University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes
January 02, 2004 | Football
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Tennessee Head Coach Phillip Fulmer
"I congratulate Clemson. They did a great job with what they do. We worked hard and prepared well. I thought we were ready to play. Clemson made some plays and we helped them with four or five major penalties in the second half. We helped them a lot and that's my responsibility.
"They made some plays at receiver and ran the ball better than I thought they would. The sacks go with protection. They come with one more than you have. We must have missed four or five. They made the plays when we brought people.
"The penalty in the end zone was on one of our players for unsportsmanlike conduct. Whatever happened, I wasn't there. On the penalties, you have to hope you have better control. I wasn't on the side where either of the penalties on Kevin Burnett was. The late hit on the quarterback was close. You want your guys to be aggressive.
"James Banks was suspended for the first half for violation of team rules. It happened before we left Knoxville.
"I appreciate the seniors for what they've done. They won the East twice and had two 10-win seasons. They left a good legacy with their work and leadership. After the break, we'll go back to work in the weight room. New leadership will emerge and we'll build for the future. We have a good-looking young team coming back.
"Casey had a phenomenal game. He made a lot of key throws. He scrambled effectively and ran the two-minute offense well. He is what a quarterback should be, competitive, has the ability and arm strength and can see the field. He does it all.
"We thought that, with a veteran quarterback and the emerging receivers, we could take advantage. At times, we did. There were key plays we didn't make."
Tennessee Players' Quotes
Scott Wells, C: "Basically, we couldn't get anything going offensively. My hat's off to Clemson. They had an excellent game plan for us. For our offense, they brought a lot of things for us. They had an excellent offensive scheme. We were able to move the ball several times passing it, but weren't able execute in the Orange Zone. They did an excellent job. It seemed like they always brought more guys than we had blockers. We didn't perform as well as we did in practice."
Constantin Ritzmann, DE: "I don't think we lost our poise. Overall, we played hard. You want to end your career on a high note. If you look back, we really came together as a team. Clemson did a good job of throwing some things at us we haven't seen. They came out with some formations where we expected pass but they ran. He threw the ball quickly, but often we were right there. They went deep in their playbook and ran some things we've never seen."
Casey Clausen, QB: "Obviously it's a disappointing end (to the season and the seniors' careers). I told the guys before the game to have fun and do the best they could. Obviously I would have liked to end with a win, but I gave it all I had. We knew (Clemson was) a good team, and we knew we'd have to score a lot of points because their offense was going to pose some problems for our defense. You can draw out all the Xs and Os, but it comes down to who makes plays, and today (Clemson) did. Our goal, as seniors, was to leave this program in the state (it was when we arrived as freshmen) and to win 11 games. We came out and played hard, but obviously we came up short."
Rashad Baker, FS: "Early in the game, we (the defense) didn't do what we needed to do and we got behind. That put a lot of pressure on our offense."
