Post Game Quotes - Georgia vs. Tennessee
September 27, 2014 | Football
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Georgia Post-Game Quotes
Georgia Head Coach Mark Richt
Opening Statement...
"I have to give credit to both teams. Both teams showed tremendous poise, both teams showed tremendous fight, both teams got behind and fought back, both teams had good things happen and capitalized, both teams had bad things and found a way to fight back."
"Any time you have to use your hands team and have to get a couple of first downs to put it away, it's obviously a close game. I thought both teams played well."
"We had two turnovers that could have turned into points, but they didn't. When you can stop the bleeding after turnovers, it's huge. The defense did a great job of keeping those from becoming a bad situation."
"Earlier in the year, I said (Todd Gurley) is at least one of the best players in the country. Now, I'm saying he's the best player in America. I can't imagine anyone being more talented, a guy who loves his team more, and a guy who means more to his team than he does to us."
"The punt took a great bounce and we knocked it down on the 1 and that turned into points. That's what special teams can do for you. That was huge."
WR Michael Bennett
On the passing game...
"We're doing what we need to be doing. We aren't trying to force anything, but we're taking what is given to us. We were taking some shots down the field we just need to execute them. I had a few chances deep; Chris [Conley] had a few chances. We just need to execute. I feel like a few tweaks here and a few tweaks there and we'll get it going."
On using this win as momentum going forward...
"It's always good to have an SEC win. It doesn't matter who it's against. Vanderbilt is coming in struggling, but they played South Carolina very tough. So we can't take anything for granted."
TB Todd Gurley
On the run game having success as the game progressed...
"When you run against a team you just have to keep going at them. They might be stopping you, but they're still getting tired down at the line. You just have to keep taking it to them and wear them down and they'll get tired. Once that happens you get some more opportunities."
On his second half... "After those first three-and-outs I just got in a zone. I got tunnel vision and in a mindset where nothing else mattered except getting that victory. I wanted the ball and our linemen just did a great job of opening up holes."
DE Josh Dawson
On the game...
"In the second half we just got zoned in and started playing with confidence .We just let it go, really. They were keeping us off of our game with the screen passes and draws. We just came out in the second half with the mindset that we had to make something happen, and we did."
On his playing time...
"I'm just happy to be out there with these guys. We have a great group of guys form the line, to the linebackers, to the secondary. Coach Pruitt has done a great job with us. I just try to make the most of my opportunities and the opportunities came today."
DB Aaron Davis
On defensive adjustments at halftime...
"There really weren't any adjustments. It was just a matter of executing. In the second half we just came out really locked in and started executing our assignments."
On getting the first SEC win of the season...
"It feels good to get that win. It feels really good to get the first SEC win of the year and hopefully we can use this to get the train rolling and get some more big wins along the way."
Tennessee Post-Game Quotes
Tennessee Head Coach Butch Jones
On the game...
"Obviously, this was very disappointing. It's about this football team understanding that it's a game of inches. It's a play here, a play there and it's a cumulating factor. They really fought and every individual in this organization believed that we were going to win. I am proud of them, but we have to continue to learn from this and then move on. We are going to be a good football team and we are going to win a lot of football games. I am really proud of our special teams. I would say that 90 percent of our special teams are comprised of true freshmen and I really challenged them this week. Defensively, holding Georgia to 1-of-10 on third down was really promising. I didn't think that we were able to generate a lot of pressure at times on Mason and that's something that we are going to work on. I thought Justin Worley did some great things when he came back and showed some grit at the end. It's the small details that go into planning winning football. Again, we need to continue to move forward and continue to build this football program, but the culture has changed and I can tell you that."
On the momentum at the end of the first half...
"To perform the one-minute drill on the road, and you go the length of the field and score on them is really encouraging. It gave us some momentum going into the half."
On bouncing back...
"We have a lot to play for it. It's very early in the season. We are going to stay together and maintain focus, discipline and composure. Losses should hurt. This team does hurt because they have invested a lot, but when we come back on Sunday, we go to work. We get the opportunity to come home and play in front of our great fans in another SEC divisional game and rivalry game. We have great character on our football team now and I expect them to handle this and move forward."
WR Jason Croom
On quarterback Justin Worley...
"He's always showing us he's a tough leader. He's never going to back down. He can play through anything and he's good at handling adversity."
On how much the huddle changed when Worley came back from injury...
"There was never a difference, we just messed up a couple of times when we had a different quarterback in. He came back in and definitely made some plays for us, though."
RB Jalen Hurd
On what the game was like for him...
"We were just expecting that it was going to be a tough game and that we were going to come out and play hard. That's something that we did tonight, so we've just got to go work on our mistakes that we made going into Florida."
On Worley's toughness...
"Worley is a great competitor and he knew that we needed him. He came through at a really good time and played his butt off. Unfortunately we didn't get the `W', but we're going to work our butts off for Florida.
On his fumble that led to a Georgia touchdown...
"It was a bad exchange. I take full responsibility and that's something that won't happen again."
LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin
On how disappointed the defense was to not stop Georgia from getting a first down to close out the game...
"It was hard. Every time we go out there we're determined to get a three-and-out every time. It doesn't matter what time of the game it is."
On the upcoming Florida game...
"We've just got to put the game behind us as soon as we get off that bus and focus on Florida."
On how the Tennessee defensive line played...
"I've got total belief in the defensive line. The media might think we are a smaller, younger front, but we don't care about any of that stuff in our room. We know that those guys can play and we trust them. We grind together, we fight together, so we've got each other's back."
On Georgia's Todd Gurley...
"He's a bigger guy. He's got good speed. He's one of the top running backs in the country so we had to do a great job of getting him on the ground, and we gave up a lot of points today, so we didn't do a good enough job."
