Sept. 15, 2012
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Russell’s Photos 
| AP | Howell’s Photos | Green’s Photos
Vanderbilt 58, Presbyterian 0
Vanderbilt Stadium
September 15, 2012
Attendance: 35,491
Vanderbilt Head Coach James Franklin
Opening comments:
“This was a great win for us. We are 1-0 this week. We’re undefeated in the 2012 season that started today.”
“[Presbyterian] had a game plan coming in where they came out in a wishbone. For those types of offenses, it takes a few weeks to prepare [defensively]. Our defense handled it well.”
“Any time you can have 400 yards rushing and over 600 yards overall is a good thing. Our QB played efficiently… He spread the ball around to four different guys and was overall very good.”
“I appreciate the fans today who stayed until the game was over and sang the alma mater with us.”
On Vanderbilt quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels:
“Like every other position, we compete. After the first couple of weeks, we felt we needed to look at some things… We decided [to make a change at quarterback] early in the week. It wasn’t finalized until later in the week.”
“He threw for a decent percentage. We didn’t turn the ball over. There are still things opportunistically we need to clean up. We made the throws we should have made… Other things will come with reps.”
On Vanderbilt’s rushing attack:
“Being able to run the ball takes pressure off any quarterback. If you can run the ball, it’ll help us all season long.”
On Vanderbilt running back Brian Kimbrow:
“Brian made plays. There are still times in short yardage situations that I’d like him to run with a short yardage mentality.”
On Vanderbilt’s defense pitching a shutout:
“Shutouts are always the goal… We want to keep points off the board and get turnovers. What I liked was getting other guys in the game and getting realistic reps.”
On who will start at quarterback at Georgia next week:
“We’ll see how this week goes. If after looking at the tape, if Austyn gives us a better chance to beat Georgia, then we’ll make that decision. Nothing is set in stone yet.”
On Vanderbilt’s offensive line:
“What we did was play together. I don’t care who you play – when you rush for 400 yards, it’s pretty good. It gives us something to build on for the future.”
Vanderbilt Players
Vanderbilt DB Trey Wilson
On interception:
“I saw them throw at the tight end, so I put my foot in the ground and made a play on the ball. He was on top of me when I caught it, so I shook loose of him… Walker [May] blocked the running back and I knew the quarterback wouldn’t catch me.”
On playing Presbyterian:
“We don’t treat any opponent with less respect than any other opponent. We go into the game and everybody is going show up to win… nobody puts their shoulder pads on to lose a football game. We treat them with the same respect as an SEC opponent.”
On getting results:
“We had a great week of practice. Like Coach Franklin said earlier today, this is our brand of football. We played our brand of football today… and the results will speak for themselves.”
On differences on the field this week:
“Renewed focus. The whole tempo in practice this week was turned up to a level it hadn’t been in the past. Especially coming off the first game–it was a tough loss, and the second we didn’t play our brand of football. We got in this week, renewed our focus, got everything where it needed to be, played our brand of football, and the numbers speak for themselves.”
On his attitude towards upcoming Georgia game:
“I’m not a big shouter. I don’t do too much rah-rah-rah. My rah-rah-rah is in what I do between the lines. People are going to talk, I just show up and play.
Vanderbilt DE Johnell Thomas
On the shutout:
“To get a shutout the way we did is definitely a stepping stone for us. We’re one-and-zero for this week. Our season started today.”
On preparing for next game:
“This is motivation for our next game. We’re going into the next game with a good head on our shoulders.”
On adjusting to wing-t from spread offense:
“Really what it comes down to is playing football. You prepared for a certain type of offense, they come out and don’t run that type of offense that you prepared for, but when it’s all said and done you just come out, buckle your chinstrap and you play. That’s exactly what we did… We strapped up and played, and it turned out to be success.”
On preparing for Georgia:
“I see it as unfinished business. We’re going to prepare this game like we would prepare any other game. We’re going to come out with high intensity, high expectations and no fear. We’re going to make this week of practice the best week of practice yet. That’s our goal every week.”
Vanderbilt RB Zac Stacy
On first long TD run of the game:
“It is easy when you have those offensive lineman pushing those guys 10 yards back. Today we took initiative on our part as an offense to say `hey, we are going to win the game’. We did a great job of executing, not only in the running game but also opened the passing game up a little bit. Hopefully we can continue that momentum and keep it rolling for the rest of the season.”
On the offensive Line making big strides today:
“It goes back to what I was saying earlier. The offensive line did a great job today as I said. It is easier when all 11 guys are executing on offense and it makes it a whole lot easier scoring. We are going to continue that momentum and keep executing, and the rest will fall into place.”
On Warren Norman getting into the end zone:
“Everybody was excited for him and for him to get back out there. He is going to continue working week in and week out. Hopefully he can continue to make a big contribution for us on offense.”
On coming out of the game when he is having a big game:
“I am a team person type guy, whether I get two carries a game or 50, as long as we get the win. The team comes first at all time and the win is more important than stats.”
On how big his eyes got on the first carry:
“They got pretty big and I was looking at the jumbotron a little bit. My mentality each time I get the ball is to score. Take advantage of each opportunity when I have the ball in my hands.”
On four different RB scoring touchdowns:
“I am always competing. Coach Franklin says that there are no starting spots on this team and you have to continue to work each and every day. I come to practice every week with the mentality that I have to earn the job regardless of what the situation is. It is good to have those guys because guys are fresh with the rotation system that we have. Guys are always ready to go and it helps out with injuries as well and it is good to have those guys.”
On how Carta-Samuels did in the huddle today:
“Some of the things you saw from Austyn today were some of the things that you saw in practice. Austyn did a very good job for us today.”
Vanderbilt OL Josh Jelesky
On cleaning up the little things on the offensive line:
“I think we definitely improve from the last couple of weeks, and that is what we are going to try and do every week, is to get better and better. I don’t think it was just us, I think the receivers blocked well and as an offensive we were all hitting our marks and doing what we were suppose too top to bottom. “
On center position being filled in by Joe Townsend:
“I think he did great. I mean we will watch the film but I can’t remember any time there was an issue, and I feel pretty comfortable going forward with whoever it is.”
On the change at quarterback:
“Both him and Jordan [Rodgers] do a wonderful job and they are both great quarterbacks so whoever is in there. We are going to block our butts off for whoever is out there.”
Vanderbilt WR Chris Boyd
On the change at quarterback:
“When we play team ball like we did today everything is going to be open. When you rush the ball as well as we rushed today, the passing game gets open and the offense just moves and we are going to continue to do that. That is a reflection of how we practiced this week as well.”
On Carta-Samuels’ performance:
“He played well. We believe in him and he did a good job. On offense when we are all hitting on all cylinders, we are a real good team and we are hard to stop. We rushed the ball really well, which opened up the passing game. The offense as a whole did really well and as long as we do what we are suppose to do we will be alright and be a hard team to stop.'”
On the Georgia game rivalry dating back to last year:
“Every week we try to have a great week of practice and prepare for our opponent. Georgia is next on our schedule and we are going to go after it this week and we are going to practice real well. We have to do what we can do and execute on offense. Our defense will do a great job and obviously Georgia is a great team and it is going to be a dog fight, but we are excited about it and cant wait to go to Athens.”
Presbyterian Head Coach Harold Nichols
Opening Statement:
“I have to give Vanderbilt credit because they are an awful good football team, and we knew it coming in. It was hard trying to find an advantage when looking to attack them on defense. We were outplayed to a certain degree. Some of it is Vanderbilt and I think a lot of it is that we didn’t play particularly well. We played a little bit better last week against Georgia Tech than we did today. (Vanderbilt) has an awful good plan on offense. They came out and ran the football and we had a hard time stopping it. The quarterback (Austyn Carta-Samuels) didn’t make any mistakes; he made some throws on third down to continue drives for them. We were awful on third down and couldn’t string together some first downs. That’s an SEC football team and they are really, really good. Hopefully we can take some things and learn from it and get ready for next week.”
On the interception returned for a touchdown late in the first half:
“It was a big play and a big momentum turner. Let’s say we can punch it in right there, it was third down, best case scenario we punch it in and worst case scenario we kick a field goal and go into halftime down 20-3. It’s a whole different mindset. You go down 27-0 and they come out with all the momentum. It just totally changed the concept of the game. That was disappointing and we have to be better than that. That kid (Trey Wilson) made a great play, stayed at home and was a disciplined player. Our quarterback has to know to throw that ball away and not give them a chance.”
On if there are any positives to take away from the game:
“I think we were decent on special teams, which is important. Of course we had to punt a whole bunch. Our punt and kickoff teams got a lot of work today. We were okay considering we had our backs against the wall some, but disappointed in just about everything else.”
On the option attack being implemented this season:
“It’s something we talked about some in the offseason. I figured it would get them off-balance a little bit and it did early in the game because we were able to get some first downs. (Rob Lohr) is just an outstanding player. He’s hard to block in there. It would take about three of us to block him, so it’s hard to run the fullback up in there when you have a guy like that in there. We got some first downs out of it early, but I don’t think it is something we can hang our hat on.”
