Sept. 30, 2017
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Howell’s Photos 
| USA Today Photos
Vanderbilt – Florida Postgame Notes
Sept. 30, 20167
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Vanderbilt Head Coach Derek Mason
Opening Statement
“Let’s credit Florida. This was a game of attrition. This game was won and lost in thetrenches.”
“As for our defense, we didn’t do a good enough job getting off the field. I think KyleShurmur carried the day for us offensively. He started slow but he played well. He got insync and made some great plays.”
“Our run game was decent but not great. I thought our consistency on offense to get uspoints was huge. They put us in position to win that game and when we needed adefensive stop in the 2nd half we just didn’t stop them enough.”
“We struggled on third down. We need to get better. We will go back and look at thefilm and work. Our team responded today, it wasn’t the response we wanted, which wasa win, but they did respond and came out here and competed. We got to go back andwork a little more and get better.”
On final 4th down play
“We did what we were trying to do the whole series and that was to make a negativeplay to give the ball back to our offense. We shot the gaps to get the running backdown.”
“Earlier in that series we were able to make those tackles-for-loss. We did hurt ourselvesby missing some tackles, which would have made it a fourth-and-five instead of fourthand-one. That would have forced them to punt and give the ball back to our offense.”
On change of Florida QB from Del Rio to Franks
“I don’t think that made a difference. It was more of the system we were defending. Wegave up that big pass before halftime. We understood what the play was and we haveto play above the Xs and Os and do a better job getting an interception instead ofletting the ball go behind us. Franks threw the ball well and challenged us.”
QB Kyle Shurmur
On two new guards starting
“They were awesome. They worked their tails off and gave me time. I thought theyplayed really well.”
On struggling through the first few drives
“All I know is that I need to start and I have to finish. And I didn’t do that. I wasn’t able tolead my team.”
On offense getting lopsided
“We do whatever we have to to win. It turned out today that we passed the ball a lotmore.”
On Florida pass rush
“They didn’t bring a lot of pressure, but they rushed four guys. They are very talented.Anytime you can do that it’s great defense.”
Safety LaDarius Wiley
On fourth-and-one Malik Davis TD run
“We just lost the edge. We missed a few tackles. It just comes down to finishing withexecution and we didn’t do that.”
LB Oren Burks
On defense as a whole
“We just have to get off the field. It’s a matter of us just executing and having thestrength to finish.”
Florida Head Coach Jim McElwain
Opening Statement
“That was fun. It was one of those games that our guys prepared well for. I thought Vanderbilt came back and really played hard and did some good things. They gave us some trouble obviously throwing the football. I don’t think our communication was great and yet, we figured out a way to get them stopped.”
“I think, you know, the third quarter, our defense was only out there six, seven plays. Something like that, which I thought was really good. The guys knew what they needed to do, and they went out and did it. That’s good. That’s one in the books, and now we get ready to play next week and another opportunity in the Swamp. It’s going to be a lot of fun. A lot of excitement. I know our guys are really gonna look forward to it.”
“Injury wise, Luke will be done. He will have surgery on Monday. You know he was doing a good job, butFeleipe came in and took care of business. I thought he handled it well. Obviously, that drive right before halftime was huge. He did a good job, and we’ll be ready to get him and Malik ready to roll.”
“Obviously, expanding the package with Kadarius bit-by-bit back there as well. That will be something that we continue as we look and see how he handles it and feeding it bit-by-bit as we move through the season.”
“I thought our guys ran hard. I thought the runners ran hard. The guys up front are starting to get it. There at the end, I thought we wore on them pretty good. Obviously, that last fourth down, you know, they were out of time-outs. Once we broke into the open, it’s a teachable moment. You want them to go down right there because at that time the clock situation. There was no way that they could’ve stopped the clock and we could’ve knelt on it without them ever touching the ball. And yet, those were teachable moments. We’ll get that handled.”
“Hopefully, we’re not in that situation. Hopefully, we’re just winning and not having to worry about it. But, things like that come up. Those are always fun to talk about and fun to teach from.”
“There at the end, after I saw Eddie’s attempt on the first one with the ball in the paint, and his left foot gave out, we just felt at that time that we could’ve pinned them down. We obviously didn’t have a good punt. As it is, it worked out. When he planted and it went about ten yards it wasn’t very good. But, our guys responded, and we did a pretty decent job in the red zone.”
“Let’s get ready. Let’s go enjoy this. You guys enjoy it. It’s fun to win. Then we’ll get a chance to put a plantogether and get back in the Swamp next week.”
How much do you feel for Luke? What he went through last year and to come out and do it again?
“It’s hard. I think he was the one that told you he had never been through a season on a team that only used one quarterback. So, that’s exactly right. I just feel horrible for him. The guys rallied behind Feleipe. We talked about our situation, and that’s what we’ll do moving forward.”
The running game and the offensive line, obviously that’s where you want everything to start. Is that the best you’ve seen that come together?
“Yeah, you know I think there are bits and pieces. As you guys have been up there watching, it seems like all of the sudden something will go haywire and we never can recover. I thought we recovered today. We didn’t let the negatives affect us, which is good. I think they got a little confidence the week before in that fourth quarter and kinda decided that “Yes we can” and it was good to see that.”
How nice to see red zone execution and actually getting touchdowns?
“That’s awesome and, you know, just missed the one before half, too. Great read by Feleipe. Exactly what we wanted him to do. We got a free release on the back.”
“Mark did a really good job. We had been striding, we’d probably walk in there. The good thing is, I thought we executed that with the time left on the clock where we had to take those. There weren’t any check-downs, it was touchdowns or throw aways and then we were able to convert the field goal. That was good to see Feleipe handle that.”
It seemed like Feleipe got in there fairly seamlessly. How well did he handle the news when you gave it to him last week and how was his preparation through the week?
“We talked about it all week. Obviously he was disappointed as any competitor would be. And yet, when you look at the last game, he was one of the first guys excited for the win. He handled it the way a competitor should. But better than that, the way a good teammate should. It was great to see. He knew that his time is not done by any stretch of the imagination. He had a good week of practice and he’ll come out and play well this week.”
How much do you need games like this to be able to be on film for those guys’ to build their confidence up?
“Yeah, build the confidence. I guess more than anything, a lot of it comes down to ‘Yes you can.’ It’s okay to go do that. From a mindset standpoint, I think it’s really important. Obviously, they’re gonna load the box next week with the best players there are. We’re gonna have our work cut out for us. We’ll see if we’re able to handle that.”
[In regards to Feleipe] You kinda never know where a guy’s mindset is, he’s been humbled twice. Pulled up two games out of the first three. Is that a concern?
“No, only because I know how important it is to him and I know how driven he is to be great. I think, what it does show you more than anything is not only how much he cares about his teammates, but how much his teammates care about him. That probably had a lot to do with him winning the job from the standpoint of being there all the way through Spring. What he did through camp and the summer. Those things are gonna pay dividends in the end.”
On Jordan Sherit
“I thought Jordan played within the game. Didn’t try to make too much happen. I’m sure glad he’s back and playing and healthy. He’s a real stabilizer out there for all the guys we have on the field. Its sure great to have him out there. It wasn’t our best defensive game by any stretch of the imagination. It was a team game. Our coverage units were light years ahead of where they were a week ago. Also, the interior guys were doing their job and they showed their speed. At least we had.”
