University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes
September 28, 2002 | Football
Sept. 28, 2002
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TENNESSEE LOCKER ROOM
HEAD COACH PHILLIP FULMER
?We had three young men suspended; Anthony Herrera, Karlton Neal and Montrell Jones. It was for a violation of team rules. They should be back.
?We have something to build on with the second half plays. It?s been a couple of strange games. Last week?s five minutes in the second quarter and this week?s first half.
?Our defense played exceptionally well. We had down and distance in our favor. Offensively we spread it out. We are still working on being a team.
?We finally got Florida out of our system. We?ll see how we came out with injuries.
?Kelley is difficult to match up on. We have to build on our ability to run. We have to get another wide receiver to step up. Kelley is on of the most team oriented people I?ve been around. He is vocal on the field to lead the team. I?m proud he didn?t put the team in a position to get a penalty. He never has.
?Alex has kicked for weeks since the injury. He pulled his quad again. We are fortunate to have Philip Newman out there.
?It unfortunate what happened to Kevin Simon. But it is fortunate that someone has the opportunity to step up.
?It was combination of a two or three things. They threw to the backs. The threw quick so we couldn?t get to the quarterback. It was a nice plan. The defense didn?t give up anything big.
?We have potential in a lot of places. We are our own worst enemy at times. We have to come up with an identity. Defensively we know what we will get. Offensively we came out strong in the second half. When we hit on all cylinders like that, we can be good. We made progress tonight.
KELLEY WASHINGTON: ?In the second half we made the adjustment and said if they are going to double and triple cover me, then someone else has got to get it done for us. I take it upon myself to get the job done one-on-one. That?s what I?m going to do for Casey, let him know I can get it done when I?m on.
?I just thing that everything has been blown all out of proportion with my showboating and my talking. I just wanted to let the team know that that doesn?t matter to me as far as the talking and so forth. I just want to be there for the team and make big plays and really have them rely on me just like I rely on them I wanted to let the team and fans and the media know that it doesn?t matter. It?s all about the team.
?We had some guys step up for us. We had Derrick Tinsley step up and make some big plays and Jason Witten made some big catches.
KEYON WHITESIDE: ON OMARI HAND AT HALFTIME: ?That was real big. We needed somebody to come out and be a vocal leader on this team and he set the example.
?They had a really good offensive line and their running back was really shifty. His teammates gave him some good holes to run through.?
DEMETRIN VEAL: ON SACK ?It?s a team thing. We know we need to bring the pressure and I was the one who brought him down.?
DERRICK TINSLEY: ?We took it as them disrespecting us thinking they could cover us man-on-man. We spread them out.
?They put me one-on-one with a linebacker and I feel like I can win any match with a linebacker or strong safety. So I got past the linebacker and found a seam and it was a nice job threading the needle by Casey with a safety and a linebacker back there.?
RUTGERS LOCKER ROOM
HEAD COACH GREG SCHIANO
"I feel the same way about both halves. Our kids played their guts out. They laid it on the line and I?m proud of them. There are no moral victories at Rutgers. One day we?ll be there where Tennessee is. We?re not there yet, but we?ll get there.
Tennessee made more plays in the second half than we did. In the second half, Tennessee spread it out with their regular people. They made the plays. You don?t keep Kelley Washington under wraps the whole game. He reminds me of when I was with the Bears and we had to defend Randy Moss. We were in single coverage twice and I think it was two touchdowns.
?I wasn?t worried about the momentum at the half. We needed seven points. I was disappointed we didn?t score. I couldn?t see the play from where I was. In any game, coaches will have their differences with the officials. I had mine tonight.
?The kickoff return was a great way to start the game. You get points. The kids believed in the plan, but some evidence helps too.
?It?s no secret that Tennessee is more talented than we are. If we play things tight to the vest, we can?t win. There were a few things we saw that we took advantage of."
SHAWN SEABROOKS: ?I feel like we played good enough defense. Obviously not good enough to win. We really didn?t get the job done in the second half. They?ve got some great talent and they made the plays in the second half. It was a good experience except the outcome of the game. This is what every college athlete wants. Our whole team was looking forward to playing in a game like this.?
CLARENCE PITTMAN: ?Our offense played our hearts out. We had a meeting with our O-line to make sure they knew exactly what blocks to make. Marty Pyszczymuka and Dan Biernacki along with the rest of the front guys stuck in there and played their hearts out. It is coming together. Last week we saw good things happen. This week good things did happen. We have an off week now to prepare. We have the talent and we will do what we have to do. We will keep fighting.
ON UT?S SPEED: ?I?m from Florida, Speed is the game of football. If the hole is there then I take it. I am confident in myself to make one guy miss.?
RYAN CUBIT: ?I never really thought about the one second in the first half. It would have made a big difference up 21-7 at the half. I thought we were in.
?I just took off and gave it everything I had. I thought we would come out with a lot of fire. Everyone handled coming in here really well. I just came in not to make any big mistakes. They gave me some lanes to run in and I took advantage of it. In the second half we made adjustments, but there were a couple of key plays that could have made a difference but we didn?t make them.
ON CROWD: ?It is one of those things in college football that you get to experience just a few times.?
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