University of Tennessee Athletics
TENNESSEE POSTGAME QUOTES
September 27, 2005 | Football
Sept. 27, 2005
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TENNESSEE LOCKER ROOM
Head Coach Phillip Fulmer
Opening Statement
"I can't tell you how proud I am of this football team and this staff, and the fight that they had. There was absolutely no panic at half time. We talked about the heart, the toughness, representing the orange and white of Tennessee and taking charge of the football game. Obviously the first five minutes were going to be really important. We got out there and got a stop."
"I don't know if there has ever been a better story than Rick Clausen. I really don't; in all of college football. He is a tough minded guy. He obviously had to handle the disappointment at the beginning of the week, and he handled it with toughness and class. His teammates rallied around him, and obviously him coming in and getting done what he got done was just unbelievable."
"I am so thrilled with this win. I take my hat off to LSU, but our football team played really hard. We're a really well condition football team. Physically it took us a while, but once we stopped shooting ourselves in the foot we got it done."
RB Gerald Riggs Jr.
On the improvement in the running game in the second half
"In the 2nd quarter our running game started picking up. The runs in the 1st quarter were going two or three yards; in the 2nd quarter runs were going five to ten. We were just able to get a rhythm going in the running game. Once we established that we were able to make some plays later on in the game. It was crucial that we got the running game going and we kept that confidence going in the second quarter on in."
On what was said at halftime
"Nothing much, we have been down before we have an experienced team a lot of veterans on this team we knew what it was going to take. We just had to settle down and execute our plays. We just had to make things happen and don't get too caught in what the score was. We just kept our heads level and stayed the course and played the game."
On the confidence the team had in overtime
"It didn't matter if it was in the air or on the ground. We knew if we got the ball with a chance to score that we were going to. We knew that we were going to make a play some how some way. We had the utmost confidence. We just played like we were not going to be denied."
QB Rick Clausen
On the game and staying with the team
"You saw it. It was a tough one, but that's what you expect in the SEC. I'm so thankful for those guys in the locker room. It was a tough week for myself. I called home a few times; I didn't really want to be here. [My family] said you got to stay, you never know what might happen. I'm so thankful to those guys and the 70 guys in the locker room. Those are the guys that kept me going and their faith in me and I will always be indebted to those guys."
On playing with the crowd in Death Valley
"If we had an opportunity to make plays we were going to make them. We just needed to get back to basics; catching the football, throwing the football. Death Valley is a great place to play. I've been here and it's been pretty ruckus. It was loud and I enjoyed it."
LSU LOCKER ROOM
Head coach Les Miles
Opening Statement
"We played well to a point. It was a sloppy first half. We got nicked up a little bit in the offensive line. We came out the second half and lost our push. We couldn't stop them and did not move the football on offense. They were a good team. They rallied. You've got to give them some credit as well, and they played awfully well down the stretch. In the first, penalties had them backed up. We played well in the kicking game. We had penalties that kept drives alive for them. We had a big return by Skyler Green that was called back, and just before the half threw an incompletion on a scramble. That was three points we could have used at the end of the game, certainly. When you're into your second game, you wish you would have played with the ability to finish, and we didn't, that's why we lost that game. The thing that we are going to have to do is not dwell on this game. For all intents and purposes, it's Tuesday and we'll prepare for Mississippi State. As much as we'd like to mull it over and recoach and get it fixed, we have to prepare to play the next game and get this team back and get them healthy. We're all disappointed about it. We're all miserable. I know you guys are as well but we'll get better and we'll fight to do so."
What contributed to the lack of offense in the second half
"More than anything, I think it was a loss of poise. We're ahead, certainly in control of the game and we're not moving the football and we're not converting on first downs. We either punt or turn it over and when you turn it over to a good team, you're not going to win.
"We threw one and it ended up on the two yard line and that certainly gave us concern. We ran the football early on and turned it over a couple of times. We had three turnovers and certainly if you eliminated those, it would have made a difference. It would have given us the feel that we were moving the ball as opposed to hanging in there, understanding that we're making mistakes and not controlling the game."
LB Kenneth Hollis
About the first play on defense when Erik Ainge fumbled
"Coach had called a blitz and I was just running to the quarterback and the ball was there and I just jumped on it and tried to make a play."
On why Tennessee was able to move the ball so well in the second half
"They just came out and had the better half and we made a couple of mistakes on defense but it's nothing that we can't turn around and adjust to."
On the interception
"It was a face coverage. I saw Cameron (Vaughn) about to get that sack and I was actually going up to hug him and the ball just landed in my hands."
DT Kyle Williams
On why Tennessee was able to win
"We came out and got after them. We shut them down in the first half, but there are two halves."
On switching to Clausen at QB
"I think he brought in some things for them offensively that Ainge couldn't do, and made some plays when he needed to. We didn't make any."
