Postgame Quotes: Tennessee 38, Georgia 31

Oct. 10, 2015

Tennessee head coach Butch Jones

(Opening Statement)
"Okay, wow. What can I say? I'm just really, really proud of our players and everyone in our football family. I think this was a true testament of will, of resiliency, of perseverance. Obviously, the way we ended the first half gave us some momentum in moving forward. But our hard work has been validated a little bit in terms of finally winning a game like this. Now, it's a long season and this is just one victory and it is victory number three but being down 24-3 versus a Top 25 football team and our kids never flinched.

"Then, I think what sums it up is playing a talented defense like that and the right side of your line is comprised of true freshmen with Jack Jones and Chance Hall. Again, resiliency and I'm very, very proud of our players and competitive character. I thought their character showed through and we had a different look. This football team was not going to be denied. They were going to find a way to win the football game and I'm just happy for them because they deserve to have this feeling.

"So, I'll answer any questions you may have."

(On Joshua Dobbs' performance in tonight's win)
"430 yards total offense. Accounted for five touchdowns. Very, very gutty performance. He made plays when we had to. I thought our receivers stepped up, made some big plays. We were able to catch in advance. We talked about playing complementary football in all three phases. We gave them 14 points in the first half, but then you go on and you outscore a good football team 35 to 7. It speaks volumes."

(On the 39-yard touchdown to Josh Smith)
"I believe it was on a fourth down call. It's interesting, I was at a high school football game this week, and I was with Josh Smith. It was one of the most rewarding times I've had, just standing there and talking to him. We talked about our team and how hard we've worked. He kept saying `It's coming Coach, it's coming Coach.'"

"He had to flip his hips, open his hips. The ball was thrown a little bit behind him, and then he finished it. That really created some momentum for us. We finally had some individuals step up in key moments of the game that made critical plays at critical stages of the game. Josh has been very consistent all year."

(On the decision to go for it on two fourth downs)
"I had confidence in the calls that we had. I thought where we were at on the field, at that point of the game, it was a gut feeling. Just a gut feeling that I had, and we made those decisions. It's really on the kids. They executed both fourth down conversions to really gain some momentum for us, and all the credit goes to them. They did a great job of executing. I can't say enough about the job our offensive line did. That's a talented group when you watch their third down defense and the sacks that they've had, and the different looks that they have. A gritty, gritty performance, then you have to throw two true freshmen in there as well. Just remarkable."

(On the attitude of sideline after Georgia's punt return for a TD)
"Business as usual. Snap and clear, and move on. That's what we talked about. We talked about it being a fourth quarter game and we joked, but 16 overtimes if it took that many. That was kind of the mindset.

"The other thing that I really think set the temperament and the mood was all of our former players coming back. From Trey Teague eating dinner, and he said `Hey Coach, this is the time that you need us.' Deon Grant coming and speaking to the team last night. The numerous text messages of support from Peyton (Manning), from everybody. `Vol For Lifes' really came out and supported this football team. I know that meant a lot to our players, and having them on our sideline as well. The NFL players that right now are on a bye week, them coming, I think speaks volumes for them being here as well."

(On what Dave Hart said to him after the game)
"I don't even remember. I think it was just the resiliency of the kids. That's what it's all about. It's all about our players. They were rewarded a little bit tonight. The biggest joy was watching them, having them be able to go to the band and celebrate with our fan base. We've been through so much in the last few weeks. It's all about the kids, and just seeing the look in their eye and their resiliency. That's what it was about."

(On if the program badly needed win)
"You always need to win. That's what it is. When these players have given so much of themselves and the chemistry that we have, the brotherhood, the togetherness -- everyone talks about having each other's back. Like I said earlier, it galvanized us and brought us closer. For them to feel this way tonight and our fans to feel this way is very rewarding."

(On significance of final TD before half and attitude in locker room at the break)
"When we hit Alvin [Kamara] on the flat route off the sprint out, that was one thing -- getting on the board, I believe cutting it to 24-10 with Josh Smith's play. Our kickoff team did a great job of forcing a fumble. It's one thing to get the fumble, but it's another to capitalize on that and turn it into seven points. I thought that was the most critical stage of the game in terms of we couldn't come away with three points. We needed to get seven points. The players came in, and they believed. Make some halftime adjustments, business as usual. Very workmanlike approach. Our kids were not going to be denied. You could see that look in their eyes."

(On emotions watching final play)
"I was trying to watch everything. The key is to try and get pressure on the quarterback. We were able to do that, force the throw and play the ball up in the air and get it out. Then, I was just hoping the time would run out."

(On calling game differently)
"Pretty much the same. Different wrinkles based on the different 'Bear' front and four-down fronts that they give and some blitz patterns, but philosophically, it was pretty much the same."

(On determination of Joshua Dobbs)
"Josh willed our offense to score points. We had a lot of individuals will this football team to win. He made the throws when he had to, make the plays with the legs, got us in the right places at the line of scrimmage, but our whole football team was poised, calm and collective the entire night. There was no flinching. The game was slow, everyone was poised. Everybody was confident, and everybody was encouraging. That was great to see. I think we grew up a little bit tonight."

(On emotions of Chance Hall and Jack Jones prior to game)
"Excited. It wasn't like, 'Oh my gosh.' They have had very good weeks of preparation and practice, and our older players have done a good job of mentoring them. They knew they were one snap away from playing in this game, and just business-like like they have been in the program for years. They stepped up, were very calm and very poised. A lot of times when youngsters go in there, you get false starts, pre-snap penalties, missed assignments and all that, and they did not have that tonight. They played like a veteran group."

(On UGA's Reggie Davis dropping potential TD catch in 4th quarter)
"That is the breaks of football. We have had many of those go against us. Like I tell our football team, the more you play hard, the harder you play, the more the ball will bounce in your arms. That is just the way football is. It isn't a round ball, so it is going to take its bounce. If you just keep believing and play with great effort and great togetherness, you will be rewarded in football. We got a few of those breaks tonight."

(On rank of win in tenure at Tennessee)
"It is nice to have a bye week. We are pretty banged up, so we need that. It has been a long journey for six games, but it is never about me. Everything is about our players and football program and everyone associated with our football program and our great fan base. I work for them. Obviously, we have been through a lot the last couple weeks. It has hurt. We have all bled together. It's still a long, long season. It is just one win, but it was well needed for everyone."

Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs

(On the mindset of the team when facing a 21-point deficit)
"Just keep going. It wasn't like we weren't moving the ball and they were stopping us. We gave them a touchdown, going in to score. We had the ball on the goal line and didn't execute to score a touchdown. We knew we could move the ball on them, we just had to make plays."

(On the players believing in him to win)
"It's awesome, having that trust of my teammates. I trust these guys with everything on and off the field. I love my teammates. I'll do anything for them. I tell them that all the time. We did a great job of having each other's back - offense, defense, and special teams."

(On this game being a turning point in the season)
"It's great. Obviously, it gives us a lot of momentum going into the bye week. It'll definitely be a positive bye week, one to improve, and two to get healthy and rested and get ready for the second half of the season."

(On Georgia tailback Nick Chubb's injury)
"Our hearts and prayers go out to him. He's a great player and he's done a lot for that program and we love watching him play. Our hearts and prayers go out to him, and we wish him a speedy and well recovery."

Tennessee punter Trevor Daniel

(On that his final punt that rolled out of bounds at the 1-yard line)
"I was going to go out there and punt the best I could, and just do my job, and try to set up the defense as best as possible, and it was just a good ball."

(On the how the win feels)
"It's exciting. It's awesome. I think it gives us big momentum going into Alabama. I'm very excited, it was a great opportunity. It's awesome."

(On the moments leading up to the punt)
"Yeah, I didn't know what was going on, but once he said it was time to punt, I just focused in and did my job."

Tennessee offensive lineman Coleman Thomas

(On two freshmen playing on the offensive line)
"We were flowing with it. With injuries this week through practice, those two's (Chance Hall and Jack Jones) reps have went up, so they were prepared, and all the credit in the world to them."

(On switching between playing center an right tackle)
"Getting reps last year at tackle helped me a lot for tonight. Coach Mahoney said that if anything were to happen to Mack [Crowder], then I'd be the one going in. So when I saw Mack go down, I had to switch my mind over to center and just roll with it."

(On the mood on the sideline when Georgia took a 24-3 lead)
"That's just what Coach Jones preaches all the time, never give up, keep grinding. So that was the mentality, no one was ever down, we just thought when we got a possession we needed to capitalize."

(On the performance of Joshua Dobbs)
"He's a great leader. It was good to see him be successful and make some plays."

Tennessee defensive back Cameron Sutton

(On the final play of game)
"It was definitely an opportunity for us to make a play, leave our make in the game. We did a great job of rerouting the receiver, pinning him on the sideline. He didn't really have anywhere else to go. He kind of tight-roped the sideline, trailing him. Great job of the safety just getting over the top and just made a good play."

(On defense's confidence following game)
"Definitely going to give us a lot of confidence moving forward. We are already a confident group overall through thick and thin. Whatever happens on the field, it doesn't really define us because we keep growing and getting better each and every game and each and every day. As far as making the plays, just that want-to factor. Guys want the ball thrown at them, guys want to make plays, guys want to get stops, get the ball back to our offense. We were able to do that and be successful."

(On dropped pass by Reggie Davis)
"Another opportunity to make a play. Sometimes, things aren't going to go your way. We just keep fighting, keep going out there, keep going hard. When the breaks go against you, don't let up. We did that tonight."

Tennessee offensive lineman Kyler Kerbyson

(On playing with two true freshmen on the offensive line)
"There definitely was a moment where I thought, `Wow, I'm the most veteran guy on this line right now'. It goes along with something that Deon Grant came to the hotel and said to us. He said, `If one of your guys goes down, you have to step up for them. He said his famous pick versus Florida, the corner fell down and he had to make up for it. So knowing that, I saw Jashon [Robertson] and Mack [Crowder] go down, and these new guys came in and I said, `Alright, I'm going to have to step up and protect Dobbs as well as I can."

(On his advice to the true freshmen playing on the offensive line)
"I can't imagine what was going through their minds to be thrown in and hold their own against really good guys. I just tried to keep them positive, and whatever happens, just snap and clear, and be able to bounce back. If you do give up a sack, if you mess up on a run play, it's okay, the game's not over. We were down, but we just had to think `the game's not over.'"

(On attitude on the sidelines when Georgia took a 24-3 lead)
"As an offense, we knew they couldn't stop us. Yeah, we fumbled on the one-yard line and they took it back, but we took it 80 yards on them. They didn't have an answer for the offense, so that's the attitude we went out there with, `Hey, they can't stop us, we're going to be alright, we're going to keep scoring, as long as the defense comes up with a few stops, we're going to win this game.'"

(On if this win could propel Tennessee for the rest of the season)
"Yeah, it give us confidence as a team, it lets us know we're good. It just felt like everything was slipping away in those three losses. But this one really changes your mindset as a player and lets you know you're a really good team and you guys mesh really well. So this was definitely huge for us."

Tennessee running back Jalen Hurd

(On true freshman Chance Hall and Jack Jones)
"They did awesome, to come in there and have a game like that and I couldn't imagine coming in there as a freshman and to not have really played. Then come out and just be thrown into a Georgia game and then play the way they did and we come back and win. They did an amazing job."

(On how bad they needed to win)
"It was extreme to get this win. When the score was like that all of us was like, 'No this can't happen. This is the win that we need.' Not that we didn't need all the other wins that we did but it didn't happen so we just knew each game we really needed to kind of build that momentum swing."

(On the importance of Dobbs' running ability)
"It's a big part. Dobbs is our quarterback and for him to run the ball like he did tonight and like he always has, it's a huge part of our offense. You know it goes through him."

Tennessee running back Alvin Kamara

(On the win over Georgia)
"We definitely needed to win. It was a big character win for our football team. You know, we got down early, everybody stayed locked in and stayed focused, and we were able to pull out a win tonight."

(On the flat route concept that provided two touchdown catches)
"Yeah, we've had it in our back pocket. We've worked on it for the past two weeks, and time came for us to call it, and it was perfect timing, and I was able to get those catches."

(On the mentality being down 24-3)
"Just keep working, like I said we've got to keep working, keep grinding. So my mentality on the field, and on the sideline was just to amp those guys up, and keep them going in the right direction. Just tell everyone to keep their heads up, you know there was still a lot of football to be played, and there was and everybody stayed locked in and we came out with a win."

Tennessee linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin

(On blocking out distractions)
"I mean, like I said, it'll be hard to understand but the group of guys we got in our locker room is like no other. Like how tight we are how much we're willing to fight for each other is something you really can't describe. You know we're just such a close team and when we here all of those outside distractions we nip them in the bud right now and we did a great job of that this week and focused on Georgia. We came out victorious."

(On being down during tough times of the game)
"No, we don't get down. It's not really in our DNA. Like the maxim says, if at first the game or the breaks go against you don't let up -- put on more steam. That was the case tonight. The breaks didn't go our way at first. We didn't let up. We had a great special teams play -- you know the kick off team generated a fumble for us, gathered it back to the offense. They punched it in and it just led into that second half and gave us a lot of momentum going into it."

Tennessee wide receiver Josh Smith

(On the the 4th-and-8 play that resulted in his 39-yard touchdown catch)
"I mean the 4th-and-8 is a big play and I mean we got to come down with the football. Dobbs did a great job staying in the pocket, made a great throw and I made a catch."

(On being the primary receiver on that play)
"I was. I was the first read."

(On focusing on big plays)
"I feel like we have our confidence back, our swagger back for real. I could just sense it on the sideline and, I mean, that was huge. But we really were focusing on throwing it down the field, I mean, we needed it. We need to give the running game a break. Our receivers came to play and we made the plays we needed to win. I'm very proud of this team."

Georgia head coach Mark Richt

(Opening statement)
"First of all, congratulations to Coach Jones, the rest of his staff and the rest of his team. They did a heck of a job winning the ballgame and making enough plays when it counted the most. Got to give them credit. I feel bad for our guys because I know how hard they played. I am proud of their efforts; we don't have an effort issue. We just have to execute better. I know you hear it all the time, but it's the truth of it. One of the things we talked about is not giving any gifts away, making them earn everything they get. Didn't quite do that the entire ballgame we got one of those too. So I guess it evened out, bottom line is they made more plays when it counted the most, and you've got to give them credit."

(On Nick Chubb's injury and impact of losing him on first play)
"Nick getting hurt on play one wasn't very exciting to see at all. He was in pain, physical and mental pain knowing that he wasn't going to be able to finish out this game. He put so much work into it. I really don't know for sure, we are optimistic that it won't require surgery, but we can't tell 100 percent. I don't want to give too much information because I don't know for sure. As of right now we are pretty hopeful that it won't require surgery. We've got to get some confirmation here tomorrow."

(On team's response after losing Chubb)
"We've got some other good backs. Sony [Michel] stepped in and played well. Keith Marshall got an opportunity to play some, and he played well. You just got to keep playing ball, everyone knows that. I don't think anybody just dropped their head and said the game's over, by any stretch. But everybody loves Nick Chubb. Everybody respects Nick Chubb. I am sure Bulldog nation's heart sank when you see a guy like that on the sideline. He is a true warrior when it comes to playing football, and he is one of the finest people we have on this team."

(On difference in game plan with Sony Michel in backfield)
"It changes to a certain degree, but Sony ran it in there between the tackles. We called the same plays that we would have called for the most part. Maybe we might have had it with a little more frequency if Nick was there. Nick probably would have handled more of the inside runs if he was there, but you do have to give credit to Sony, and the line blocked well. With any SEC defense you are not going to get five yards a pop every time you snap the ball, but you bang away, and bang away, and there will be one or two. We say that every game. It didn't change us where we just had to throw it out, throw out the game plan. We still pretty much ran the things we practiced."

(On end of the first half)
"They put a nice drive together before the first half, and of course they kicked off to us and we turned it over and gave them a super short field, and they knock another one in to their credit. They drove the ball a few times too. We have to do a better job of getting off the field defensively. Just all the way around; offense needs to execute better, defense needs to execute better, special teams certainly can get better as we go as well. Some good things happened in the special teams, but when you turn it over deep in your territory when you've grabbed a lot of momentum and a bit of separation. It was sad that happened the way it did to give them juice going into the locker room. If we stopped them there, what was it 24-3, if we went into halftime with that score it would be a little different feel. As it turned out we're still winning the game, but they did grab a bit of momentum going in."

(On if he said anything to Reggie Davis after the game)
"No, other then what I told the whole team. I was just proud of their effort. I think Reggie was playing his best game. Reggie was on kickoff return, punt return. When we were on punt he was covering kicks and then he's playing offense just about every snap. He was playing his tail off. His shoulder got knocked down a little bit, he was kind of debating whether he could keep going, he sucked it up and kept going. I am really proud of the effort he gave throughout. I'm sure he's as sick or sicker than anybody that he dropped that ball at the end there, but it didn't take away how hard he played or how I feel about him as a guy that will bust his tail for his team. It was tough that that happened. It would have been a great, great game for him, I still think he still played pretty darn good."

(On Sony Michel taking blame for loss)
"Well it's hard to tell guys what to think. We certainly didn't grab him coming off the sideline, badger him and tell him `you messed up the game for us'. We don't do that. We encourage him to get back to fundamentals and have the ball high and tight, two hands in traffic, and that kind of thing. We try to coach them and teach them. Of all people, that kid, Sony is not going to be like a guy that acts like it's no big deal. If someone acts like it's no big deal then you have a problem with that. He knew it was a big deal. He was sick, and then he just kept battling from there."

(On how difficult it was to run later in the game)
"They pretty much packed the box the whole day, which allowed us to take some one-on-one shots that we took advantage of. We probably have to do a little bit more of that quite frankly. They did a good job of rolling their safeties down, giving us two deep stuff. The last second rolling a guy in there, and getting an unblocked hat in there. They fought, the played good."

(On Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs)
"We knew he was a good athlete and we knew he was a big, tough kid. He played inspired ball tonight I thought. He really became a tackled breaker, maybe more so than I would have expected. We had a harder time, when we got to him, just getting him on the ground. You figure if you get to a QB like that, you can get him on the ground. There were times he just broke tackles and kept going. The yards after contact that you think about for a tailback, he was doing that. He played a whale of a game."

(On Tennessee receivers getting free)
"Sometimes you bring certain pressures and you expect to get to the quarterback before he can step up and throw it into some seems that are a little bit bigger because you are bringing more people. I know that happened once or twice. Anytime a guy can hold the ball long enough, most of the time something is going to come open sooner or later. There were times where we got to him, pressured him and batted balls down and things of that nature. But there were times where he had more time and space in that pocket than you'd life for him to have with the coverage that we had."

(On second loss impacting goals)
"I don't know yet, it's a wild league. A lot of teams are capable of beating each other. We are definitely not losing hope by any means of our goal to get to Atlanta. We know our big thing is to get better. Find a way to beat Missouri, get to that open date, get healed up a little bit, rest up a little bit. Get ready for the next one. Our focus again would do everything we can to get prepared to beat Missouri at home."

(On how the team fixes mistakes)
"What do we have to do? There is a lot of things I'm sure that have to happen. One is to protect a little better maybe. The quarterback has to be more accurate, guys have to catch the ball when it gets to them. Sometimes you have to be ready to run a draw into coverages that are designed to stop passes. A lot of times you'll break a run on those types of coverages."

(On Grayson Lambert's play)
"He did some really good things. There's a few things that I can think of off the top of my head where he missed an open guy here or there. Again, it's really hard to put a stamp on it without seeing the tape. As the game went on, and when it came time to continue to fight and put us in a position to win, he was doing that. Of course if Reggie [Davis] catches the ball, who knows you might be saying what a heroic game it was for Reggie and him. It didn't turn out that way on that particular play."

(On how he feels after two consecutive but different losses)
"They do. It's just no good losing. People can say it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game. There's a little bit of that I guess. But the reality is if you don't win it's not fun. Sometimes if you do win, it's not that fun. We do a poor job of celebrating victories no matter how they happen. It's sickening to everybody. The coaching staff spends 80 hours a week grinding, everybody is, not just us. Our players putting the hours they put in, plus school, academics and all that kind of thing. It's a big sacrifice from January until today. So it hurts; it's painful, but that's sports, that's football and that's part of life. So we have to deal with it, we've got to stick together, we have to work hard and find ways to improve to the point that we can get that victory next week."

(On the play of Jake Ganus)
"He did a lot of good things I saw for sure, no doubt. He's a tough kid, plays with a lot of heart and determination. A couple times he got out there in space and shot his bullet and missed, but that's what happens when you play hard. You go after people and try to knock them back, every once in a while you miss them. For the most part I thought he played his tail off."

(On Jordan Jenkins missing time)
"I think it was a groin injury that was bothering him. I think he tried to come and play in the second half, but he couldn't go. I don't know how serious it is, but that's what it was."

(On how tough loss is based on goals)
"Immediately, like right now, between now and the time you put your head on the pillow and go to bed. It probably is tougher, but what happens is once tomorrow comes, you must critique it, you must watch the film and you must decide what needs be done. Once you go through the pain of that, after that you just start moving forward. We are extremely busy getting prepared for the next one. It's therapeutic going back to work, because it hurts. When you have a new goal in front of you, you start going after that. Usually I have the worst remorse, or the worst regret of a loss in the middle of the summer. I go back and watch tape or whatever it is. As its happening you've got to more forward, you got to be positive. Everybody thinks the sky is falling, everybody starts pointing fingers, and everyone gets really negative it's hard to finish a season and continue to strive for the goals that we have. That's not going to happen, it hasn't happened in the 15 years that I've been here. It's no fun, it's hard to sleep on a night like tonight, it's going to be hard to wake up and know that it happened."

(On feeling snake bitten by running back injuries)
"I hadn't really thought about it."

Georgia running back Sony Michel

(On his team's performance Saturday night)
"I know my team fought hard. We made a lot of mistakes and I feel like I made the biggest mistake to turn this game around. I kind of want to take this game upon myself - I feel like we lost this game because of me."

(On fumble on kickoff return)
"I wasn't holding onto the ball tight enough and gave it away and killed momentum."

(On support of team after fumble)
"My team is always supportive and they're always there for me no matter what happens - good or bad, they're always there. It just sucks when I'm not able to respond how they want me to."

(On Chubb's injury)
"I talked to him a little bit on the sideline. He's in good spirits and he knew I had to go in there and kind of play his role and play the game for him."

"I was prepared for this moment - he prepared me for this moment."

(On any pressure entering the game)
"There was no pressure, just lack of focus. I went in that game and gave it up. That's the number one rule - never give up the ball."

"We're just going to have to leave this behind us and move on forward to the next game - Missouri. We're going to try to get our ultimate goal to win the game."

(On Reggie Davis's play)
"Everybody makes mistakes, but I think if I would have never fumbled then we would not have been in that position to count on him to kick that ball."

Georgia wide receiver Malcom Mitchell

(On Sony Michel's postgame comment regarding his fumble in the game)
"I wish he never would have made that comment. If I was by him I wouldn't have let him make that comment because the game is 60 minutes. It's a team effort. We're supposed to have his back...I just don't like when teammates put the blame on themselves because they're not the only one on the field."

(On where Georgia goes from here)
"The most dishonorable thing to the "G" is to give up."

(On Nick Chubb's injury)
"I think the loss of Nick Chubb is an emotional loss that will feel more now than during the game. Unfortunately that comes with territory. That's a part of the game: injuries. Unfortunately sometimes [we suffer] injuries, so we'll be there for him as his teammate and as his friend. I'm not even sure what is wrong with him to be honest, so I don't know what is going on."

Georgia quarterback Greyson Lambert

(On tonight's loss)
"You know, all losses are tough - this one today is extra tough. We've got to be able to put them behind us and move on - that's football, that's how it works. We've got to put behind both the wins and losses and move on to the next week."

(On his playing in the game)
"I don't know, I haven't watched the film obviously. But, I didn't do enough to help out. I know we didn't do well on third down and I take a lot of the blame for that - missing a couple of throws but I don't know."

(On regrouping post game)
"There's really no other option but to just regroup and think, come back and come back fighting. I feel like we're a resilient team and we have to come back and move forward. [We have to] learn from the mistakes, build off the good stuff and just move forward."

(On Chubb's injury)
"You never want to see any of that stuff happen. You never think about it but he's probably the least deserving person for something like that to happen to. It was tough but obviously we had 59 minutes and 30 seconds left in the ballgame so it was next man up mentality. The game had just started and we had so much adrenaline going for the game that we had to keep moving on and moving forward."

Georgia linebacker Jake Ganus

(On the loss)
"We just [have] to go back, get in the film room, and just have to keep going forward. You never know what can happen in this league, and our full focus now is on Missouri so we just got to go and prepare for them."

(On looking back at the game)
"We had a lot of miscommunication and just a lot of different things, lack of education, and we just didn't execute as well as we needed to. It's disappointing but you just have to learn from it and move on."

"You know when different offices bring different problems, and schematically we had a really good plan and overall we just need to execute better. Just knowing where your eyes are supposed to be and always just focusing on the little things. We had a lot of quarterback runs and were chasing the running back - play action passes and whatnot. So those are things as a defense we have to get better and mature at.

(On UT's score in second quarter)
"Yeah I mean, that was tough but we can't let that affect it - how we play. We came out in the second half and got a stop right away so we weren't thinking about that. In the end, they played better and made more plays."

University of Tennessee Athletics