|
|
(Opening Statement)
"Proud of the players...I want to give NC State a lot of credit...We made a lot of mistakes in the first half...I'm proud of how we played in the second half...The two indicators of winning and losing are turnovers and big plays...We had driven down in the red zone, and couldn't convert...We're going to have to learn how to grit through four quarters...There's a lot of adversity in a football game. We didn't handle it very well in the first half, but did better in the second half...I'm proud of the way we finished."
(On Cordarrelle Patterson)
"He had a couple of huge plays. He's big and fast and can catch the ball."
(On Tyler Bray)
"Tyler did a good job with the ball, especially in the red area. Really proud of Tyler's management in the throwing game. He took care of the football."
(On Winning the First Game)
"It's one game...All that matters is that we are 1-0 and we have to clean up a ton of mistakes. We're not going to pat ourselves on the back because we won one game. They're times you're going to be winded you have to get over it and keep playing. Our guys have to understand that our tempo is going to wear them down."
(On Playing at Neutral Site)
"We're going to have a lot of tough environments and good football teams and this good test."
JUNIOR LB Dontavis Sapp
(On playing in the Georgia Dome)
"Tonight was exciting it was a great atmosphere. Hopefully we get a chance to come back and play in Georgia in a few months."
(On entering the game for Herman Lathers)
"It felt good, I practiced hard all week and it came in as second nature"
JUNIOR WR Justin Hunter
(On Cordarrelle Patterson)
"He's got a great chance to be one of the best in the league. As you saw tonight, he played a great game. Hopefully, this will lead to me not being double-teamed."
(On Tennessee's mental toughness)
"We finally played a full 60 minutes. To me, that's as tough as we need to be, to be successful in this league. In the past, that has definitely been a problem. Yet again, it feels good to get the first one out of the way."
(On playing in the Georgia Dome)
"We played in a great environment, in front of a great crowd, and we were able to come out on top."
(On Tyler Bray)
"I think he made a lot of good decisions out there and did what he had to do to help us win."
(On starting the season with a win)
"It's always important to get the first one out of the way, so now we can focus on getting another one next week."
SOPHOMORE DB Brian Randolph
(On the defense's performance)
"It feels good, we put in a lot of work this summer putting in this defense so getting in the win feels good but there is still a lot of work to do."
(On affecting the quarterback)
"We got a lot more comfortable as the game went on. We affected the quarterback as the game went on. It gives us a lot of confidence going forward."
JUNIOR QB Tyler Bray
(On what he said to Justin Hunter)
"Sometimes (Justin Hunter) tries to do too much. I mean, there's a lot going on around him, and (Cordarrelle Patterson) had a great game so you knew that Justin was going to go out there and try to make plays. I talked to him on the sidelines, and I tried to calm him down. It worked for him."
(On the 2011 season)
"We kind of forgot about last year. WE kind of moved on since then. We knew we could come ou here and exploit some things (N.C. State) did on defense, and that could lead to some big plays."
(On NC State)
"In the beginning, they stated creeping up and started getting aggressive. NC State is a good team."
(On the game)
"It was a great game. We haven't won here since the National Championship. This was great for the state of Tennessee."
RS JUNIOR DB Byron Moore
(On establishing the season against NC State)
"We wanted to come out and establish our trademark, our standard for how Tennessee is going to play this year. It felt good to play four quarters."
HEAD COACH TOM O'BRIEN
(Opening Statement)
"You have to give Tennessee a lot of credit. They' re a good football team. It just came down to too many big plays we gave up on defense. We turned the ball over too many times. What it boils down to is too many long plays and long drives."
(On rebounding after the loss)
"We have to find a way to get ourselves back together, get our minds right and win a football game. We had our opportunity and didn't make the most of it. We have to find the courage and conviction of this team to win next Saturday."
(Positives from game)
"We played a lot of guys. A lot of guys got experience. This can still be a good football team. We have a tough road to go. We have to get ourselves together and go play the next football game."
(On missing tackles)
We missed a lot of tackles, whether it is fatigue, those are things that be corrected. Obviously those are things that need to get corrected if we are going to have a good season. "
Quintin Payton
(On the team goals)
"This is not going to break our season. We'll go back to the drawing board and get it together. "
Brian Slay
(On the big plays)
"The big plays really hurt us tonight and put us in a hole."
David Anderson
(On giving up big plays)
"I guess you can say so. Just didn't play well. On the 72 yd I thought I had help. Just got to go back to the basics continue to work and get better."
Earl Wolf
(On freshman cornerback Juston Burris)
"He showed a lot of confidence and played well against an SEC opponent."
(On the team's improvement)
"We know we can play better. Tennessee is a great team, but we made some critical mistakes."
Mustafa Greene
(On the game)
"We were excited going into the game. As a team, we are down at the moment, we just need to give more effort in the upcoming weeks."
(On the offensive line)
"The line did exceptionally well. I got what I got because of the line. I should have cut back more to gain more yards."
(On the team)
"We always try to back each other up. You need to have a short memory to play this game."
|
|
 |
