Sept. 4, 2015
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Vanderbilt — Western Kentucky Postgame Quotes
Sept. 3, 2015
Vanderbilt Stadium
Vanderbilt Head Coach Derek Mason
Opening Comments:
“I’d like to give credit where credit is due. Western Kentucky made plays when they needed to make plays and came out with a victory. You can’t turn the ball over twice in the red zone. We had a missed field goal opportunity and missed defensive opportunities… I thought until the end that we were going to win… I’d ask our fan base to stick around… We put pressure on [Western Kentucky quarterback Brandon] Doughty all night.”
On Big Situations:
“In order to win, you have to come up big in big situations. Western Kentucky played big in big situations.”
On whether Vanderbilt’s defense wore down:
“I don’t think we were worn down at all. I think it’s the mental part we were struggling with. This is football.”
On Vanderbilt’s failed two-point conversion:
“[Nathan Marcus] needed to run it to the end zone. Create the depth. Make it easy. It’s a great play by their kids and a missed opportunity by our kids… We just weren’t where we needed to be in [points] and [turnovers].”
On Losing:
“I don’t accept losing. I don’t believe in losing.”
On Vanderbilt Running Back Ralph Webb:
“Ralph was everywhere tonight. He was a three-dimensional back and we needed to give it to him.”
On McCrary’s Runs:
“We moved the ball, we just didn’t put it in the end zone.”‘
“There were opportunities.. You have to keep your composure. If nothing else, let’s kick a field goal… [McCrary] has a high ceiling. We need to keep working with him and staying behind him… It’s about continuing to stay the course. Everyone has a hard job, but [McCrary’s] is the toughest. He doesn’t need to go out there and be Superman.”
“The more time [in a game you have], lots of things will get better.”
On the Failed Onside Kick:
“I didn’t see [originally] if it hit his leg and he fell forward. On the replay, I saw it. The call was the call.”
QB Johnny McCrary
On his two interceptions:
“There’s stuff to improve upon. But I feel like, when you make those mistakes, you’ve got to be able to grow from them and not make those same mistakes again so we can move on and be a better team. Those two mistakes could have possibly changed the outcome of the game, so we’ll be able to grow from that and get ready for next week. Those were immature throws. Stuff you’ve just got to put in the past and get ready for the next game.”
On a vote of confidence from Coach Mason after the game:
“I’m just along for the ride. I enjoy being here with my teammates and a Coach that will backup a quarterback like me and put me in the game like that. I just want to be on the team for my teammates.”
OL Spencer Pulley
On the two interceptions:
“I think the offense had some spurts of good things but, overall, we just didn’t get it done. I appreciate Johnny sitting over here saying [the interceptions] are his fault, but they’re not his fault. We’re on the one-yard line, run it up the middle and we don’t get it in, then the next play he throws an interception. That’s as much my fault as his that we’re even throwing the ball. We didn’t have communication right. It’s the offensive line’s fault just as much as anybody else. That’s the sign of a leader that you want on your team that he can accept it, but it’s just as much our fault, or more.”
On the offense’s failure to capitalize on a strong defensive performance:
“Yeah, it’s definitely frustrating. I think you saw a lot of great things out of the defense tonight. They went out there and played hard, while we just couldn’t get it rolling. There were a couple three-and-outs there that I think really hurt our defense since they had to go right back onto the field, and Western Kentucky ended up scoring, so it’s really on the offense to be out there, keep drives going, and punch it in at the end. We just didn’t get that done tonight.”
On the loss:
“It’s obviously disappointing. Every loss hurts, as it should. We’re gonna let it hurt because we didn’t come out and do what we needed to do as an offense, and that’s on me as a leader of the offensive line and the offense. I didn’t have everybody ready to go. We’re gonna let this hurt, and then tomorrow we’re gonna come back, get ready for Georgia, work harder, get things cleaned up and do everything we can for next week.”
WR Trent Sherfield
On the offense’s confidence leading up to a final drive touchdown:
“We were very confident. At the beginning of the drive, we knew we had to punch it in down 14-6. We knew we had to go and put one in.”
On his late touchdown:
“It was very exciting. Coach always reiterates to us, just make sure when our number’s called we just have to make a play.”
On if the ball went to the playmakers:
Most definitely. Coach Ludwig is going to get any guy the ball who he feels can make plays. I feel like he did a really great job of doing that.”
S Oren Burks
On getting the offense to support the defense:
“We stay positive no matter what. We know there’s going to be adversity in the game and we just have to stay strong and stay together and that’s what we did.”
On WKU’s 65-yard run:
“It was a man open and we just dropped coverage. It was a simple mental lapse and we can’t have that. It’s unacceptable. Moving forward, we’re going to clean that up with film and look forward to Georgia…those two plays cost us the game.”
On Mason calling the defense:
“We have full faith in our coach that he’s going to call the schemes. It’s our job to do our job and execute.”
LB Darreon Herring
On solid defense for three quarters:
“You know, just have to come out in the second half and we have to do better as a team and I take full responsibility as a leader on those two touchdowns they had, those blown coverages on my end. As a leader, my teammates deserved better. I feel like they played their butt off tonight top and bottom and we just have to do better every week.”
On turning the page after losing a ‘statement game’:
“This one really hurt because we worked so hard for this Thursday night game. To come out with a loss hurts everyone, but we just have to stay positive and work for tomorrow and start game planning on UGA.”
On what he takes positively out of the game:
“It’s a learning experience for everyone. Keep the pressure down on them. We had them down in the first half. We came out in the second half and got lackadaisical. We can’t give up mental mistakes like those two touchdowns that we gave up.”
Western Kentucky Head Coach Jeff Brohm
Opening statement:
“It was a huge win for our program, a huge win for our team. I’m proud of our guys, our team fought and battled. We talked all year that we needed to try to find a way to win the second half; we were a bad second half team [last season]. We were in perfect position to try and do it tonight, being down at half time and not really doing much on offense. So for our guys to fight, especially in that way, was big for us. Anytime you can beat an SEC team on their home turf it’s huge and helps elevate Western Kentucky University. But I’m proud of our defense, and our defensive staff. I gave the game ball to coach Holt’s staff and all the defensive players. They had to listen to how they didn’t play well last year, and they fought, battled and worked hard. They studied, and I could see them getting better in practice every day. And I think for us to be a great football team, we’re going to have to be great at offense, defense and special teams. The defense covered for us today on offense and I couldn’t be happier for a team victory like that.”
On offense:
“We didn’t play well. We had some drops early on and had a little trick play that probably could have gone for a touchdown had we caught it. I think we lost some confidence and mojo. I knew they were going to be pretty good on defense, very similar to Illinois where they would have some big guys and physical up front, and take away our quick little throws; which they did. I think in the second half we hit a big play and had a good long drive to get a lead. So we did get better in the second half, but it definitely wasn’t up to par.”
On QB Brandon Doughty’s performance:
“What we’ve talked about all year long is that to be a great quarterback you have to keep doing what you do and you can’t keep letting the score force you to do things that aren’t your game… forcing you to throw up the field when it’s not open and turn the ball over. And he (Doughty) didn’t turn the ball over and that gave us a chance to win. And there were a few times I thought he passed up a few throws, especially on a roll out. But we got refocused and played hard, and he was efficient. Like we said early in the year, there’s going to be games that he isn’t going to put up the stats, but if he’s efficient and takes care of the ball then that’s what great quarterbacks do, they find a way to win. I think his performance was very good, especially in the second half.”
On goal line defense:“That’s what helped us win the game. If we don’t stop them there, that’s a different ball game. To not only stop them and tackle before they go in, but force them to throw the ball and then make interceptions. We knew that if we could stop the run, and force them to pass we’d be in better situations. But definitely when you make stops down there, that was huge and for sure helped us win the game.”
On halftime message:
“Well, it was exactly what we’ve talked about all season long and the summer… how we were a bad second half team and how we were in the situation to prove we could be a second half team. We lost a ton of big leads last year in the second half, this time we were down at half, playing very bad on offense, in an away game against an SEC team… we’ve got to find a way to win and prove that we’re a second half team. So I think we did that. I think the second half was much better overall, even though it wasn’t great. But these are the types of things when you play great teams that you’ve got to find a way to win in different ways, and I’m proud of the team to win in this fashion.”
TE Tyler Higbee
On why it took them a while to get into an offensive rhythm:
“They were a good defense. Obviously we didn’t play as up to par as we would have liked, but we got the W and came out 1 and 0. We weren’t playing up to par and we have excelled before, we know we are better than that. It was frustrating at times, and you know sometimes you just have to step up and make plays, and that is what we were lacking in the beginning of the game.”
On the Western Kentucky defense:
“Well, as a great team, if the offense isn’t working the defense has to pick them up. The defense has been hearing a lot after last year. They didn’t have the best year. But they came out and they played. They stepped up today. They performed really well. We knew it was going to happen, at the beginning of camp in the spring, we added a few guys to the defense and some young guys getting more experience, and they won this game for us today.”
QB Brandon Doughty
On the early frustrations:
“It was frustrating. We just had to stick to the game plan and really execute. We weren’t really executing. We had a lot of guys who were having their first time really getting into the fire, and against an SEC team. They had to settle down, and I think they did. We just got back to the game plan, got back to what we were doing, and it slowed down a little bit for us in the second half. ”
On the Vanderbilt defense:
“I am telling you, Coach Mason is a heck of a coach. He’s top notch. He has a lot of different schemes, throws a lot of things at you, a lot of blitzes, so you have to be ready for it. He does a really good job, and hats off to him in the first half. I thought we really toned down and executed in that second half, and it helped us out a little bit.”
LB Nick Newton
On the performance of the defense tonight:
“It was great. The defense had a lot to prove this year. You know, coming back last year a lot of people had a lot to say. You know, that it was an all offensive team but we went out and eliminated the big plays, we stopped the run and we got some turnovers.”
On coming to Western Kentucky to play on a bigger stage, how was the stage tonight:
“Yeah, it was awesome. Seeing all those people in the crowd – I’m not really used to that. So, I ran out and I was kind of, you know, beyond myself you now. I’ve never really experienced that before.”
LB Nick Holt
On defense taking it upon themselves to keep the team in the ball game:
“We didn’t think about that too much. We just go out there and do our thing. We knew our offense was going to score points. Put some points on the board. We just needed to go out there, execute, fly around, and have fun, and we had fun tonight and I think that is part of the reason we played so well. We were having a lot of fun playing together.”
On his interception in the end zone:
“Yeah, we were expecting a little play action and I just kind of saw the tight end run behind me and I could tell he was a little open and I showed off my vertical leaping abilities. Yeah, it was pretty cool to get that interception in the end zone, and it was huge to not give up any points in the red zone. We did that twice. Nick Newton had a nice pick in the end zone too. So, our red zone defense really was a game changer.”
DB Joe Brown
On making the game winning tackle on the two-point conversion:
“On the two point conversion their big tight end, he came really flat. We were in man-to-man so I just, I knew from the get go that I was going to just edge it off, and I knew he was going to throw it and I just wanted to make a big play for my team.”
