University of Tennessee Athletics
Thursday Q&A With DBs Berry and Vinson
November 01, 2007 | Football
Thursdays of every game week, UTsports.com sits down with members of the Vols team or coaching staff to preview a key element of the upcoming game. This week, sports information graduate assistant Tony Williams speaks with freshman defensive backs Eric Berry and Brent Vinson about life as true freshmen in the SEC and the upcoming game with Louisiana-Lafayette.
There have been injuries and a lot of position switching going on in the secondary this season. Is there a significant adjustment period for you guys when the unit is shaken up like that?
Eric Berry: ???It is difficult at times, but we have the right guys and the right coaches around us to take on the task. It can be struggle, but we are coming into our own and becoming comfortable with our roles, which makes us more comfortable with the changes.???
Brent Vinson: ???I feel like, as far as knowledge and experience, we are short in those areas. But as far as our ability, and wondering if we are out there with the right people, I feel comfortable with that. It will come with experience, the more we play.???
High school football is winding down right now; you guys still have at least four games left. Is the physical nature of the game at this level taking a toll on you?
EB: ???Again, we have the right people around us to take care of those things. The training staff and the strength staff are keeping us healthy. It is a big adjustment from high school. My body hurts a little bit right now, but we are able to get up for every game.???
BV: ???My body hurts, too. But I can go off of the excitement. When gameday comes, the adrenaline is there and any aches pretty much go away. As far as going out there and playing with wear and tear, you get up for every game and learn to ignore it.???
Eric, you were a playmaker in high school and you???ve made a few big plays this year. Is the rush any different?
EB: ???You???ve got 107,000 people screaming for you, so yeah, it feels a little different. I???m just out there trying to make plays for my team every down. You do feel kind of like the hero, so there is definitely a rush there.???
Brent, you worked mainly with the offense during two-a-days. Has jumping over and having to learn the defense been a challenge for you?
BV: ???It has been easier. Coach Slade is really big on technique, so I know I have a long way to go there. As far as the coverages and being able to run out there, I adjusted really quickly. I???m ready to go one-on-one, but I still don???t do everything right with my technique. Eric keeps telling me to be patient and take it one day at a time because I???m going to get frustrated not being able to learn everything so quickly.???
How do you guys feel about being in the hunt for a trip to Atlanta in your first season?
EB: ???We talk about it every day. We talk about going to Atlanta and winning an SEC championship. That would be a big statement when nobody said we could come back and do it. Our backs were against the wall and people were doubting us, but here we are right in the middle of it. We just have to control what we can control.???
BV: ???There has been a lot of talk about it, but all we can do is go out there and play our best. It???s not our fault that we???ve been forced out there as freshmen, but we can???t listen to that. We have to go out and play and not worry about it. It feels good to me to be in control of our own destiny, because I want to go to Atlanta and play in a game like that. It doesn???t get any bigger as far as the SEC is concerned.???
The South Carolina game was really this team???s first close game this season. How did you guys handle the nerves down the stretch?
EB: ???There was a lot of screaming in the huddle, a lot of motivation from the older guys. There was a commitment out there that we weren???t going to let it get away. We had each other???s backs. We talk about it all the time. We only listen to the people in the locker room with us. It was just us out there playing for each other.???
The defense has been on the field for too many snaps the last two games, and it obviously wears you guys down physically. Does it wear you down mentally as well?
BV: ???I???m not going lie. I???ve just switched to defense and I???m still adjusting my mindset. It doesn???t get to me as much as it should because I see the other guys getting up for every possession like they have a job to do. It used to get to me. I was like, ???man, we have to go back out there???????
EB: ???It does wear down on you mentally. In high school, you have 12-minute quarters and play just 48 minutes for a whole game. We were usually winning so big that the clock would just run toward the end of the game. I???m not used to 90 plays a game. My technique is pretty good the first two quarters. The third quarter comes and the body starts to lag a little bit. It???s an adjustment, but we can keep each other in it.???
BV: ???I should add that even if we are winning or having a good game, our backs are still against the wall. We can be up 21 points, but this is the SEC and you have to keep playing. In high school, the other team would just lay down. We???re constantly at work every play. We have to have the mindset that we have to go hard every play.???
What kinds of challenges will the secondary face against Louisiana-Lafayette?
BV: ???We are just going to have to stay disciplined. They run a lot, so we have to approach them like any other team. We can???t assume they are going to run and slack off. We can???t have the mentality that this is an easy game. We have to focus and play hard.???
AT&T OPENS VOTING FOR BEST SEC TRADITION OF ALL TIME
Finalists also announced for best SEC coach of all time
The Southeastern Conference has some of the best traditions steeped in the history of college football, and now fans can voice their opinions on the best of all time. It???s all a part of AT&T Inc.???s ???Best of 75 Years of SEC Football,??? an 11-week program that allows fans to vote for their favorite players, coaches and traditions from the past 75 years.
Fans can enter to vote on the ???Best of 75 Years of SEC Football??? after accessing SEC Mobile on their AT&T handsets by texting SEC to 234567. They will then receive a menu of options to choose from, which includes alerts, trivia, SEC video, news, downloads and sweepstakes. Voting began Sept. 4 and runs through Nov. 16 with results announced weekly.
Choosing the best of all time will be no easy task ??? just check out the list of traditions below:
Game Day at Denny Chimes, Alabama; Calling the Hogs, Arkansas; Toomer???s Corner, Auburn; Singing ???Boys From Old Florida,??? Florida; Uga The Bulldog, Georgia; Singing ???My Old Kentucky Home,??? Kentucky; Mike the Tiger, LSU; The Grove, Mississippi; Singing ???Maroon and White,??? Mississippi State; 2001 Team Entrance, South Carolina; Vol Navy, Tennessee; Vandyville, Vanderbilt.
Last week???s voting decided the finalists for the best SEC coach of all time, and the top three vote-getters were Paul ???Bear??? Bryant from Alabama, Vince Dooley from Georgia and Steve Spurrier from Florida. The three finalists beat out nominees from the other nine SEC schools to move into the finals, which will be voted on during the last two weeks of the program in November. Every text message vote cast is an entry into a sweepstakes to win a trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game.
AT&T customers can also prove their SEC football IQ by playing trivia on their handsets, or they can get breaking news on their favorite teams by signing up for alerts, which include game previews. Fans will also be able to show their school pride all season by downloading school graphics, fight song ringtones, wallpaper, games and cool tools, and subscribers with 3G service can access college football video.
This is AT&T???s second year as the official telecommunications sponsor of the SEC and a presenting sponsor of SECSports.com.
