Nov. 10, 2015
Mason | Herring & Williamson | Gameday Central | Game Notes
Head coach Derek Mason, linebacker Darreon Herring and safety Andrew Williamson met the media Tuesday to discuss Vanderbilt’s next game against Kentucky. The SEC matchup is scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m. CT in Nashville.
Head coach Derek Mason
Opening Statement:
“We’re back to work. It is Kentucky week. Coming off the loss to Florida, our guys are focused. We’ve been able to take a look at the film, see what we can do better offensively, defensively, special teams. These guys are ready for the challenge this week. Again, you’ve got to shake it off real fast because it is almost a sprint to Saturday in this conference. For us, we’re going to make sure we’re going to take care of the details, make sure our guys are focused and ready to play. The game plans will be good. We need more production in all three phases. I thought we did a solid job last week defensively. Offensively, we took care of the football. At special teams we need to make more plays. In doing so, this is a great opportunity for us going into the Kentucky game to be consistent, to be better and let’s take the lessons we’ve learned and apply toward this game.”
With special teams, is it more of a priority to make big plays or prevent the errant play?
“It is more about doing your job. When you talk about consistency that is what you want. We had a couple opportunities. On the big return, we saw a couple of guys get out of their lanes. That is just about doing your job and being able to fit it the way you need to fit it. What it comes down to for us that we need to make sure that we are better. That we do a better job of controlling what we can control. When it is all said and done, we will be able to minimize the damage. But we’ve got to be able to do that.”
What did having defensive end Caleb Azubike back do for your defense on Saturday against Florida?
“He did a great job. I thought Caleb played well. He brought some energy. He had a good week of practice. We missed his experience. I think any time you have a veteran guy that comes back and understands the game the way Caleb does… he brings experience and added value of being in those games and having played in those games. It was huge for us on Saturday.”
What can you try differently offensively to get a spark there?
“We’re trying a lot of things differently right now. We’ve focused on a couple of things. You’ll see them on Saturday. But I think we made a step in the right direction when you talk about taking care of the football. It all starts with taking care of the football. What you can do from there is figure out what exactly you need to do to make sure you get guys’ touches and get guys into the game. I thought we ran the ball well. But there has to be a balance between run and pass. And that balance is what will allow us to extend drives and put points on the board.”
Is running back Ralph Webb pretty effective on wearing down defenses?
“Ralph has been consistent. He has put on nine pounds. In that, what I think you see is that he has gotten stronger as games have gone on, with his ability to run. His last three games have been a nice stretch for him. He just needs to continue to do what he is doing. I think he practices hard. I think that is the bigger part of what we need all our guys to do. It is all about how you practice. How you practice is how you play. You frame it up, you tee it up and when game time comes it is no surprise in terms of how you work and what you do because you’ve already done it fast. You’ve been able to mentally absorb exactly what you need to see in order to make the cuts, do whatever you need to do.”
Linebacker Darreon Herring
On having the same success on defense as Coach Mason’s teams did at Stanford:
“I’m not too sure about the personnel Stanford had when Coach Mason was there, but just going off the personnel that we have here, I think we are a pretty young defense that’s grasping the concepts. The older guys are kind of pulling the younger guys towards us. I know last season was our first season learning the defense, so we definitely had some nooks and crannies in that. This year, we definitely picked it up a lot more. The older guys have picked it up more and we are just focused on helping the young guys out because I know they are the future of the program and it is really important to get them some experience and learning objectives.”
On what the defense looked at after the Florida game:
“We kind of focused on everything. That last field goal drive that they had… we definitely think about that. We should have stopped them closer to the 50 and not allowed them that last first down to get into field goal range. We also look at the positives and the takeaways that we got, the number of QB pressures and sacks that we got. They are all learning lessons for us to go into the week.”
On what the defense missed with Caleb Azubike being injured:
“Caleb is a good athlete and we missed him out there. He came out in the Florida game and played well. Even when he wasn’t there, young guys stepped up to the plate and we really didn’t miss a beat.”
On the team struggling to get wins:
“We are a team. At the end of the day, the coaches always talk about us being a team and sticking together. Sometimes it gets frustrating, but at the end of the day, we can’t do anything about it. We have to go out as a team, figure out what the problem is and fix it as a whole. We can’t look at the offense, or the offense can’t look at the defense to try and figure out what is wrong. We all have to go out together and see what the problem is and fix it every day at practice.”
On bowl eligibility:
“Definitely. We talked about it. We are only guaranteed three more games, but we are trying to make it a guaranteed fourth. We are focusing on Kentucky this week, but at the end of the day it is in the back of our minds that we need to win out to go to a bowl game this year.”
Safety Andrew Williamson
On Veteran’s Day, given his family’s military service:
“Every time Veteran’s Day comes along, it’s just extra influence. We just appreciate their service. It is a day to reflect upon what people in the military have sacrificed so that we can live our lives in America.”
On the change in mindset when having to defend against a short field:
“I feel like we go out there with the same mentality, whether they have to drive 80 yards or five or 10 yards. Our job is to keep them out of the end zone. When we go out there, that is what we want to do and that is everybody’s mentality.”
On how they make it difficult on opposing offenses:
“Guys just executing the defense. Everybody is doing their job, worrying about what they need to do. The scheme, it talks. When we do that, we can get off the field on third down. The defense works, as you can see.”
On noticing when a ball carrier doesn’t have a firm grasp of the football:
“You definitely can. You can tell when guys are a little careless with the ball. It just comes down to guys just making the extra effort, really swiping at it and just being real attentive to take advantage of that.”
On how turnovers can come in cycles:
“It kind of makes a little snowball effect. When you get one, they start coming in.”
On what the defense did to confuse Florida’s QB:
“We really just sent a lot of pressure on him, tried to keep him uncomfortable. We didn’t let him stay in the pocket at all. He was not able to get comfortable at all. Just forcing him to make decisions quick and not allowing him to get the ball off… it just worked real well for us.”