimmage, which we did for the majority of the game. Overall, we got everything fixed that we needed to correct and we are looking forward to this week.”
On developing continuity:
“Developing relationships with the other guys on the other side of the line has been a big emphasis this offseason. We’ve all been able to build a great relationship.”
On not backing down from challenges:
“Regardless of if we are the underdog or not, we are not going to overlook any team that we see. A lot of teams are going to probably overlook us, which we want them to. That will give us more of the advantage that we are looking for. Personally, I think we have the right guys in the right places to do some damage this weekend.”
Safety Andrew Williamson
Level of confidence in coach Mason giving defensive calls:
“We feel good. I feel like our guys played fast… I thought we played well on defense and I feel like going into the next game we just have to build our confidence and continue that throughout the season.”
On balancing offence and defense:
“As you guys can see we’ve grown up so much as a team from last year, I feel like that’s pretty evident. We played really well on defense and limited what Western Kentucky’s offense could do. Our offense drove the ball down the field all night, but we just didn’t make the plays when we needed to, and we can’t have those mental lapses. To win games you need to be in it 100% throughout the game.”
Impression after reviewing game film:
“It’s tough, feeling like you played hard all night and letting something easy like that happen (60-yard gain by WKU TE). It’s tough, but we have to get better at staying focused.
On the 60-yard gain by WKU TE:
“It was just dropped coverage, a miscommunication. It goes all along the board from safeties to linebackers. We’ve just got to be better.”
On building off WKU game positively:
“It gave us the confidence we need to continue and play next week. We know that they’re going to come in and run the ball. We’re going to do what we can to go up against that and I feel like we have the guys and the schemes to do that… we just have to hustle out there and make it happen.”
On facing UGA’s offense:
“We’re going to have to bring the big boy pads, that’s what it really comes down to. But we really just have to go out there and play. They’re a top-25 team going in, and we like that challenge.”
On UGA RB Nick Chubb:
“He just breaks a lot of arm tackles. It’s going to be a big thing, just getting 11 hats on the ball and gang tackling.”
On missing out on turnovers:
“That was definitely on our defense… we just need to be more proactive. An offense isn’t going to give turnovers. A lot of times when it comes down to getting turnovers it’s a defense taking advantage of a mishap like a bad throw. But ultimately it just really comes down to the defense forcing or taking the ball away.”
On UGA’s offensive line:
“They play well together. I think they’re a pretty veteran group. They play well and I think it’s just going to come down to our front and getting after them… following the scheme and playing hard.”
Reflecting on 2013 upset over UGA:
“It does weigh on my mind a little. It just reminds me a little bit more of how much you want it. You want and you like that feeling of getting an upset win over a top-ranked opponent. It just gives me more drive and adds more fuel to the fire.”