Nov. 17, 2015
Mason | Herring, Pulley & Burks | Gameday Central | Game Notes
Head coach Derek Mason, linebacker Darreon Herring, offensive lineman Spencer Pulley and safety Oren Burks met the media Tuesday to discuss Vanderbilt’s next game against Texas A&M. The Commodores’ final home contest of the season is set for Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Head Coach Derek Mason
Opening statement:
“Texas A&M week coming off a hard fought Kentucky game. I thought our guys played well. A lot of things to clean up. Just continuing to get better. These guys are working hard. We have to continue to make sure we exhaust everything there is in this football team to push forward. These guys are at the end of the season. What I talked about today with this group is November is where the real teams show up. Can’t be a pretender. Pretenders fade. People who are relevant stay relevant. We have to continue to keep working. This group is grinding right now. It is a good place for us as I look at this football team.
“This team has practiced hard and has a great opponent this week in Texas A&M. A&M is talented across the board. Kyle Murray at quarterback, now Allen behind him. You look at their running back position. They have guys with size who can run the football. In their wins, they’ve been dominant in the run game. In their losses, they’ve struggled a little bit in the run game. You look at what we did last week, we put some bad stuff on tape – in my mind. Getting back on Sunday is just being able to look at the issues, fix the issues. They have the ability with their weaponry – quarterbacks, running backs and receivers. Wide receivers Christian Kirk and Ricky Seals-Jones. Those guys can put you on ESPN real quick. The thing we have to do is stop the run, be diligent, get them behind the chains, make these guys somewhat one-dimensional.”
What can you do to prepare for Christian Kirk and the return game?
“Cover better. Kick away from him. You try to do what you can when you have a dynamic guy. I challenged our guys to cover. Let’s cover better. You start there. You start with the coverage. You try to make sure we can get it down the field and put it in the spots we need to put it in. I thought Tommy did a much better job last week of being able to do that. We’re trending in the right direction. But I’ve known Christian Kirk for a long time. I remember going to recruit him and seeing him in high school. He had seven touchdowns in 11 touches. So he has been dynamic for a long time.”
How good do you feel about quarterback Kyle Shurmur’s progress?
“I thought Kyle took some steps (against Kentucky). We still have a long way to go. We are young at that position. Still trying to get better. I was proud of the offensive line for the most part, keeping him upright. I think that is important when you have a young quarterback you have to keep him upright. He’s able to focus on the reads and not worry about the pass rush as much. I thought Kyle delivered some balls. We had the opportunity to make some plays. We left some production out there. For us, it is getting back to practicing and making sure we can execute better. I thought both Kyle and Johnny (McCrary) have done a great job the last two days. Last day was a good prep day initially, and then today they looked good on the field That is what I am looking for – an ascending football team right now.”
Is there something schematically that makes your defense that much better around the goal line?
“Everybody has a different structure to what they do. I wish I had a magic elixir or pill to give those guys. But it is like I tell those guys all the time… calls are just calls. Guys have to make it come alive. That is the deal. You have to take pride in what it looks like when you get down there. We talk about defending a blade of grass. The difference between winning and losing in football is a game of inches. These guys are really starting to understand exactly what situational football is. It wins games. You are either on the right side of it or the wrong side of it. And these guys are working hard to be on the right side of it. I think it has more to do with their mentality now. They believe in what the structure is and they’re working extremely hard to make sure they don’t give it up. Right now, they have an identity and that is an identity they want to hold onto.”
How good a cornerback is Torren McGaster right now?
“He is playing well, much like at the end of the year last year. It is taken him a while this year to get himself stable just in terms of what it looks like outside. Sometimes when you are trying to make plays and you’re fighting sometimes you can become your own worst enemy. That is the way it started out for him this year. He has worked hard to get himself back to center. He works extremely hard, watching film, practicing, understanding exactly what he needs to do at the corner position to be better. Every week he has had to take on some different challenges. He has had to play some good receivers in this conference. He is working toward the type of player we need him to be. We need him to be a No. 1 corner in this conference and what he has shown slowly but surely is that he is that guy.”
Linebacker Darreon Herring
On Texas A&M’s offense:
“This may be some of the best wide receivers we’ve faced all year as far as size wise. They really have a good quarterback who likes to run the ball a lot. He is probably one of the most mobile quarterbacks we have faced this year. They have some pretty good athletes. The offensive line is pretty big. We just have to try and contain the quarterback. They are going to run the ball on us a lot, so we have to stop that to give Oren (Burks) and them some chances in the backend to get some interceptions.”
On defending mobile quarterbacks:
“I feel like in practice, we do a lot of drills to kind of pocket the quarterback. If he is running to one side, make sure that the person who is chasing him is climbing high so he doesn’t cut back to the other side of the field.”
On defending the goal line:
“When we get down in situations like that, I think the defense gets excited about those and we just go out there with a tough mentality that they are not about to score on us. We really look forward to those opportunities and keeping them out of the end zone.”
On if part of success is due to preparation:
“Absolutely. Coaches throughout the week at practice show us their schemes and what they like to do the most. Coaches really prepare us for formation recognition to see what is coming. We set our mindset on plays because we pretty much know what is coming.”
On comfort level of defending goal line:
“We just go out with an attitude that they aren’t going to score on us.”
On Senior Day:
“The time is ticking and things you are really going to miss about being here is being with these guys every day, just the locker room, being around the coaches and playing ball with the people that you love. I definitely keep it in the back of my mind that time is winding down. Every game, I have to give these boys my all because as a team, we deserve to go to a bowl game this year. That is everybody’s mentality: to get the seniors to a bowl game.”
On how defense has progressed this year:
“I really think it is all based on last year’s defense and how we struggled a little bit with a new scheme coming in. In the offseason, Coach Mason and staff have given us the elements and tools we need to build a successful defense. Everybody is just buying into it. When an older guy gets hurt, a younger guy is stepping up into his place and we don’t miss a beat. That has built a lot of confidence for our defense going into these drives around the goal line.”
Center Spencer Pulley
On leading going into the half of the last four SEC games:
“It’s obviously a good feeling to be going into the second half with the lead, but it doesn’t really change our game plan. When things are working in your game plan, the one that you prepared for all week, you can obviously go out and do the same things. So when we go back out after halftime, we go back out like it’s zero to zero. We don’t go out like we’re winning or it’s tied or we’re losing, we just go out and do the same things we were doing.”
Closing out the game like the Commodores did against UK:
“Yeah that’s definitely how you want to end a game. We take a lot of pride as a team as being relentless, tough and intelligent and that’s how we want to finish the game. We want to be able to run the clock out and end the game with the ball in our hands.”
On being two wins away from bowl contention:
“I mean it’s definitely something that everybody knows. We’re planning on going out and winning this game against Texas A&M and next week we’ll go out and worry about winning the next game. After we win those two games we’ll go into the bowl season, but you know we’re not stressing out about what we have to do. We’re going out to win the next two games.”
On the progression of FR QB Kyle Shurmur:
“I think he’s definitely a great player. That’s the reason he steps on the field. He’s a very confident player with a lot of skill and has a lot of leadership ability and that’s what you see out on the field every week.”
On his last few games as a Commodore:
“I mean it’s impossible to not realize it’s coming. I’ve been playing football here at Vanderbilt for five years now. I know this is my last home game here, so I’m relishing every moment I have here in this building, with my teammates, with the coaches. So it’s something that’s definitely in the back of my mind and I make sure that I take advantage of every moment I have.”
On trying to get RB Ralph Webb to 1,000 yards:
“Yeah sure, why not [laughing]. You know Ralph is a great player; he’s had a great season and has been great ever since he got here. He deserves everything he gets and we’re going to go out and do everything we can to run the ball, to pass the ball, to win the game. If he gets to 1,000 yards that’d be great, but we’re just going out to win the game.”
Safety Oren Burks
On the honor of being named the SEC and Tennessee Sports Writers’ defensive player of the week:
“I mean it’s a huge honor. It’s a testament to these coaches and the players around me. It’s amazing to see how if you stick to the process good things will happen. So it’s just a blessing overall and I’m really excited.”
On CB Torren McGaster’s assist on his interception:
“First of all, I just have to give a lot of credit to him on that interception. He did a great job tipping the ball back in, I had a feeling he was going to tip it back in and it pays to run after the ball. But T-Mac (McGaster) has been great for us all year, he’s one of those players that has a certain feel and emotion about him. He’s an emotional player so he always gives it his all, so we’re really proud of what he can do on the field.”
On difficulty of defending the pass around the goal line:
“The margin for error is very small in the end zone. Also the windows are a lot smaller, so that helps out a little bit. We just need to know our keys and be sound in where our eyes are going to be, that helps us out a lot on the goal line. “
On building confidence after each goal-line stand:
“Yeah, absolutely. We just keep rolling from one stop to another. Like Darreon (Herring) was saying, we just have the mentality in the red zone that they’re not going to get into the end zone. So that’s our ultimate goal, and everyone sticks to it.”
On return game by TAMU WR Christian Kirk:
“Well he’s an explosive player, so if you give him space any explosive player is going to make plays. We’ve just got to contain him and stay in our lanes, that’s one of the things we’ve been stressing a lot in practice, especially today. Coach Mason has really been stressing the coverages.”
On simulating Kirk in practice:
“There are a couple of guys that can simulate him pretty well, but there’s nothing like game situations. So just sticking to your technique and trusting the process is going to help us out.”
On the graduating class:
“Darreron (Herring), he’s been like a big brother to me. It would be awesome to get the stands packed, the fans have been doing a great job this year, but this game really means a lot, especially to the seniors. This is a special game and we have to send them out right.”