Paraphrasing Vanderbilt's Football Press Conference

[Mark Wheeler]

From Chis Lee of the Vanderbilt site here on the Network.


These aren't exact quotes, but the essence of what was said. Feel free to share with your readers.

COACH DEREK MASON

• Hard-fought win. They gained momentum and confidence. They’ve got some things to clean up but it was a great win.
• Was excited for Kyle Shurmur and the skill players.
• UF had a halftime lapse last week. Jim Mcilwain will flush it quickly, He’s known him for 20 years. He’s a great coach and they’ll rebound.
• UF defense is nationally ranked, doing good things on both sides of the ball.
• Doesn’t know what’s happening with Del Rio but they’ve got a solid QB and a bunch of weapons.
• On Shurmur and how to take that performance forward: He was composed even when things weren’t going his way. He stuck to the script and never got rattled.
• TE position needed to come alive and it did, along with WR.
• On going up-tempo on offense: It’s not necessarily not what they want to do, but as he grows up and masters the offense, they feel better about letting him take it over. But he’s not there yet. In practice he delivers the ball and puts it where it needs to be and doesn’t think too much. He did a good job in that situation in terms of making sure he stayed composed.
• Will the next such situation be easier for him, given his success? He doesn’t know. His demeanor is just that way as it is. He also “got after his guys… that’s a great step for a young QB.”
• 100 percent in the red zone on offense: OC Andy Ludwig has a mastery of his personnel. It took time. They’re taking care of the football and getting better on third downs each week.
• They’re getting a little better every week on offense. He knows people want faster improvement.
• The team “is growing up in front of your eyes. … it hasn’t been easy. “
• This was a “great first step” in terms of getting a winning identity.
• On Florida defense: which is the real deal, 1st 10 quarters or last two? He’s not buying the last two, “sometimes you find yourself in a landslide… and that can be tough.”
• What does UF do? They stop the run. They’re good in the secondary. They can match-cover on the perimeter. Safeties have good range. Linebackers are very good.
• On their issues in the run defense: He knows the issues. They’re addressing them. People throw punches and test their edges and then try to get you in the middle late. He knows what teams are doing to them and he's processing that. He thought they improved their run defense.
• Is there more a sense of “normalcy” with offenses going forward? (They played GT, WKU, MTSU… all different offenses): It took them a while to understand they needed to get hats to the ball instead of just assignment ball. They started slow and there were a lot of isolation plays but they got better. They practiced well today.
• UF losing to UT, they beat WKU so they come at it from different perspectives: On their end, they can’t get too high or too low. Every week they’re trying to go 1-0. Florida’s the team coming to town next and that’s their concern.
• Early kickoff does change their game-day prep and such.
• On Austin Appleby: he’s seasoned. He’s a grad student. The atmosphere won’t affect him. They’ll have to get better in pass rush. They had chances Saturday and didn’t cash in.
• On Ean Pfeifer: He played well. Delando Crooks is questionable. They need quality depth and need to develop it. Seeing Ean play well was exciting.
• On Ralph Webb: The offense isn’t just about him. They can’t enter the game thinking they can run the ball down Florida’s throat.

OLB OREN BURKS:

• On his role changing: They have
• On not getting sacks: said the same as Agee said below.
• Against UF, they have to come out fast and physical. They need to jump on them early.
• Appleby is a good QB. That’s the case with SEC QBs.
• UT had a great pass-rush and pressure and that was important. They need to get Appleby uncomfortable in the pocket.
• On being close in the Swamp: it’s personal to them since they came close last year. A lot of guys off that team returned. He’s hungry and ready to get out there. (smiling)

DL TOREY AGEE

• On UF running a more traditional offense: They have to play fundamentally sound every week, no matter who.
• On not stopping the run: It’s fundamental football. That’s a point of emphasis this week, to not get knocked back.
• Getting sacks is “want-to.” They’ve got to be hungry and seek the ball. They’ll come eventually.
• On winning late: it’s great for confidence. They didn’t have defining drives or stops last year like the ones they had Saturday.

QB KYLE SHURMUR

• Biggest thing on the winning drive was trusting his receivers to make the plays.
• On his first game-winning drive: as a team in an adverse situation, they responded. They showed up big.
• On the difference between success early and non-success late: WKU did some “exotic” stuff early they were prepared for but they didn’t execute. Once he trusted his guys and settled in, it changed.
• Is UF the best defense he’s faced? Shook head affirmatively. Said they’re great. But it’s about VU and not UF. It’s how they execute their offense.
• Red zone execution and skills as they relate to that: When you get there on third down, the competitive nature has to increase. There are more extreme outcomes there.
• On having more red zone options: a lot of guys contribute across the board. Having Duncan and Pinkney back, and Lipscomb here, helps.
• On approaching Tabor and Wilson: You consider how good they are but it’s about him trusting his WRs. He’ll recognize they’re good players but when he trusted his guys last week, good stuff happened.

WR C.J. DUNCAN

• On how they’ve scored every time in the red zone: they track that and it’s a focal point. They spend a lot of time in practice.
• On how he’s been more involved lately? Not much difference. It’s being ready when the number is called. They can be explosive in the run and pass game. They have to run good routes and block well.
• There’s a bit of a different confidence about them after going through adversity of a couple of losses. You can talk about it but when you overcome it, as they did, it’s different.

 

[gators4life24]

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