University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes - Tennessee vs. Alabama
October 26, 2002 | Football
Oct. 26, 2002
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TENNESSEE LOCKER ROOM
HEAD COACH PHILLIP FULMER: On Kelley Washington "We knew it was an ongoing process. We knew he was 95 percent okay after hitting his head at Georgia. He has a concussion and the symptoms haven't cleared. We didn't want to risk it. We made the decision Friday night.
"This was a tough loss. Alabama is a fine team. We helped them a lot. They made the breaks and took advantage. We sure made a lot of mistakes. I appreciate the effort Casey (Clausen) made. The defense played well.
"Offensively we have not found ourselves yet. It's very frustrating. We are not good at anything, particularly offensively.
"The official did not signal a forward pass. He saw it as a lateral. It's a discipline thing.
"We are not functioning on offense. Alabama has a good defensive team. We are not doing a good job on offense as we could have. We are not making anything happen at running back. We are not going to beat anyone right now."
OFFENSIVE TACKLE WILL OFENHEUSLE: "We can do a lot of things without Kelley (Washington). There are a lot of things he can't do without us. We didn't lose this game because he was not out there. We didn't make the plays and had too many turnovers. We have to try and lead by example. It's an approach we have to have in practice.
"The kickoff return was a big boost to the team. We needed it. I could feel the momentum swing our way. We had some good drives. The silly mistakes cost us. We are stopping ourselves. That was the story tonight. Discipline is the bottom line for our mistakes.
"I'm not going to blow smoke at you, it's been a tough year on offense this year. We can move the ball at will at some points and then not gain a yard at other times. It's very frustrating when you know how good your team is, but you can't go out and show it. It's hard for a team to stop us unless we give them something."
LINEBACKER EDDIE MOORE: "The big plays got them in position to score. We saw everything they had in practice. We weren't surprised. We have to play out the rest of the season. We've got to finish this season no matter what and refuse to lose another game."
ALABAMA LOCKER ROOM
HEAD COACH DENNIS FRANCHIONE: "I can't tell you how happy I am for our seniors. I'm proud of them. I know how much it meant to them to finally get a cigar. It was a scary game. With the turnovers and the kicking game, I never really felt comfortable. The defense was great, allowing but one score. We rushed for nearly 200 yards and them to 59. Childress and Peprah were in the right places at the right time.
It was a big win for the Alabama family and fans. This has been a series of streaks and we've been on the flip side. Now we'll worry about win No. 2. Brodie Croyle made a big play to Zach Fletcher. We used our quarterbacks wisely and they did their best. Tyler got his touchdown at the right time. They are two unselfish young men who love the Crimson Tide. We found out about Kelley Washington when we noticed in warmups there wasn't a number 15 out there. We had some special calls for him.
"Tennessee and Alabama has always been a game of fourth quarters. We wanted to play three to get to the fourth quarter to have a chance to win. I told our guys at half time the kickoff return was a bad play and we would have to do better. We knew it would be close. We had to refocus and get ready for the second half. The eight-minute drive was big. It got points and drained the clock. That's where we took control of the game. We've gotten bigger and stronger. Last year we didn't hold up in the fourth quarter. This year we did. We got good pressure on Clausen. He hurt us some, but we didn't let him get in a rhythm very many times."
