University of Tennessee Athletics
TENNESSEE POSTGAME QUOTES
November 25, 2006 | Football
Nov. 25, 2006
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TENNESSEE LOCKER ROOM
Head Coach Phillip Fulmer: "I'm very, very proud of this football team and the season it had - particularly overcoming the injuries it had. To get nine wins is a real plus, and I complement our staff. We've shown good character and toughness, and today was a good example of that.
"I compliment Kentucky. I don't remember this series or this game ever being easy. Today was an example of (Kentucky's) defense taking the challenge. They're to be commended. Our defense did a fantastic job in the second half.
"Our team played hard (today) but not particularly well. But, we've got nine wins. I've been on the other side of that coin, when we played well and didn't win.
"(LaMarcus) Coker showed some toughness today. Both (he and Montario Hardesty) did. Coker got dinged pretty good, but he came back and finished strong.
"(At halftime) we talked a lot about pride. We just didn't seem like we had the energy we normally have been playing with. We practiced pretty well this week. I thought we were as ready as we could be.
On wide receiver Robert Meachem: "We recruit well here, and occasionally you get one that's really, really special. Robert is a really special football player. His toughness, character and mental toughness all play into his favor. He's been really limited the last couple of weeks with an ankle injury. But he hasn't missed a day of practice. I actually had to take his helmet one day at practice just to get him some rest."
On this year's defense: "The defense reflects their coaches. The coaches are tough guys and competitors. They're not going to get too high or too low. The defense has shown a lot of toughness and tenacity, particularly in light of the injuries we've suffered. They've been tenacious ... I guess that's a good word for it."
Erik Ainge, QB: "I didn't think we played very well. We won and that's all that matters. There was either a miscue with a route, a miscue with a throw or protection, but there was (always) something that went wrong to stop ourselves. Credit Kentucky's defense. They played well, they played hard, and they gave it to us."
Robert Meachem, WR: On breaking UT's single-season receiving record: "I'm blessed. I thank God for everything. It wasn't just me but everybody. If it wasn't for the O-line blocking or the center getting the snap to Ainge or Crompton, none of it would have been possible. I just want to thank everybody."
Marvin Mitchell, LB: "We came into the week wanting to stop the screens, and each and every game we want to stop the run. We were able to stop them on some big plays in the fourth quarter. We just picked each other up and got the stop (on UK's final drive)."
KENTUCKY LOCKER ROOM
Head Coach Rich Brooks: "Obviously, this was a very disappointing loss. I thought we were in a good position a number of times, but we failed to execute in the red zone and we let them out of their short end of the field a few too many times. I'm just really disappointed we're not 8-4. We just didn't quite finish the deal.
"This was one of those games that we had a chance to win, but give Tennessee credit for getting the job done today. I thought it would be our fourth game in a row with a comeback win, but we couldn't get it done in the end. I thought we were going to have second place in the Eastern Division to ourselves.
"I thought we'd play better on defense coming into the game - and we're not where we need to be in a number of phases - but we're getting there. They did a good job of hitting and tackling, but there were a number of third-down conversions with young guys missing tackles.
"We didn't execute as well as we wanted to. Rafael Little isn't in shape yet, and he got a little worn down in the second half. They jumped on us on those screen passes that were working so well for us in the first half. We had chances to win this game, but we couldn't get it in the end zone when we needed to. I thought we were going to have the biggest road win at Kentucky in years, but the good news is that we had a chance."
Roger Williams, SS: "There's no pride (in playing Tennessee close). We're not playing for pride. We know we can beat Tennessee, and it's a disappointing loss.
"We know that our defense can play with anybody, so we just had to go out and set the tone and we did that today. It was a good effort - one of the best performances of the year. Here and there we put ourselves in position to win the game, and that's all you can do.
"We're a good team, and we'll go the bowl game knowing that we can play with anybody."
Keenan Burton, WR: "Of course, we're disappointed. We had chances to win the game, missed opportunities, and we had plenty of chances in the red zone that we just didn't take advantage of today.
"We have to take some positives out of this into the bowl game. The defense played a heck of a game, and offensively we drove it down the field. We just couldn't get the ball in the end zone. We'll fix it, and we'll get better. It's time to get ready for the bowl. We'll take this loss with a grain of salt and go back to work."
Jeremy Jarmon, DE: "There are a lot of positives in how well our defense played. We made a lot of big plays, and we just have to take that and build on it into the bowl game."
Andre Woodson, QB: "We wanted, of course, to win the game for coach (Randy) Sanders, but he told us to win it for ourselves. We just didn't do a good job of executing in the red zone.
"It happens, we just have to do a better job and we didn't today. We have to address it and get ready for the bowl game."
