Opening Statement …
“I certainly didn’t expect it to go that way. We didn’t start the way we needed to. We’ve got to show a lot of improvement in a lot of areas and just disappointed in our start to the game. Anytime you spot somebody seven points, that’s not good. We gave up some explosive plays on defense. But the positives were we didn’t blink, we’ve got a very emotional team and I thought in the locker room, there were a lot of emotions shown.
Tennessee’s got a good football team; I’ve got a lot of respect for Jeremy Pruitt and his staff, how hard his kids play, how physical they play. They play a really good brand of football, as we do too. We’ve got to improve our ability to execute and play with discipline and composure, and we didn’t do that at all times today. A couple costly decisions there, 4th-and-1, didn’t get it, they turn around and score the very next play and then right before the half, leaving one out there, could’ve been a huge back-breaker for them, instead gives them huge momentum.”
On the team answering adversity after halftime…
“I think we’re a well-conditioned team and our team has taken pride in the conditioning level. I think we’ve got a team that adjusts well, so if somebody’s giving us trouble with something, we have answers, we don’t just continue to do the same thing if we’re struggling with things. I’m proud of the effort they came out with in the second half with the momentum the defense created. We’re not executing at a high level and that can cause problems; that’s special teams, that’s defensive execution on fastball exchanges, that’s offensively getting lined up, getting in a formation and getting a call. That can be costly if you play a team that can capitalize on them.”
Stetson Bennett, Junior, Quarterback
On the second half of the game...
"You feel so bad going into halftime getting stopped on a first and one on the goal line and the points that we spotted them… We had to keep our head up. Coach Todd Monken, reminded us, ‘hey man they haven't stopped us yet.’ We just have to keep going and get that train rolling. "
On his job quarterbacking the team against another top team...
"Tennessee was a really good football team. They are physical. They knew what their strengths and weaknesses were, and they played to them. They are a really good football team. The first run was just a scramble. I got a good block from George Pickens on that side. The second play, Coach Monken was feeling my legs. My o-line blocked it up well. I guess I got in the end-zone? It was pretty close on the pylon. But, just two back-to-back runs and I got good blocks."
On the chemistry between him and WR Kearis Jackson...
"He plays the game hard. He gets open. It is easy to throw him the ball because he catches it. I don't go looking for him, I don't go really looking for anybody because I just like to use everyone. But he is open a lot. And he catches my eye and I trust him."
Azeez Ojulari, Redshirt Sophomore, Outside Linebacker
On the momentum switch in the second half…
“We know we are a second-half team. We had to come out and just play our game and continue to execute—follow the plan, get the job done.”
On his sack, strip and fumble…
“It was pretty big, man! We needed that coming back from halftime. We definitely needed that switch in momentum in the game. We put the offense in great field position to get some points on the board. It was a big moment. It was great.”
On how much the Georgia players play off the momentum of each other…
“Definitely. We feed off of each other’s energy, definitely. Once anyone makes a big play it boosts the other teammates and all of our plays. It gets everyone going—everyone is hype and ready to go out there and execute. It’s huge to go big play after big play after big play.”
Opening statement…
“First of all, I would just like to give credit to Georgia. I thought they really outplayed us there in the second half. When you look at the game, of course you learn a lot when you look at the tape, but you can’t turn the ball over three times against anybody and expect to win. We turned the ball over three times in the second half, once for a defensive score and twice, I don’t think they got any first downs and kicked field goals. So, there’s 13 points there that really changed the game. We made a lot of mistakes on the defensive side, especially on third down. That’s on me. That’s not on anyone else, that’s on me. I learned a long time ago that you have to be able to do what your players can do. If they can’t do it then you got to do a better job of coaching them up, and I have to do a better job of that.
Offensively, we created a couple of explosive plays in the first half, but in the second half we didn’t control the line of scrimmage, played behind the sticks and we have to be more explosive, got to be able to run the ball. We also didn’t really create any plays in the special teams.”
On whether Georgia did anything in the second half that gave them trouble on offense…
“They got pressure on the quarterback. I don’t know exactly what pressures they ran. I know a couple of times we had people blocking them and they beat us in one-on-ones. Then we threw a pick, which was an ill-advised throw. You just can’t do stuff like that. It’s pretty simple. We turned the ball over three times and didn’t get any turnovers in the second half. That’s the difference in the ball game.”
On whether he thought he would be able to run the ball better this game than they did…
“Yeah we didn’t run the ball very well at all. We didn’t seem to get in rhythm offensively, we created a couple of big throws there, but to win in this league you have to be able to run the ball. We didn’t run the ball tonight. It’s tough to win that way when you become one-dimensional.”
Josh Palmer, Senior, Wide Receiver
On the difference in the second half of the game...
"They just came out better in the second half. Honestly, we just have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot by making dumb mistakes. But they were just a better team in the second half."
On Georgia's defense...
"They are strong upper guys. They hit you on all cylinders. They just came out better in the second half. They just took over."
Jarrett Guarantano, Redshirt Senior, Quarterback
On what Georgia's defense did well...
"I thought they stopped the run pretty well the whole day. In the first half we were able to take advantage of them in the pass game. In the second half they made some good adjustments and they came in and played a lot of cloud defense, some cover 2 and they were able to stop the run and the pass."
On how his turnovers affected the game...
"Turnovers are a big part of any game. For them to create turnovers, that is one of the reasons why they won. Props go to them. I thought they were a really good defense. They are probably the best defense in the SEC and that we have seen in a long time. They were able to create turnovers and get the job done when we didn't."
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