Postgame Quotes: UT 34, Ark. State 19

Sept. 6, 2014

TENNESSEE HEAD COACH Butch Jones

(Opening Statement)
"First of all good victory, a lot of learning lessons, a lot of great teaching opportunities, again thank you to our great fan base over 99,000 for a noon game. Again it was great. I appreciate our student body and everyone coming out. I thought the whole key when you really look at it in a nutshell, when you summarize it, the first thing that comes to mind were third down conversions. We did a great job defensively getting off the field on third downs. We were able to possess the ball offensively on third down. Throughout the course of the game, I thought our offense did a great job of not having three and out.

"As we knew coming into the game, Arkansas State is an explosive offense. Knighten is a great player and I think that was illustrated here today. I thought our defense was resilient. We put them in some adverse situations with field position and special teams. But again, these are going to be the days of a very, very young football team but we are learning how to win. Teams find ways to win football games when they don't play their best football. So I'm very proud of them that way, but make no mistake about it, we have a long ways to go. We have to start getting more personnel playing on our special teams. There is a number of times we have too many starters on defense playing on our kick coverage teams. We have to get that corrected and some individuals to step up. A win is a win and it's a great win against a very quality opponent that challenges you. I thought our players grew up a little bit today."

(On Pearson and Wolf)
"They are both in the locker room. I will probably know a little bit more by tonight or tomorrow. I thought Marquez North really sparked us and really made some big plays. I thought our receivers, particularly in the first half, really played the ball well in the air; they came down and made some great plays. Another thing is red zone efficiency and scoring touchdowns in the red zone opposed to kicking field goals. That is absolutely critical and we were six out of seven with one missed field goal at the end of the game, which is inexcusable. I thought we did a great job also in the red zone."

(On depth)
"It's the realities of building a football program. It's also a sense of urgency with some other players like you have to get ready you have no choice, and accept a role. Everyone has a role and responsibility on this football team. We will continue to work to improve on our special teams but we need more people contributing than what we have right now. That is going to start the minute we walk into practice. We have some individuals who want that opportunity now they need to take advantage of it."

(Effectiveness of third down conversions) "I thought we were in a rhythm. In the second half, that could be misconstrued, because at the end of the game we were running the clock out. For us to compete at a high level, we need to be able to run the clock out, we shouldn't have to rely on a field goal kicker coming in and keeping the clock running to finish the game. That is all developing of individuals who haven't played much football. It's a great teaching opportunity but in the first half I thought we had pretty good rhythm, especially on third down. Some players made some plays of the ball in the air. I think the second half, some of it, was gain management situations as well."

(On defense upfront and QB pressure)
"I thought that was one of the keys was that we were able to apply pressure. A lot of times we would let them escape and break contain, which you can't do with a great player like him. I think lost in that we challenged the back end of our secondary all week to stay in coverage. That's discipline, that's the eye violations you guys write about every day, it's the eye discipline we talk about everyday, "See a little, see a lot." I think they did a great job in staying in coverage and we rallied to the football. We were able to generate some pressure and that was great to see. We took away the run game. We knew it was going to be a lateral game. We knew they were going to try and get the ball outside our defense."

(On defense)
"I thought we were resilient. I thought we ran to the football. We had some individuals have to grow up today. Dillon Bates, for instance, his number was called more than it ever has been and Chris Weatherd as well. I think we lose sight that Chris Weatherd never even arrived here until the first of August. He didn't even have the summer strength and conditioning program and what he's doing right now, we are very proud of him. We have some individuals, Todd Kelly Jr., had to step up for some critical moments and critical situations and stressful situations. Again, that's how you grow up and that's how you develop."

(On Todd Kelly Jr. starting)
"Brian was nicked up a little bit from the Utah State game so he was going to be available only in case of emergency. I think that is a tribute to Jason McVeigh and our training staff. Brian worked himself and rehabilitated himself with rest and recovery and the sports science end of it to get himself ready to play. He had some valuable reps today."

(On whether playing him was because of emergency)
"We needed a veteran back there. He is a veteran spokesperson back there. He gets everyone lined up and we needed that comforting force back there."

(On Offense)
"I know that we had a loaded box and again it was four yards. We still don't have much explosive runs and we have to get that corrected. It's really hard to say right now. I thought our running backs ran hard. I thought we got some tough yardage but I won't know much more about that until I watch the video tonight."

(On Special Teams)
"I have to really watch the video. I thought we made some improvement but there are some things I thought we digressed. What I've learned is to never comment too early because sometimes what you see on the field isn't particularly what happened. There were a couple times in punt protection when we broke down. One of the things that we stressed all week was operation time and the one was at 1:93 operation time and we got the ball away. That's why it wasn't blocked and they stumped to it. So I have to go back and really watch the video and I will be able to comment in a couple days."

(Consistency on Defense)
"There were ebbs and flows but that's the game of football. That's a good football team. That's a football team that's well coached, plays with tempo, and their players are used to winning, and have gone to numerous bowl games. That's batted in their culture and their DNA. That's a talented football team and they're going to move the football against everyone. I thought we persevered but there were a couple times, though, where we had them second and long and we gave up the first down and you can't do that. When you get ahead of the chains and ahead of the sticks, you have to use that to your advantage, and get off the field. But, we also made critical stops, critical plays at critical stages of the game. The fourth and one, at the end of the game, was critical. I thought we did some good things and we persevered. We created some adverse situations for them in terms of field position and I thought they responded overall."

(On short workweek)
"Staff is fine because we are used to playing Thursday games and all that. It's about our players, and they had never been through it. Half of our football team is brand new. It was a short week but there are no excuses. You have to find a way to get yourself ready to go both mentally and physically. It's a great teach lesson as you work year round for twelve opportunities but it was a challenge. It was a passionate game last Sunday night. Again, the elements and learning how to play in the heat. We are in the South, you have to learn how to play in the heat. I thought our players, overall, had a pretty good week of preparation. Again, everything is a learning experience; it's all foreign territory with them."

(On amount of carries between Jalen Hurd and Marlin Lane)
"No, you guys need to stop looking into that stuff. We just play who is running the ball well, and we thought Jalen gave us a great opportunity. I thought Jalen got some tough yardage. I thought he hit the hole. Jalen runs hard. It was just the flow of the game of who you put in there. But it doesn't matter who is in the football game, whether it is him or Marlin (Lane) or Devrin (Young), we want to run the football."

(On Jacob Carter's punt return)
"He will (get chances). He's consistent. We ask so much of Cameron Sutton. He has been an absolute warrior. You look at him; he starts on punt, he's our returner on punt return, he's on kickoff and he's playing a lot of man-to-man coverage. Again, that's what I talk about--more people embracing the role of special teams. We wanted to give him an opportunity to catch his breath a little bit, take a break. We have all the confidence in Jacob. Jacob is very sure-handed. It was a situation where we needed his sure-handedness back there, and he did a great job of getting one first down for the offense. That's what we ask of our punt-return team--gain one first down, just ten yards. And Jacob did a great job."

(On wide receivers stepping up)
"Yeah, and we are going to need more people to step up. We had some individuals at the end of the game, on the field, that have not played much here at all. Again, when you get your opportunity, when your number is called, you better know what you're doing and you better take advantage of it. But, again, we're still nowhere, at that position, where we need to be in terms of recruiting and depth and getting Wide Receiver U. back. But, I'm proud of those kids. They stepped up, and they played the ball in the air like we expect them to. They made some great catches, and those are all momentum changers."

(On splash plays during the game)
"Still need more. You know, football is a game of momentum swings, and that is where that mental conditioning comes into play. Again, I would have liked to run the ball out at the end of the game. Teams are loading the box. They did a great job with that. But again, we need some more big splash run plays and secure a level one to level two in the run game."

(On George Bullock handling kickoffs)
"Well, it was an unusual situation. Never had this ever in coaching. Our kicker shows up on Sunday and has a sprained ankle. So, that's why George Bullock started on kickoffs. Aaron Medley did a great job of rehabbing and getting back. But, we had our punter and our placekicker with ankle injuries. They did a great job of rehabbing and getting ready to play this Saturday. George--the first kick really gave us some momentum, and that's what we need. We need the ball through the endzone. But also, we mishit a couple, and whenever we kick the ball into the middle of the field, it puts our coverage team in a disadvantage right away. Just overall, [we want] consistency in everything that we are doing."

(On inconsistency at the kicker position)
"We just have to continue to work on it, and everything is about consistency and performance each and every day. They're capable, and they'll get it done. I believe in them, our players believe in them. Also, Matt Darr had a couple big kicks at the end that flipped field position. But, it's just harping on the consistency, correcting it through video and through practice."

(On Justin Worley's game management this season)
"Well, I know he'd like to have the one (interception) back, but he's done a great job. He is playing poised. He is calm. He's collective. He's getting us in the right plays. He is leading. He has a commanding presence about himself. And, he is not getting rattled. I've been really, really pleased with his performance."

(On Worley's confidence this week)
"Well, I think his confidence will continue to grow and grow and grow. He has confidence in the players around him. Some of them are pushing the ball down the field. He has great confidence in our wide receivers and our tight ends. I think that's a byproduct of that they've been playing fairly well."

(On the improvement of LaTroy Lewis)
"He continues to improve. He is an individual that has taken advantage of his playing time when an opportunity presents. We talk about impactful plays and impacting the game, and we chart impactful plays. Obviously, he impacted the game again today."

(On importance of recovering fumble in third quarter)
"Big. Monumental. They had some momentum. They were coming after the kick. We did a good job of operation time. Our team did a great job of running down and recovering the football. The other key moment--I thought one of the critical stages of the game--was Alex Ellis on the recovery of the onside kick as well. Again, you look at a game. A game could be decided between two and three plays. You never know when they are going to occur, whether first half or second half. There were some critical moments at some critical stages of the game. We came up and we made the plays we needed to to win the football game."

(On Justin Worley's rushing touchdown)
"He did a great job. We had a play call. They were in man coverage, and he read it and did a good job with that."

(On play of Jalen Reeves-Maybin)
"Jalen has done a great job for us. Again, we're asking a lot out of him, not just playing linebacker but also playing special teams. He adds a whole other element of athleticism and speed to our defense. He needs to continue to work hard and grow and develop his body in terms of weight and maintaining his weight, but I've been really pleased with Jalen. He's really developing, also, as a leader on this football team, and he's playing with confidence. We have great dialogue when he comes to the sidelines. He's into it, and he's mentoring the younger players as well. Again, I thought Dillon Bates gained some valuable snaps at linebacker as well. Those two kind of spelled each other today."

TENNESSEE SENIOR LINEBACKER A.J. Johnson

(On keeping QB Fredi Knighten contained))
""We knew he was a mobile quarterback. He broke down the defense a couple of times and got good yardage. That was the main key. To stop the quarterback and to stop No. 32 (Ryan Jacobs). That was the base of their offense and who they were trying to get the ball to."

(On third down efficiency on defense)
"That's one thing: we want to win on third down. We do that in practice and throughout the summer, and we've been able to carry that into the season. Hopefully, we'll carry that into the next game and have great third down stops."

(On finish of the game)
"I don't want to say it was disappointing. We had ups and downs, and we fought through. At the end of the game, the defense came up with two 3-and-outs, and that was key to just close the game. We can come out a little more ready in the second half, and we learned from that. We're going to build on that and get better."

TENNESSEE QUARTERBACK Justin Worley

(On touchdown passes to Marquez North)
"Marquez has done a great job in fall practice and throughout camp and dating back to the spring as well of going up and getting balls in the end zone. It was good to see that transition from the practice field to the game field. He had an opportunity to go up and make a play, and he did."

(On progression of running back Jalen Hurd)
"Jalen's progressed a lot. You may not see the yards per carry that he wants that we want as an offense, but he gets those tough yards. He's done a great job of really embracing his role in protections and understanding week in, week out, where the different pressures are coming from."

(On trusting receivers more in aggressive plays)
"I think they've proven themselves in practice, and we have more chemistry now as well. That builds my faith in them. As I've said, they've done a great job of going up and getting balls in practice. I'm a little more inclined to give them an opportunity."

(on takeaways from the game)
"We're going to be able to learn a lot from this game. Everything went relatively smoothly last week, and we came out feeling great. This week, we had our ups and downs, and we were able to preserver and push through it. It's definitely a great opportunity to learn, especially with how young we are."

TENNESSEE WIDE RECEIVER Marquez North

(On gainingWorley's confidence in him to getjump balls)
"During training camp, we pushed for going deep a lot. I made a lot of big plays in training camp. There is also chemistry off the field. We are really close. It is trust and chemistry overall."

(On depth at wide receiver)
"Coach Azzannihas done a good job of getting us ready mentally and physically every week. He teaches us technique. It doesn't matter if you are first string or fourth string. He is a perfectionist, so if someone goes down, he expects us to go in and not miss a beat."

TENNESSEE RUNNING BACK Jalen Hurd

(On biggest difference through two games)
"The speed of the game. I came in early though, so I have been able to get used to that some already. Now, I am just looking forward to going to Oklahoma."

(On scoring his first rushing touchdown)
"It felt great. It really did. My wide receivers did a great job blocking on that play, and my offensive line did even better."

(On Worley's touchdown)
"It was a good read. The linebacker came up and hit me right in the hole. Worley can run. Nobody knows it, but he can run."

TENNESSEE LINEBACKER Jalen Reeves-Maybin

(On defensive newcomers)
"We trust those guys a lot. Throughout the summer we put them to the test and they responded well. All those young guys you see out there, we have a lot of trust in them. We know they won't fold."

(On third-down stops)
"It's a thing we put an emphasis on everyday, and that's money-downs. Getting off the field and getting the ball back to our offense."

TENNESSEE DEFENSIVE BACK Cameron Sutton

(On Third-Downs stops)
"We know when our offense if clicking on all cylinders, they're definitely a great offense and they'll put a lot of points on the board. We know that if we get off field on third down and get the ball back to them they'll do great damage with it."

(On improved team speed)
"Overall team speed has changed a lot. It's a great job by out strength and conditioning staff getting us in shape, getting us prepared, getting our bodies right for the game. You can tell that when we know what we are doing and we're clicking on all cylinders we play a lot faster."

TENNESSEE WIDE RECEIVER Josh Smith

(On hurdle run)
"I did a little end around and saw the DB. It's something I liked to do in high school so I tried to translate it to college. It was just there so I took it."

(On improved, more explosive offense)
"We have more and more guys that have come in and stepped up. I feel like Coach Jake is really getting comfortable with us as receivers.... I feel like we are attacking more."

ARKANSAS STATE HEAD COACH BLAKE ANDERSON

(Opening Statement)

"I'm proud of how hard the guys played. I thought they played hard for 60 minutes. We never really gave in. Attitudes were positive, even when it really didn't look real good at one point. We somehow kind of battled our way back into making it a little bit of a game at the end. We just made too many mistakes to win. The turnover came, on the punt return, came at a really tough time. We had a chance to swing momentum and didn't. I thought we had them in a pretty good spot to make a play and maybe even let our tempo take hold of them on offense. And third down was the key. We were pretty poor, and they did a good job. I think they were 65, 70 percent on third down, and we were way below our mark. You're just not going to win games against anybody, much less somebody with as much talent as they've got. But, I'm really, really proud of the guys and how hard they played. The played hard for the entire game and kept us hanging around. I guess that would be the best way to say it."

(On the fumbled punt being a turning point in the game)

"Well, turning point or not, it had a chance to be - definitely for us in our favor and we just didn't take advantage of it. I thought we had that and the surprise on-side, both would have given us a spark. The fumbled punt return was probably at the most critical part of the game, I guess. When you go back and look, there's bound to be other mistakes that we made that we would have loved to stay away from. But, that just seems like an opportunity where we stopped them, backed them up, playing field position ball, and had a chance to have the ball at about the plus-38, 39, in pretty good shape to make them tighter and put a little bit of pressure on them, we just didn't take advantage of it."

(On McKissic's injury)

"Just the same stuff. He tried to play through what was hurting him last week. It just got worse. Basically same thing, the ribcage area. He just got to a point where he wasn't going to be effective and was going to really have trouble protecting the ball, as much as anything. Just had to move on."

(On if he will have to miss games)

"He felt really good on Tuesday and Wednesday. He took a tough lick early, and re-aggravated it. I don't think, you know, `til you get a few days in."

(On the pressure Knighten)

"He's got a lot on his plate every snap. That's just he nature of being in our offense as a quarterback. We didn't design any more runs for him when Mike was on the field or not, we were expecting DaKeathan and Tank and those guys to step up, and DeKeathan had a big run there. It was good to see him, he's healthy now, look better. That was good to see him spark. I thought Brandon Byner had a couple of big runs, as well. We've got to grow up, and grow up fast. Mike can't carry the load by himself. Fresh or healthy or not, it takes more than one guy. So, we need others to step up, and this was a good opportunity for them to get some experience. They did not put the ball on the ground, so that's a step in the right direction. They didn't put the ball on the ground and fumble the ball. We've got to extend some plays and we've got to break some tackles and do a better job of moving the ball on third down."

(On the team's fast start)

"It was pretty good. I'll take that as often as I could. Matter of fact, if y'all could set that up, I'd be all for it. That's two weeks in a row. Yeah, I'm really pleased. The guys did not let the environment be a problem, did not let it be an issue. We had some movement issues up front - the noise - but in terms of being intimidated or not believing that we had a chance to play, at no point did they ever think anything other than they're trying to win. And they did that for 60 minutes, and never thought that it was over. We switched to a silent count after the first couple of jumps and settled down. Most of our penalties were stuff that could be controlled by us, we just got to do a better job of that. They came out that first drive, because they expected to go down and score. They didn't think anything of it. We saw that's what it was going to take to win."

(On whether it would have been better to not field the fumbled punt)

"The ball hits the ground on a punt, it averages about 17 yards a roll, and I'd much rather have the ball fair caught on the plus 40, than let it roll to the minus 40. And that's the best player on our football team. He's going to make that play. He's trying to make a play. He's one of the best guys on our team, and we've got to trust him to make the play. He's going to get better. They'll be nobody any harder on him than himself. So, I don't think it was a poor decision. There was nobody around him. He just misjudged the ball, I think the nose dropped on him. I don't know, maybe a gust of wind caught it and it just dropped a little earlier than he thought, he hurt himself trying to make the play. So you can't second guess it. You've just got to play ball."

(On difficulty finding rhythm)

"They're pretty good. We weren't moving them a whole lot. We knew going in, I told our guys, `understand that it may be slow going early.' I was surprised that we successfully popped them a couple of times. I thought it might take a few series to get them breathing hard a little bit, so the match-ups were a little bit better and in our favor. So, I didn't want to panic that we were bogging down. But, it came down to we had some opportunities to move the chains on third down and didn't. I guess that's the thing. We couldn't get that first, first down. To be able to play fast and let tempo work for you, you've got to get that first, first down, and we didn't do that there in that midway point in the first quarter. That's something we've got to grow up and get better at."

(On what he liked offensively today and the emphasis for next week)
 "It's hard to say honestly. I do not know. We will go back and look, but I don't think it will be anything big. I think it is just individual battles. It will be more one on ones. We broke down on some blocks. We didn't do a good job of holding up. We had numbers in the run game, but guys were falling off of blocks. It's just getting better at what we do. There isn't a glaring issue at what we have to get better at. On offense, it is typically one guy breaking down here or there. One guy is continually breaking down. We have to go from what we did today on offense to a day where we can win football games. We have to get better, and that comes from work." 

 (On Fredi Knighten's first road start)
 "I thought he did a good job. He left some points on the board. He will tell you that he made some mistakes. He didn't throw the ball in harms way. That is something he has to continue to improve on each week. Today was a step in that direction. From the sidelines, he gave us a chance to be successful. We just didn't capitalize on enough opportunities to do so." 

 (On the fake punt)
 "I told Luke Ferguson that we needed to have that incase we needed to steal a possession. We had that and the surprise onside both ready to go. We had watched a lot of tape on them, and we felt like we had found a pretty sound and solid fake. We had a very good chance of success based on how they were going to defend us. It real just came down to throwing and catching. We needed it, and it was good time in the game to call it." 

 (On mindset on trick plays)
 "Trick plays are a part of what we do. Keeps defenses on their toes. It's fun for the kids and it's a good way to create explosives. I'm always trying to find a way to steal 14 points a week. I'd like us to have to earn the other 14-21 points, but I'd like to find a way to steal 14. They did a good job defending it today. Both wrinkles we threw at them they did a pretty good job defending. Those have been successful for us in the past. Trying to create momentum. Trying to catch somebody out of position or not doing what they need to do, and I thought Tennessee did a good job staying at home." 

 (On injured players)
 "No, I really don't (know anything). I know it was on the last play of the game Daniel (Keith) got rolled up. Doctor really know yet, same thing with Jonah (Hill). Several guys got dinged up. We've got several guys to get healthy." 

 (On offensive line play)
 "Hard to say, the numbers are not gonna show that we moved them around a whole lot. I'm sure we are going to look at it and say that we'd like to have better in the run game." 

 (On whether the penalties seemed lop-sided)
 "Yea, a lot. They seemed a lop-sided." 

 (On not punting on a 4th down call in the 3rd quarter)
 "We just felt like what we were going to gain in terms of yardage wasn't worth it at that time, and if we could extend the drive right there and get some points it would be a critical moment in the game to momentum."

ARKANSAS STATE QUARTERBACK FREDI KNIGHTEN

(On what stuck out to him about the game)
"We just made a lot of mental errors. If we don't make those, it's a totally different ball game. In the first half, we're a block and a half from making some big plays. Give them credit. The played hard, they played sound. On defense, they did a pretty good job. We've just got to limit those mistakes."

(On noise affecting his play)
"You know, the first quarter, the first and second quarter, you've got 103,000 people here. It's going to be loud. But we did a good job trying to communicate it, sometimes I'd have to say it a couple of times over just so guys could hear it. But I feel like overall we did a good job with that. In the second half, we came out and didn't have to go on the silent count. But, noise was definitely a factor at first. You've got 104,000 people here. It's going to be loud."

ARKANSAS STATE WIDE RECEIVER J.D. McKISSIC

(On the teams' mental mistakes)
"We hurt ourselves a lot. We had nine penalties and lost 75 yards. Tennessee's a great team, but I felt like we could have done a lot better, due to the penalties that messed us up. They played pretty good."

(On his fumbled punt return)
"It dropped on me early. I was trying to make a play for the team...At the time, I was just thinking that they were backed up in their endzone. I'm thinking that their punter was going to get it out fast, which he did, but it looked like it was coming to me, but then it kind of stopped early. I was just trying to get up under it."

University of Tennessee Athletics

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