Nov. 7, 2015
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Howell’s Photos 
| USATSI Photos
Derek Mason, Vanderbilt Head Coach
Opening statement:
“Close ballgame, I want to give credit where credit is due. The University of Florida…they ended up playing to win. Coach McElwain’s team competed. Sixty minutes, four quarters and we found ourselves on the other side of a victory, so hat’s off to them. My football team, I thought we played extremely hard and I think these guys did a great job of staying in there, hanging in there, working hard to compete through downs. We did exactly what we said we needed to do in order to stay in this ballgame. We didn’t turn the ball over, and we wanted to stay ahead of the chains. We just didn’t make enough dynamic plays in the passing game, and that’s what this game came down to. We look at it, everybody will dissect it, call it what it is, but I believe our football team is just as good as the University of Florida and we aren’t going to back down from anybody. We are going to play football the Vanderbilt way. When this team grows up, you will be excited about what’s happening down there in the West End.”
On Tommy Openshaw’s last punt:
“I just think, when I looked at it he missed it. He missed the punt. We aren’t going to excuse it, we aren’t going to try to explain it. He just missed the punt. His punts earlier had been pretty good. He had done a good job all day. For the most part, he placed the ball where it needed to go, it was just an inopportune punt, a short field. Defensively, we should have done a better job of getting these guys off of the field a little earlier. They got that one good kick, and it meant that we had the ball and that would have run out the game. But, it didn’t work out that way.”
On Johnny McCrary’s passing ability:
“I believe he is [a better passer than what he showed]. I saw Johnny made some throws. I saw some guys needed to make plays. The quarterback position has a lot of eyes on them at all times, everybody wants to point the finger at the quarterback, but everybody’s got to make plays. Remember, football is not a one-man game it is an 11-man game. From protection, to running routes, to being able to pass protect. There is more to it than the passing game than just the quarterback position itself. I thought Johnny handled himself well. He didn’t turn the ball over, which is what we needed to stay in this ballgame. And, like I told our football team, if we don’t turn the ball over, we can play with any football team in the country. We will just see where we go from here.”
Vanderbilt Redshirt Sophomore Running Back Ralph Webb
On how it feels playing his best SEC game in his hometown:
“It is a team thing. It felt good, but at the end of the day, we didn’t get the win, so it doesn’t mean that much to me. Just focused on getting better.”
On the open hole he had to his touchdown if he thought that he was going to get caught:
“No, not a chance. I definitely didn’t think I was going to get caught. Thanks to the whole line for doing a great job of getting push. They got movement and the hole was so big I just ran to the end zone as fast as I could.”
On was it hard for the Commodores to rev up the passing game when they ran the ball so much:
“It was very tough out there. We just have to get it going. We have to find a way to execute. We have to go back to the drawing board on Sunday and just a find to get it done.”
Vanderbilt Redshirt Sophomore Linebacker Landon Stokes
On how the Gators had six turnovers all year but Vanderbilt got four today, what was the Vanderbilt defense doing so well?:
“I would just say preparation. We have been preparing all week. The defense has been working hard so it just kind of showed up.”
On Coach saying that the Commodores needed that last knockout punch, what could have been done to win?
“It is hard to say. Just got to keep working, can’t think about that too much. Just have to move on, you know. Just keep on working.”
On how close this team is to where it needs to be…
“Really close. Like I said, we are preparing every week. Younger guys are working harder and older guys becoming leaders. So, we are getting really close.”
Vanderbilt Sophomore Linebacker Zach Cunningham
On Vanderbilt’s final punt going only 12 yards…
“I wasn’t paying much attention to that. I was just thinking about going out there on the field and getting that stopped. Getting the offense down the field so we could win.”
Jim McElwain, Florida Head Coach
Opening Statement:
“I would just like to thank our side, the Gator fans that hung in there until the end that made it so hard for them to finish what they had been doing. I think the energy today in the stadium was outstanding and they had a lot to do with our success.
Obviously, we have a long ways to go on our offense. Don’t take anything away from what they did on defense, they took it to us upfront. They didn’t do anything to us that we didn’t see, other than beat us to the punch. When you are on a championship run, let’s call it what it is, we are on a championship run. Sometimes there are games like this and champions figure out ways to win them and these guys are the SEC East champs.
They figured out a way to win and I can’t tell you how proud I am of those players. And, I can’t tell you how excited I am for Gators everywhere as we keep moving forward on this journey. We can talk and talk and talk about all of the mistakes, the what ifs, the whys, but, at the end of the day, there was a group of guys in that locker room that gave everything they had for this University and the state of Florida to win that ballgame.
I tell you what, that tells you something about who they are and I can’t tell you how proud I am of them. Wow, that was something else. My hat’s off to Derek (Mason) and they are doing a heck of a job and, as I told him, I am not sure we deserved to win and yet our guys found out a way to win. I will stress it again, sometimes you have to figure things out and our guys figured it out and that’s a heck of a deal.”
On the Gators’ field-goal unit this afternoon:
“You mean how screwed up it is? Here is what we did: we knew that the dentist (Neil MacInnes) was going to kick short field goals, anything from 15-20 yards and Austin (Hardin) was going to kick long field goals. He’s got a stronger leg and he just went and did his job.”
When did the team buy into being a championship contender after struggling the last two seasons?
“Maybe that is a question for them. I know this: they were hungry when we got here again and we’re just real honest with each other as far as what it takes to really be successful. What it takes is an organization to be successful. Now, this isn’t just about these players. We got a ways to go as a total organization with everybody that is involved in Gator athletics and Gator football that touches the desk of a football coach. We have to think above and beyond where maybe we are just okay with things and our guys have done that and we are going to continue to do that. We are going to push; we are going to push every single day. These guys were excited in the locker room, yet very tempered because they know there is a lot of unfinished business and that was good to see.”
Florida RS-Junior Defensive Lineman Alex McCalister
On the long final possession:
“Oh man, that was a long possession (laughs). I was definitely nervous. I was like ‘we gotta make a big play, we gotta stop these boys’. We kept fighting, Coach Mac (McElwain) always prepares us the right way to always keep fighting, so, that was definitely big.”
On what was going through his mind when Austin Hardin came in to kick the go ahead field goal:
“I think I had a towel over my head, I was praying. I knew he (Austin Hardin) was going to make it, that’s my boy, but I was like ‘yo, he gotta make this’. That was nerve wracking.”
Florida Sophomore Quarterback Treon Harris
On Florida’s performance:
“Well you know, we practice every day to handle situations for this game like that, and we just fought every play and played the next down.”
On how a close game like that is valuable for the team:
“We just fought through adversity and, like I said, we took every play as a new down and played fast and played smart with the ball and we needed a game like that, you know, the guys woke up and let the guys know that anything could happen, but we saw that we could fight and make a way to win a game.”