Sept. 11, 2010
Recap | Box Score | Notes | AP Photo Gallery 
Vanderbilt head coach Robbie Caldwell
On the game:
“Thank you for coming. Rough night. We got out-physical(led) up front, offensively, and I was very disappointed. I know we’ve got some inexperienced guys, up there but I didn’t think we’d get hit, out-physical(led) quite that much. My hat’s off to them. Defensively, we played well. We left them on the field too long. They did a great job, held them under 400 yards offense.
“Part of it was field position. We had to take a few chances. We were proud of their effort. Offensively, we’ve got to go back to the drawing board, and find something our people are capable of doing. Hat’s off to LSU. They kicked us. They out-manned us. That’s where we stand right now.”
On what made them so tough to block tonight:
“They’re very good. #92 (Drake Nevis) is one of the better players in the league, and he whipped us. Bottom line. Ain’t no secret.”
How do you approach the offensively line:
“We’ve got to do different schemes. We’ve got to make sure we get double teams. We’ve got to slide and protect. We went into the game thinking we could do what we did last year, because we had a chance to beat them down there last year. Rightfully so. I can understand why the offensive staff and I, starts with me ,thought that, but we got fooled. They kicked our butt. Did everything pretty simple. They kicked us.”
On the pressure on Larry Smith tonight:
“Yes, they did (put a lot of pressure on Larry). I couldn’t see the sacks, they are not listed on (the stat sheet). I was curious, because I knew they got to us quite a bit. They took us out of field goal situations We probably would’ve faked one there. We had a good little scheme, you take a sack and now you’re out of field goal range.
“We’ve got to learn to get rid of the ball, but sometimes it’s hard when they’re all over you before you get a chance to move.”
Vanderbilt Players
Vanderbilt Linebacker John Stokes
On Stevan Ridley: “He’s super fast. That’s pretty much the deal on him. They find a lot of unique ways to get him the ball. We kind of got him under control in the second half. He’s a great player and we didn’t do a good enough job of stopping him.”
On fourth quarter fatigue:
“I think that fatigue played into it. We felt that we had a great plan and we could stop them but they wore us down a little bit. We were making mistakes and things weren’t going right. We’re going to have to watch film and fix our mistakes and just get back out there.”
Vanderbilt Defensive End Tim Fugger
On his deflected pass:
“The running back came out on a pass and tried to cut me. I got my hands down and saw the ball come out and reacted quick enough to get my hands on it.”
On adjusting to the running game:
“We went into half time and made some adjustments coming out. Coach [Jamie] Bryant made some good adjustments and made some checks. We were able to get into the backfield and slow them down in the second half.”
Vanderbilt Center Joey Bailey
On the LSU defensive front:
“They were exactly what we thought they would be. They were big and strong and fast and quick. As an offensive line we didn’t execute. We didn’t maintain blocks and we didn’t engage together. We were just going the wrong way. Tonight’s loss is all on us, we let the offense down tonight.”
On LSU’s toughness:
“They were big and strong and fast and well coached. They play their schemes well. I don’t think it was LSU being as good as they are – which they are. They are very talented – but as an offensive line we didn’t do our assignments and let too many people through and didn’t give Larry [Smith] time and didn’t open up lanes for our running backs. We just let our team down.”
LSU Head Coach Les Miles
On the game:
“It’s just the simple mistakes that were made that we can’t make. We’ll get them fixed and address them. And we’ll coach yet another week toward a victory and get better. The offense got a chance late in the game and we finished. The defense was spectacular, really from the start, and really pressed the Vanderbilt offense to get first downs. I like the way that the front is so disruptive. It’s nice to have Ryan Baker back. It makes a difference to our defense to have him back; a veteran, a guy with some quicks to him. We have some work to do, but it’s nice to go on the road in this conference and win.”
On wearing down the VU defense:
“I think it’s defeating when you can’t get first downs, and the opponent can rush the ball at will. And then we got the ball on short field a couple times and we pushed it in there, which is what we should do.”
On the quarterback situation:
“We’re going to continue to evaluate our quarterback situation, and frankly we’re going to expect more out of the position. I think both those guys can give it to us. I think (Jordan) Jefferson definitely can, and we’re going to encourage (Jarrett) Lee because he’s a guy who’s going to have to win games for us as we go forward.”
On defensive front:
“Drake Nevis, along with some of the other guys, is really disruptive. It’s really difficult to snap it to the quarterback. It’s tough to have the continuity in blocking schemes. The quickness off of the edge with Sam (Montgomery) and Kendrick Adams, and those guys; it’s a very healthy situation. A lot of guys played. A lot of guys played fast, and played well.”
On Ridley and the running backs:
“I’m glad that Ridley came back and ran hard after turning the ball over twice the week before. He just put it to himself and that’s just what he needed to do. There are some good players. With each carry, and each experience in games, these guys are starting to come to life, and we’re looking forward to watching it develop. He (Ridley) needed to run like he did today, and we need to run better. He knows that. If he continues to run like this, that’s good news. If he doesn’t, then we’re going to find someone that can run the football, and carry it for us.”
LSU Players
Running Back Stevan Ridley
On the fumbles last week:
“I put full blame on myself last week for those fumbles. The offensive line was doing a great job, they opened up a lot of holes last week and this week.”
On the determination in your effort:
“I just went out there and played football. It’s the same thing I did last week and last week I just came in onto the bad end of the deal. That was careless so I had to come back out this week and prove myself to the team and to the coaches. I know the work isn’t done, I still have a lot of work to do. I still have to keep rushing.”
Thoughts on last week’s game:
“I was kind of sick with myself. Last week with two fumbles, it really hurt me. It was on my heart all week. I let the team down, and I had to come out here and make a statement. I really have to thank the Lord for the talents that He gave me to come out here and do that. I have to keep pushing and going on everyday. This game is over; it’s behind me just like last week. I have to look forward to next week.”
Linebacker Kelvin Sheppard
On Vanderbilt:
“We watched the Vanderbilt team, they lost in a very tough game against Northwestern. We knew that they had ability and they had guys that could make plays. So we had to come out and have our offense ready to dominate. We told ourselves we must go out and win every ball game.”
On stopping Vanderbilt’s passing attack:
“Although we did beat North Carolina, rushing-wise in a dominant fashion, TJ Yates put up a record night on us passing the ball and that is something that we really focused on, stopping the pass. We knew we were facing a good quarterback, so that’s what we came out and did.”
On the defensive front:
“They’re dominant. We have, in my opinion, the best defensive line in the country and I’ll say that to anyone. Tonight, I can probably count on one hand the offensive linemen that came up and blocked me. Anytime, I get any sort of recognition I always give thanks to my defensive line.”
