Bobby Johnson
Opening statement:
That was a tough one to go through. Alabama did a good job of being physical and taking it to us in the first half and we made too many first-half errors to have a chance to win this game...We can't help the other team and we certainly did. We worked right into their plan.
On Chris Nickson:
I think he was not performing because he was injured. We took it him out because he was injured. You can't ask him to throw we he can't push off so we took him out.
On reasons for the loss:
I think it was execution. We had some open opportunities in the first half. We just couldn't get the ball to them in situations where it allowed us to continue drives.
I'd stick with the game plan, but we've got be tougher and a little better executors.
On the officiating:
Don't ask me any officiating questions. I couldn't afford the fine.
In my opinion, they were up jostling for the ball and that's my opinion. Of course, my opinion it's not worth two cents.
On the importance of the two penalties:
I don't think they could have gotten any bigger. It couldn't have had more impact on the game.
On the face mask call:
He said he hit the guy on the way out who was trying to cover him in the face mask.
On Mackenzi Adams:
Mixed. He can be a good player. It's hard to come off the bench and take over a game that had not been going well. Mackenzi's got some skills and he's a tough guy and I wouldn't hesitate to put him in again.
On Alabama:
I think they ran the ball really well in the second half. I thought we did fair in the first half. When you ask your defense to keep running out there, that's tough on them. They basically wore us down in the second half.
On failing to execute the fundamentals:
Fundamentally was the most disappointing thing. We missed some tackles because we didn't lock up. We missed a tackle on the first punt. I mean, we had the guy. We had him and the next thing I know he's going down the sideline over there.
Earl Bennett
On the pass interference call:
We wanted to go deep on the first play. Ref made a call and you've got to live it.
On if he thought he pushed off:
Nah, not really, but you've got to live with it.
On the significance of the call:
It was definitely a momentum-changer for us because if we had made that, we feel like we would've gotten a little rhythm going early on in the game.
On if Vandy lost the game or Alabama won it:
It was us. Alabama's got a great defense, but we didn't execute the plays today.
On his disappointment in the loss:
It hurt us a lot. We felt like we should've come out and won this game, and we didn't. We've just got to go back to the drawing board and get ready for Mississippi this week.
It definitely hurts. We feel like we should've come out and won this game. We watched film all week, had a great game plan going into the game and we just couldn't execute.
On bouncing back:
It's very important. This is not a one-game season and we've got a lot of games left.
Chris Nickson
On his hamstring injury:
I think it affected me to an extent, but mostly it was just a rhythm thing. We were trying to establish a rhythm and get something going and it just wasn't happening for us.
I couldn't plant off my back foot like I wanted to.
On the pass interference call:
I think that would have been a great start for me. It's tough to see them make that call.
On his performance:
It's disappointing to perform the way I did today, no matter who we're playing.
On his reaction to the game:
It's a game that you like at and say, ‘that should never happen again.' I just wasn't expecting that. I've had my hard games and I've this experience before. I just didn't plan on going through it again. Just to add the injury on to it, it kills things for me personally.
For me personally, I look at it as ‘don't let it happen again.'
On his confidence level, both individually and as a team:
I'm very confident. We don't have any other choice. We set goals that we plan to achieve and so I'm 100 percent confidence in what we can do and what we're gonna do.
On bouncing back:
The character of this team is completely changed. We're a whole different team. Bad thigns are gonna happen. Some people are gonna jump off the boat when bad things happen. We're a good team. We're a great team. We have a great coaching staff and we have great character and the character to bounce back from anything.
On when he got hurt:
Late in the first, early in the second quarter.
Marcus Buggs
On winning at home:
We have eight home games this year. We've got to start capitalizing on those opportunities.
On what impressed him about Alabama:
Nothing. They are who we thought they were. They didn't trick us or come out and surprise us with anything. It was more our fault that we lost that game.
Reshard Langford
On if this is the same old Vandy:
We're not the same old Vanderbilt. There is no such thing as the same old Vanderbilt. We're new Vanderbilt. We're trying to get better every year and we go out and work hard just like everyone else.
On bouncing back:
We will bounce back. We've got to treat a game like it's a play. You make a mistake one play, you can't dwell on it. We didn't come out victorious today, but we'll go out and practice hard to get ready for next week.
