University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt Postgame Quotes
November 24, 2001 | Football
Nov. 24, 2001
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TENNESSEE LOCKER ROOM
Tennessee Head Coach Phillip Fulmer
"Offensively, we did some good things with Donte and Casey. We have some good things to look at on film to get ready to go to Gainesville and tee it up.
"Credit the seniors for their leadership. With leadership from the seniors, we've stepped up and found ways to win this season.
"We didn't run the ball as well early as we wanted to. Give Vanderbilt credit for that. They brought a lot of people up. We wanted to set the tone in this game with a fast start. This was a game for us to go and find out if we were a contender, because last week we didn't look like one.
"The tackling today was much improved. We missed a few at the end of the game, but we did much better overall. The take aways the last several weeks have been huge. We feel a lot like a more complete football team now.
(On the Defense's Performance)
"Just like I said last week, we have to put everything together defensively. The rush has to be there, and the secondary is important, but you cannot cover everyone all over the field all of the time. Our defense carried us earlier in the year, and they've had a tough stretch, but they've showed their toughness to come back
(On Threat of Inclement Weather)
"We talked about taking the ball first, so that we would have an additional possession before the rains came. Really, though, it never really got that bad.
(On Upcoming Florida Game)
"There is plenty to worry about this week. We were able to get through this one and play a lot of people, but we have a lot of people banged up. Right now, our focus and attention is to get ready for Florida. We're looking forward to it. I think that the team has been looking forward to it for awhile. We've grown as a football team, and have been in tough, loud environments. Those experiences have been good, and we look forward to the challenge of taking it up another decibel in Gainesville. We certainly do have more experience and maturity, though, than we had at the start of the season.
(On Changing the Date of the Florida Game, to a Date Later in the Season)
"It's the Commissioner's decision. To me, it makes sense for both of us. It's been talked about more recently. But as it is, we just have to get ready for this week's game.
(On Quarterback Casey Clausen)
"I think that Casey's done an incredible job, not turning the ball over, managing the game, he's really been a solid quarterback. We want to make sure that he plays within the system, which has been beneficial for him and for us. Last year, we were more careful within the offense, but this year we've taken it to the next level. And Casey's been a real leader for the offense."
Tennessee Players
Tennessee Wide Receiver Donte Stallworth
(On his 55-yard Punt Return for a Touchdown) "Everybody blocked really well. I just hit the seam and it was open. It seemed like every cut I made, that there was someone there blocking.
"These have been the funnest times of my life. I think that we've been getting better by the week. Like Coach Fulmer says, we're going to take what teams give us."
Tennessee Placekicker Alex Walls
"Most of my opportunities came when it wasn't really raining that much. I felt comfortable today. I wasn't expecting to get that much work, as far as field goals. I was hoping to kick extra points. We made sure that we were mentally prepared, and just went out there and took it to them."
Tennessee Quarterback Casey Clausen
"We wanted to come out and put on a pretty good showing. The defense came out and played well, and the offense executed better. We started fast and made some things happen on offense. Any time I see someone one-on-one, I have confidence to get them the ball."
Tennessee Defensive End Constantin Ritzmann
"It was probably the best game I've had so far. We've got to have a good, confident attitude to go there (Florida) and fight. If you're confident about any situation, then you go out and play better. We improved in the pass rush. It's always good to have a good game before a big game."
Tennessee Defensive Tackle Albert Haynesworth
"We knew that they had a good offense, and got pressure on him (Zolman). The shutout was a great feeling for the seniors. That's going out on a good note. We could have played a lot better. We played together, but we didn't play all four quarters."
VANDERBILT LOCKER ROOM
Vanderbilt Head Coach Woody Widenhofer
"Well, this wasn't like a few of the past Tennessee-Vanderbilt games. I anticipated Tennessee coming back from last week and playing better defense. Our kids played as hard as they could play. We'll need to take out our disappointments next week against Ole Miss.
"We're so young that it's hard to read this team. We have four seniors on offense and four on defense plus the injured players. They knew that we had a couple of linemen out so they kicked it up a notch.
"We were a lot better today. In the fourth quarter, their backups were better than our backups. Stallworth has done it all year. He's a top-class receiver. Stallworth and Washington are both very good. Our top running back was suspended and our next-best running back broke his foot against Duke. We're depleted. We came to play today, and fought hard. We haven't played consistently well enough all year. It could've been a more even game in the first half. They made the fourth-and-three and had the punt return. It could have been 9-0. These are really tough times, emotional times, with these kids."
Vanderbilt Players
Vanderbilt Running Back Rodney Williams
"We had a lot of confidence coming in, but we basically just didn't get the job done. We had opportunities, but did not capitalize on them. Tennessee has a great team, and you just cannot make those kind of mistakes. We had a couple of turnovers, and that hurt us in the long run.
On Motivation for Playing Late-Season Games
"Woody is a great coach, and we the to lose him. But in turn, we know that we have to keep our focus and composure. Nobody else cares about what is going on with Vanderbilt football. As we go against these great teams week in and week out. If we lose our focus, then we will lose big. And that is our motivation."
Vanderbilt Quarterback Greg Zolman
"I think that they just wore us down. Give credit to the coaching staff for getting them prepared. Their defense played strong and their front four is as good as we have faced. We felt like if we could get to their secondary that we could make some plays, unfortunately, their pressure was just too much for us to handle. Injuries have made a huge difference, as we are playing withough eight starters. We need all of our guns firing to compete with these guys. We were doing that at the beginning of the year, as we showed that against Alabama and some of the other teams. But with all of the injuries, you start filling the holes with young guys and it shows."
