University of Tennessee Athletics
Tenessee vs. Florida Postgame Quotes
December 02, 2001 | Football
Dec. 2, 2001
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TENNESSEE LOCKER ROOM
Head Coach Phillip Fulmer
ON THE GAME...
"Obviously it was a heck of an effort by a lot of people in this football game. We've been looking forward to this game for a long time."
"We've put this game to rest. We look forward to going to Atlanta to represent the SEC East."
"Our team was determined to win, as we were last year and the year before."
"We had to make some championship plays and we did that tonight on the third and fourth downs to keep the drive alive."
ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE...
"I think they played outstanding. Florida's defensive line is great."
ON THE POINT FLUCUATION...
"We talked about the highs and lows and how they had to manage it during the game. It was a heck of an effort by a lot of people."
Tennessee Player Postgame Quotes
RUNNING BACK TRAVIS STEPHENS
"The offensive line blocked well. I just wanted to come out here and play my best and give 100 percent. I am very blessed right now."
"I wanted a year to myself to prove to people I could still do it and run well."
QUARTERBACK CASEY CLAUSEN
"That's why we play the game. We gave 110 percent. Today, we wanted it more."
"Travis ran well today and that's why he will be the best tailback in the country."
"We were hoping the defense could stop them, but the whole game we just outplayed them."
DEFENSIVE LINEMAN JOHN HENDERSON
"There was a lot of heart out there and we did it."
"It was great, I went on my knees and thanked God."
On Travis Stephens...
"A little man like that with all that heart, I love him.
On Rex Grossman...
"Yeah he was surprised, I saw it in his eyes."
FLORIDA LOCKER ROOM
HEAD COACH STEVE SPURRIER
"Tennessee deserved to win the game. They ran it down our throats pretty good. We didn't run very well. We had to kick field goals. We sort of got like them last year - they had to kick a bunch of field goals. We kicked a bunch, didn't score touchdowns."
"We didn't play well enough to win a close ball game against a good team. We didn't play well today."
"A lot of guys played their hearts out tonight. Rex hung in there - had a few bad plays here and there, but overall he played pretty well. The receivers caught just about everything thrown at them."
"Tennessee - they were a little stronger I think around the line of scrimmage, and that was the difference in the game up front. One team ran it, the other one didn't."
"I'm proud of a lot of our guys. A lot of our guys played their hearts out, but as a team we didn't play well enough to beat a real good team. Tennessee's a good team that can run the ball."
"It hurts. We knew what was on the line. I don't know what else you can say. They kicked our tails. I hope I can go watch the tapes and say they were lucky, but I don't know how I can say that at all."
"I don't know where all of our guys went. But he'd (Travis Stephens) hit up through there and all of a sudden - I don't know, it looked like Colorado running through Nebraska. I don't know what happened."
"We're not worried about the Heisman. We're disappointed in the ball game and whatever individual awards these guys win, that's super. I'm proud of them, but we're very disappointed."
"We didn't win anything this year. Had a good record, had a lot of good games, but we didn't win anything.
Florida Player Postgame Quotes
QUARTERBACK REX GROSSMAN
"I have to give Tennessee credit, they are a good team. They made plays and we didn't when we needed to. It was that situation where you beat a team nine times out of 10, but this was that one time we didn't. We did play very well at times but just fell short. That is just the way it falls sometimes. It was a tough loss, but they were a good enough team to beat us."
WIDE RECEIVER JABAR GAFFNEY
"Tennessee wanted it more than we did. I think we showed a lot of character and heart by not giving up. We expected this to be a tough game. Two great teams faced off tonight, and Tennessee battled it through and won it."
PLACEKICKER JEFF CHANDLER
"This game reminded me so much of last year. We had so much riding on it, it was a tough one to lose. I am proud of this team. They worked hard. It tried everything I could, but just came up short."
CORNERBACK LITO SHEPPARD
"They had runningbacks that were small but real tough. I still am not totally sure about what was going wrong with stopping their run. We talked about at halftime that we needed to step up and be more physical and to stop that run. We did a good job, we tried our best but it just wasn't our night."
