University of Tennessee Athletics
UT-Georgia Postgame Quotes
October 06, 2007 | Football
Tennessee Quotes
Head Coach Phillip Fulmer: ???First of all I???m really, really excited for the win and excited for this football team and the coaches. Our team has been working hard. We put it together much better tonight. It???s only a start, and it???s certainly a step in the right direction. We had unbelievable preparation over the open date. It showed in our play today.
???We???ve worked really hard on (defending the run) during the open date. We hadn???t played the run consistently. Our defensive front got off blocks much better, and we didn???t stay on the field all day by giving up big plays.
???There was a lot of apprehension going into this football game. You guys don???t understand how much these players care about their coaches and this program. They were really excited to come out here today and play this game and prove some of those people who may have doubted us wrong.
On the offensive line play: ???As an old offensive lineman I???m proud of those guys. As a head football coach, I don???t care how we do it, as long as we find some balance. We ran it well early, and we ran it well late. And that was a very big drive (in the third quarter) to answer (Georgia???s) score.???
???We???ve shown that we can handle adversity, now we???ll see how we handle some success.
???These guys are young. They???re kids, and they love their coaches. Sometimes the negativity just motivates them more than it does anything else.???
Erik Ainge, QB: ???Coach (Cutcliffe) said we were going to be aggressive and run the football. When we needed to run it, we ran the football.
???The offensive line has been playing great. The running backs, tight ends, everybody (has contributed in the running game). We felt like we could run the football, but you never know until you get to the game ??? Our depth helps in being able to bring (Vladimir Richard) and (Jacques McClendon) in the game.
???We needed this pretty bad. It put us back in the race, and 35-14 doesn???t even tell what happened. Our game plan was great, and we kept making plays. The running backs made people miss. I feel like we took full advantage of the opportunity.
On the trick play for a touchdown: ???We knew it would be open, it was just a matter of having time to throw it.???
Arian Foster, TB: ???The line was getting a good push today. I was just doing my job. We ran the ball, and that was our mindset going in. We were more consistent today. It was a huge statement. Everyone was questioning our ability to run the ball. It???s always difficult when you???re playing an SEC opponent. We came to play.
???(This win) was huge for our confidence. The (SEC) East is wide open now.
???The same intensity that we had on the practice field, we brought it out here today. The crowd was great and the atmosphere was fun. Our crowd is always great, especially when we get it rolling early. They get loud and help the defense out. There???s nothing like it. It???s a feeling you can???t explain.???
Xavier Mitchell, DE: ???We love our coaches. There???s no doubt about it. We are glad as a team to get this win and happy for our coaches, because they worked hard to get us to play like we should. It???s just one win. We have seven games left and have to win out. We can???t worry about what Florida is doing, we just have to win.
???It???s statement for this team to hold (Georgia) under 100 yards rushing after they ran for over 300 last week.???
Georgia Quotes
Head Coach Mark Richt: ???There???s not much to say other than they beat us soundly today. Definitely, they were a better team today than we were. I believe we???re a better football team than what showed up today but you have to give Tennessee credit, they showed up ready to go, they had a great plan and they executed well.???
???Their linemen on both sides of the ball handled us especially in the first half. In the second half they didn???t have to do much offensively because of the lead they had. It???s not that surprising to see Tennessee???s d-line play the way they did. ???
???We at least got a stop and a touchdown at the start of the second half. It gave us alittle bit of a spark. That was a fantastic catch by Demiko Goodman. Getting the three and out, with that score, there???s a lot of time to play with that deficit. It looked like it would be possible to overcome but the very next drive they took it down the field and stuck it into the endzone. They did exactly what they had to do to win the game. My hat???s off to Phil on the job that he did.???
Matthew Stafford, QB: ???I thought the touchdown gave us some momentum but they came back and put one on us. They were in bump coverage. It was a great catch, I had to throw it up to give him a chance and he made the play. We have to regroup and get ready to play next week. Tennessee just did a great job all day.???
Brannan Southerland, FB: ???It was just a sloppy game all around. It was a terrible first half and Tennessee just beat us today. They looked a lot better than we did. This is not how I envisioned the game; this isn???t how any of us envisioned the game. We need to look at the film and see what happened. We weren???t doing the right things obviously. We did some things wrong on offense, defense and special teams. We just didn???t come to play today.???
Reshad Jones, FS: ???Tennessee came out ready to play. They had a week off and it showed. They just outplayed us today. I was kind of surprised with the way they ran the ball. We are the Bulldog defense, we don???t give up too much and come out ready to play every game but they just came out and ran it and executed.
Mikey Henderson, WR: ???They had a plan and came out here ready to play. They played the defense that we saw on film and they were the better team. We have to make plays when they present themselves. Tennessee had a plan, they executed that plan and it definitely showed up in the end.???
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