Oct. 7, 2017
Vanderbilt – No. 5 Georgia Postgame Quotes
Oct. 7, 2017
Vanderbilt Stadium
Vanderbilt Head Coach Derek Mason
Opening comments:
“You have to give credit to Georgia. They’re a good football team. They’re coached well. They played well. They broke tackles. For us, we had too many missed tackles. We gave up too many yards after the catch. We couldn’t get off the field on third down. We allowed chunk plays in the run game… You have to fight through [the adversity].”
On Vanderbilt’s defensive struggles:
“We had guys where we needed to have them… We needed to get off the field. That didn’t happen… teams like Georgia will expose who you really are if you’re not coming up with tackles.”
On Vanderbilt’s offensive production:
“We showed signs of life. I thought there were some good things with Kyle Shurmur. Ralph [Webb] ran well. Our offensive line stuck with their blocks at times and Ralph was able to make some cuts. [Still], every drive we have sputtered, so we need to be a lot better.”
On Vanderbilt’s missed tackles:
“It’s dead legs. When you have backs who are running with low pad levels, it’s about force encountering force. You have to trust your training. These guys need to work on tackling fundamentals. We didn’t have this problem earlier in the season. The idea of tackling is still just tackling.”
“I’ve got to fix it. I keep looking for things to point out… We need to make guys understand the importance of it… Some of it is an issue of physicality. Some of it is an issue of depth. We don’t have the depth we need to have, but it all comes back to finishing and getting off the field.”
On Vanderbilt’s confidence:
“It’s been hit, but it’s not eroded. We are 3-3 at the halfway point. That’s one game better than we were this time a year ago. We’ve played some tough teams, but that doesn’t excuse the way we played… If you give me the consistency, we can get a lot better… The shots have accumulated, but it’s still about getting off the field.”
On Vanderbilt’s run game showing signs of life:
“Our guys stayed on their blocks. Ralph ran hard. These guys worked on it all week. Sometimes Georgia did a good job penetrating. Other times Ralph made a cut and the guys stayed on their blocks.”
On the second half of the season:
“I’ve got to address our issues because what we’re doing isn’t working. We’re still taking it one game at a time.”
On what he told Vanderbilt punter Sam Loy:
“It’s about consistency. A lot of the time when you play good football is not when you’re high or when you’re low – it’s when you’re in the middle. That’s when you need consistency.”
Vanderbilt LB Oren Burks
On how the last three opponents have taken a toll on the defense:
“Anytime you get to this point in the season, you are a little banged up and everybody isn’t fresh but that isn’t an excuse, we have to stop the run. We have been bleeding the past couple of games and that is a testament to why we haven’t been able to get off the field. So we have to fix something, we can’t keep doing the same thing and expect a different result.”
On what they didn’t do well today against the run game:
“Just strain, we weren’t physical at the point of contact, we weren’t getting knocked back the way that we needed to. We ultimately weren’t filling gaps. Guys were just popping their head in and out between the linebackers and the front seven. We have to get that fixed. As leaders, we have to take responsibility and keep moving forward. There is a lot of ball left to play and I am confident we can bounce back.”
On dealing with the frustration in the game:
“Yeah, it is one thing that we talked about in just being in the middle. You have to let that play go and move on to the next one. The big thing is just executing consistently.”
On what the fix is when it comes to tackling:
“I think it goes back to practice and the way we are taking our tackling drills. Are we going full speed, are we thudding up through contact or just reaching out on tackles? What you do in practice shows up in the game and we just have to be better at all ends on that.”
Vanderbilt RB Ralph Webb
On how difficult it has been to get a consistent run game:
“We just have to find a way, there are no excuses. The offense needs to be better as a whole. We are leaving the defense out there too much so we have to make sure to score more points.”
On what the mood of the team is after three tough results:
“I am very confident in my team. We have to roll with it, take the bad, watch the tape, make the corrections on Monday and move forward from today’s game.
Vanderbilt QB Kyle Shurmur
On whether it is a positive that they are better than they were at this point last year:
“It is a new season and it is a new game. We are taking it one game at a time and we have always said that. Our full focus was just on today and we didn’t get the job done. I am not going to talk about grand scheme of things right now. All I know is we were fully trying to prepare for this game and we didn’t get the job done. So we are going to learn from it, we are going to move on and be fully invested in Ole Miss next week.”
On where the team confidence is following the game:
“I think we are frustrated, I don’t think we are disappointed because we know it is there. We just have to move forward. We can’t point the finger at anybody, we just have to stick together as a group because this is the time when teams crumble if you point the finger. We have to stick together, I think we have a great group of guys and I think we are going to move forward and be successful the rest of the year.”
Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart
On where the offensive line still needs to improve:
“We have to have better pass protection. We tried to throw one time and nobody blocked the 3-technique and Vanderbilt got a sack. We’re going to have to throw to win games. The offensive line got the game ball today, but that’s gone on Monday and they’ll have to get back to work.”
On RB Nick Chubb moving into second place all-time in Georgia history for rushing attempts and touchdowns:
“It’s pretty special when you talk about the company he is keeping. It says a lot about his personality and his determination to bounce back from the injury he had and still be ranked second on those lists. Nick will be the first one to tell you that he gives the credit to his offensive line.”
On the impact of having an early morning game:
“I was concerned about it and as you are any time you’re changing schedules. As a coach, I love a routine and it scared me to death having to coach this early. The biggest thing that helped was the crowd, but to have red in stands supporting us, I thought that was the most encouraging thing for our players.”
On the team’s defensive performance:
“We did not play our best defensive football game. We didn’t strike up front, we didn’t tackle well and we didn’t get off the field on third downs, but our defense needed that. They have been told by the media and everyone else that they’re the greatest thing ever. Vanderbilt came out with a good quarterback, executed well, converted third downs and we didn’t play to the standard that we’re supposed to. We can get better defensively and coach off of this performance to get their attention.”
On Nick Chubb and Sony Michel:
“I’m happy for them, because they’re the leaders of our team, they’re the leaders of the offense for sure. Those guys give sweat and blood for this university, they play on special teams, they do everything right. We can never repay them for what they have done for this university, because they came back. They give so much and they care. They didn’t come back for themselves; they did it for everyone else on the team. That is lost in college football a lot of the times – you don’t see guys who do that.
Georgia Players
Georgia RB Sony Michel
On the effectiveness of the run game:
“Coach had a great game plan today. Our line blocked their tails off. We put some balls on the ground, so that’s something we need to work on.”
On how his offensive line has developed over the course of this year:
“They’ve grown through preparation. They go out there and grind, so when they get out here it’s easier for them.”
Georgia LB Juwan Taylor
On what he told himself when he was told he was going to start:
“I told myself it’s a great opportunity and it was time to step up.”
On the performance of fellow LB Monty Rice:
“He’s a beast. He’s big and fast, so he’s going to be a really good player.”
