University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Vols 38, Nebraska 24
December 30, 2016 | Football
Recap |
Box Score |
Notes |
Photo Gallery 
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS
COACH JONES: Thank you. First of all, I would like to thank Scott Ramsey of the National Sports Council, Dan Crockett, the Music City Bowl. What a great experience. It's amazing. A couple days ago, Josh and I were talking about the experience and he talked about this being one of the best Bowl experiences we've had.
Just really, really proud of these guys. This is a special group of kids up here. It's a special football team and I'm really proud of our seniors. Like I said on the stage, this football program has won 15 of its last 19 games and this program just won its third consecutive Bowl game. First time it's been done since '94, '95 and '96 and these guys have meant so much to us.
But I thought we had a great month of preparation. I thought our Bowl preparation was outstanding. We didn't have one poor practice. These players came every single day. We asked a lot out of them and they delivered that. We had obviously critical plays at critical moments of the game.
I thought the one-minute drive, the end of the first half when we had the ball, I want to say, inside our own 30, Josh did a great job of managing that. The players did a great job. Our coaches did a great job of managing the time outs and getting the ball and coming away with seven points.
Obviously the big throw to Josh Malone, when they had the momentum a little bit. They were getting back in the game. And again, that shows you the competitive character of this football team.
And then what can I say about No. 9. My opinion, he's the best defensive end in the country. Best defensive player in the country. And he just works: He works his craft every single day, ultra, ultra competitive. And these individuals have set the standard for many years to come at the University of Tennessee.
I'd also like to thank our great fans. What a great environment. Sold-out game. Right from the ball walk to everything, I thought our players really fed off their positive energy, and it was a great home-field advantage for us. So I'd like to thank them, as well.
I guess lastly, and I'll get into questions, is we're in the smokey grays. This is the sit of Gatlinburg and the State of Tennessee is very, very, very special. We have great people here and we come together when we have a tragedy. That's the marking of people who love their state from Chattanooga to Gatlinburg, and we are proud to wear the smokey grays in their honor tonight, as well.
Q. Josh, you had a lot of criticism -- two-time MVP, Bowl games -- has it sunk in yet?
JOSH DOBBS: It did, taking the stage with my brothers, the seniors, and upperclassmen for the last time. I was just honored just to come out and have another opportunity to play today.
It's been a heck of a ride. As you said, I've had my share of adversity and I've had my share of success during my time at Tennessee. You know, I'm honored for both, because both I know really are going to help me throughout the rest of my life, whether it's the NFL or whether it's off the field in whatever I do. I'm thankful for all the wonderful moments I've been able to share at the University of Tennessee. I'm thankful for just the opportunity to wear the T on my chest and on my helmet. It's been a heck of a ride, and I'm with the guys who are at the right of me, and I wouldn't go to war with anyone else.
Q. Was this kind of a vintage Josh Dobbs performance of kind of who he's been, developing the long ball, the passing -- the scrambles and the yards; is this vintage?
COACH JONES: He's a great, great competitor. I knew he was going to play one of his best games. I was worried he was too amped up before the game, and I told him, "You've got four quarters of football. Don't win it in the first quarter. Take what they give you."
Like I said, the model of a great person is a model of consistency. Joshua Dobbs exemplifies consistency every day. I don't know if people truly understand; 16 understands, he was in our locker room before the game. But the amount of scrutiny; playing quarterback at the University of Tennessee is a global position. You're in the spotlight every single day. There is no off-day when you're the quarterback at Tennessee.
And the way Josh Dobbs handles his business day-in and day-out, from academics to in the community, the giving of his time to his leadership in our football program, to everything, he's just a model of consistency. Very, very grateful to him and his mother and father that we had the opportunity to coach him here.
Q. What was it like getting that sack and celebrating with your teammates?
Derek Barnett: It was a great feeling. I can't really describe it. I just know it happened really fast. It was a blink and then he was on the ground.
COACH JONES: We had to take a time-out so we didn't get a 15-yard penalty. Not to interrupt Derek, but I think that shows you the respect that our football team has for Derek Barnett, and the excitement and the unselfishness of our football team; that they wanted to go celebrate with him because they knew that that was a milestone; that that was something very, very special. And that's one of those moments in time that you'll always remember.
Q. Derek, was it hard to keep coming, knowing how close you were to the record?
Derek Barnett: I don't think it was tough to keep working it. As a D-lineman, you have to have that mind-set and you're not going to get home every time. I know the guys beside me, they are going to keep working. I know I've got to keep working. The football gods will reward you if you keep grinding.
Q. Derek, were the football gods responsible for the pass interference, that kept the drive alive --
Derek Barnett: I think Reggie probably helped on that. (Laughter) I think he was looking down. I think he probably tossed a little bit for me --
Q. But that hey, still got time to pull it off --
Derek Barnett: It's crazy. Like I said, you keep on working and good things will come. That's with everything in life.
Q. How special was it to get it here at home?
Derek Barnett: It was very special. Family and friends were here. It was great. It was even more special to get it with my teammates. We put a lot of work in. People don't see all the work we put in. Outsiders don't see that. It gets tough sometimes, but it's very rewarding to finish with a win and be champions in the Music City Bowl.
Q. How rewarding was it for the defense to play as well as it did, and also to shut do you know Nebraska's run most of the game in?
Derek Barnett: It was very rewarding coming off a loss that we didn't play good in at all. And our coaches have been stressing, we have to stop the run, and we did that the majority. We gave up a few plays but we played great defensively and I'm very proud. I'm very proud to be a part of that defense.
Q. How much do you look up to Reggie White growing up?
Derek Barnett: I really wasn't a Tennessee fan but I knew Reggie white was the greatest pass rusher, greatest D-lineman of all time. For my name to be in that category, it just says a lot and it means a lot to me.
Q. Have you ever been without a guy that big that's that relentless? I don't know how many snaps he played today, but it's like he never wants to come off the field. Have you ever seen that out of a big guy?
COACH JONES: I think that probably exemplifies him and that's probably a great word or adjective to use to describe Derek Barnett is relentless, and he's very, very competitive.
I think he said it exactly: The harder you play in this game, you'll be rewarded. And that's what we talk about, 63 effort in our football program, and he exemplifies that.
From day one when he was a freshman walking in, the way he chased the back side pursuit, the way he played was absolutely relentless. And again, he set the standard in the defensive line for many years to come.
Q. Can you talk about Josh and how far he came as a quarterback, now that the NFL wants to look at him? In the Senior Bowl there were some questions but his performance probably settled that?
COACH JONES: Constant, never-ending improvement. Development of our football players and our football program. Josh was driven every single day and I don't want to get emotional, but it's because of that lady back there. Robert and her have done just an unbelievable job of raising this young man, and he's got great internal drive.
Again, when you have great internal drive and you want to be the best at everything you do, great things can happen, and you can accomplish anything you put your mind to it.
Q. Derek, how did everybody seem -- inaudible.
Derek Barnett: I was a little nervous at first. But I thought -- (laughing).
Q. What was the feeling like in the huddle when Nebraska pulled to 31-24? What did you guys say to each other?
Josh Malone: As an offense, we stepped on the field with full confidence that we're going to go down and score every time, no matter what possession it is and no matter how close the game is. We came in the huddle just cool, calm and collected and just ready to go put up some more points on the board.
Q. Derek, is your Tennessee career over? Are you going to the NFL?
Derek Barnett: I'm going to sit down with my mom and talk it over. I have no final say in that decision yet. But I'll let you know with my family, we'll decide what's best for us.
Q. Can you talk about the progress --
COACH JONES: We didn't and again it's led by Derek Barnett. I thought having a healthier Darrin Kirkland in the middle really helped us. I thought the speed of the game changed a little bit, but it was all in our preparation.
You know, when we left Knoxville and we broke for the holidays, and these individuals went home, I thought we had great preparation. But then it's what you do with the preparation when you come back and you reach the Bowl site. And everyone was sitting, 15 minutes early, in our team meeting on December 24, ready to lift and do walk-thrus.
Then we had one of our best practices on Christmas. And then when we came to the Bowl site, we had very, very spirited practices, and that's a tribute to their leadership, and this is a prideful group of individuals.
And again, I just think getting back and playing collectively as a unit, in all 11 individuals, we didn't have very many missed assignments today. We did a better job of tackling although we still missed some tackles. But just the perseverance, the resolve.
And we always talk about complementary football and I hope what you saw -- I told our football team this after the game: I don't think I've ever been part of a football team that's showed as strong a brotherhood, compassion, and love for each other than what was exhibited on that football field today.
When a young man made a mistake, he was greeted by his teammates. When they had success, he was greeted by his teammates. And that's what it's all about is coming together as one football family.
I was really proud of these players because I thought they showed the entire country the passion and the energy and the pride of what it is to play at the University of Tennessee.
Q. Josh, it's obviously your last game, but for all three of you guys, if this is your last game at Tennessee, where do you think the program is right now? What do you think the future of Tennessee football is or how bright do you think the future of Tennessee football is?
JOSH DOBBS: I feel like the future is very bright. Our seniors and upperclassmen, since the underclassmen have gotten on campus, the sophomores and freshmen, we've instilled in them our drive, our hard work, our work ethic. Because you know, we know what it's like to go 5-7 and not go to a Bowl game and be in there Monday morning after the last game doing workouts and just wanting to go home.
So we have felt that, and so we've instilled that in them. So they understand, you know, what to do, how to take the reigns, how to word hard, how to continue to grow, how to approach each practice as if it's a game and make the most of each rep.
I'm definitely excited to see what the future holds for the University of Tennessee football program.
Derek Barnett: It's in great hands. We have a lot of talented young guys. They all want to get better and they are very competitive. I think it's in good hands.
Josh Malone: I think it's in great hands, too. Especially with the underclassmen. I know like in the wide receiver squad, I just tell them, take advantage of every opportunity and just to work on their technique every time they step on the field, because you're just one play away, every time you step on the field.
NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS
COACH RILEY: Okay. You know, we're obviously very disappointed in losing the game. We congratulate Tennessee. They did what we couldn't allow them to do.
Kind of two major factors: We had a hard time blocking defensive front, and of course, No. 9 in particular, and then we gave up big plays. You know, I think that that was -- you know, when we crawled back in it and gave up that big pass, that's kind of indicative of what that game was like for us defensively. We just gave up too many big plays.
Q. What would you attribute the struggle today to?
COACH RILEY: Well, I think that the athleticism of the quarterback was a factor. I think that he, you know, he did a nice job of throwing a lot of balls right on time, but it looked like to me, too, that when it wasn't there, when it wasn't right on time, he moved around, bought time where he moved around and ran. Those plays were hard on us. You know, they had a big impact on that. I think he went for two touchdowns off of scramble plays.
You know, his athleticism gave them a lot of extra opportunities. But the other thing is, too, we gave up I think probably the biggest thing on defense besides that was probably giving up good -- the kind of leveraged coverage position you need to have on a receiver in certain coverages, you know.
And so there are some coverages where you will play a guy outside position, and you'll have help inside, or some coverages where you'll have -- where you won't have any inside help, so you need to stay inside. And if you're going to give up anything, it's going to be something short and out. We gave up big plays against, you know, in parts of the coverage where we shouldn't have been able to do that.
This guy played a heck of a game. He made all the plays he could have despite a bunch of pressure, and kind of crawled our team back into a chance to win it late.
Q. What positives did you take from this game to go back for the next season?
COACH RILEY: You know, this game was for us, part of our process now in going forward with of course the players that played the game will have gained great experience in playing against guys that are -- they have some good players on that team and good athletes.
So I think the experience of playing in this game for us will be good for our team. And it's kind of the end of one team and the beginning of another, as leadership emerges right after the results of this game are in and we get back to campus. It should be a great motivator for the guys that were playing in this game that are coming back for next year's team.
Q. Can you take more about Ryker's performance, what he was up against stepping in against a guy like Barnett?
COACH RILEY: I think that atmosphere-wise, it was great. We are really thankful for being in this Bowl game. It was a big-time deal. You don't see many games in a situation like this. It's not maybe a playoff game, sold-out Bowl game, lots of enthusiasm for the game. The group of people here are just awesome. The Music City Bowl people, Scott Ramsey and his crew, it was great for us to be a part of it.
But as far as offensive performance, the biggest factor going in was going to be could we block the Tennessee defensive front and could we block Barnett. You know, when we did get a little bit of time, we made plays. And that's why I said, he just about made all the plays that he could have made that had any semblance of just giving him enough time to do it.
We knew he was well prepared and that he's a big player and that given the chance, he would make plays.
RYKER FYFE: Barnett is a good player obviously. I hate to say it, but he is. He talked a lot of trash out there, but yeah, he's a good player.
Q. Do you feel like he tried to get in your head, do you think?
RYKER FYFE: Yeah, he hit a lot of -- obviously had a bunch of sacks and a lot of hurry-ups on me. He was getting in the backfield pretty quick. You know, it's a combination of things. It's maybe not blocking him right. It's me holding on to the ball too long or good coverage. It's a combination of things with him getting in the backfield.
Q. How difficult is it when their defensive line is putting so much pressure on you all day?
RYKER FYFE: Especially when they get the ball out quick obviously. Kind of disrupts your time with your receivers and stuff. It was a big factor I think in our offense was Barnett.
Q. One sack --
RYKER FYFE: His only sack -- seems like he's back there all the time. But yeah, felt like I had a lot of hurry-ups and I always had to kind of know where he's at on the field and which side he's on. Yeah, I thought he was a good player.
Q. Was there a big difference, did you feel like, between what you saw with Tennessee's front and what you guys have seen in the Big Ten?
RYKER FYFE: I only played in one start against -- so it wasn't as good as Barnett, obviously. I think Illinois had good D-ends, but nothing like what we saw today.
Q. What was it to have someone like Bradley to help you out?
RYKER FYFE: I told him before the game, if you get one-on-one, I'm going to get you the ball and hopefully get one touchdown. He had two today, so good for him.
Q. Brandon, you got the offense going, you had three or four possessions in a row, why did it take so long deep into the second quarter to get something moving?
> BRANDON REILLY: I don't think it's one certain thing that held us back, but you know, with Ryker back there, we know he's going to put the ball where we can catch it. Kind of look a little longer than we wanted, but once he got in a rhythm and rolling, got some time, it shows we could be pretty explosive at times.
Q. Do you think the running game could maybe do a little more damage against that defense?
RYKER FYFE: We're hoping obviously on first downs to be able to get more yardage because when you get to second and long, it forces you to -- second and third-and-long, you have to throw obviously, so it gets you in predictable situations. So first down, we needed to be able to run the ball better I thought in this game.
Q. Ryker, as the game progressed, how aware are you of where he's at, and what's the process, because he was after you all game?
RYKER FYFE: At the start of the game obviously you know he's coming but late in the fourth quarter when they know you're going to throw, and he's just ready to tee off on you and you're like, which side is he on; make sure you block him.
Late in the game, I think I got hit, sacked by him. My head, I was seeing stars and I thought I was concussed. I think I might have a mild concussion, I'm not sure. Yeah, it was in the backfield a lot.
Q. Ross what sort of challenges did Josh present to you guys today?
ROSS DZURIS: Obviously he can do it all. He can throw pretty well and when it breaks down, he's really good at finding the open lanes and if your rush lanes aren't good, he'll make you pay for it.
Q. Brandon, what were your thoughts that you take away?
BRANDON REILLY: I'd say probably just the bond the senior class has. We've been through a lot. A lot of us walked on together. It's those friendships that last a lifetime, and that's what I'm going to hold onto most about this journey.
Q. All you guys are leaving. Has anybody said anything in the locker room to the young guys about next year?
BRANDON REILLY: I just said, it's your show know, be accountable and hold the other guys to that high standard. Don't let your opportunities slip away.
Q. How do you feel about where you guys leave the program as it goes forward?
BRANDON REILLY: Obviously coming off last year and the disappointing season we had, our senior class got together in the off-season. We don't want to go out that way. We were pushing for that ten-win, but nine wins is kind of where we've been at. But definitely a step in the right direction after last season.
Q. What do you think about the caliber of athletes that Tennessee has and now that the game is over, how much of a challenge was it to keep up with them?
ROSS DZURIS: I think the real challenge is when you have athletes like that and you go up-tempo, they are able to -- their second and third string receivers are just as good as their starters.
You know, I think a couple times when we just kind of tightened up and they had those quick plays and they just hurried it up, you know, good athletes are pretty good in the hurry-up. It was a big challenge, early on, especially.
