Opening Statement

“Phenomenal environment. Knew it would be. Dark Mode, Homecoming. Our fans were tremendous tonight. And a great environment that they create for us. Proud of the way that we competed. Turnovers were going to be big. Defensively, we forced couple and didn’t give it up offensively. That’s been a huge part of our opponent’s success this year. And I thought defensively, elite performance ultimately, what you end up giving up on the scoreboard. Tremendous effort. There was a huge part of the game early was just red-zone defense. Did a great job of forcing a couple of kicks. Offensively, defensively, special teams. Some penalties that changed the way the game was played in a negative way for us. We got to continue to grow in that way. But I thought we missed some things offensively in the first half. But the second-half performance as a football team, I love the way that they went out there and competed in the second half. So a great win. Enjoy it tonight and move on.”

On the performance of Tennessee linebacker Arion Carter in the win

“Elite performance by him. The sacks changed the game. And 13 tackles, flying around, playing violent, disruptive and locked into his keys. An elite performance by him.”

On Tennessee being able to take over in the second half of its last two wins, if that’s the mentality for this team 

“Offseason training, how you prepare and practice. You guys have heard me say it, the run game typically continues to get better. You’re hitting them with body blows early in the football game. There’s a lot of things early in the football game, one, we weren’t clean on up front. Two, our backs — I never say this — they missed some of their keys and some of the cuts early in the football game. Halftime, I said it needs to and expect it to be and it will be a big half in the second half from the run game. I said that to the backs, and those guys certainly performed that way. Offensive line did a great job.”

On Tennessee freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon being used in different packages, playing for the first time in a month

“Situational football. Faizon, last week and a half, two weeks, he’s gotten back to being close to 100%. And (we were) wanting to utilize his skill set in this game in some of the situational football, apply pressure to defenses in another way. And Mike (Matthews), obviously, a big run on kind on the short (play). We’re in the red zone, great execution and really good run by him, too. Reading the cuts, sticking it and getting vertical. At the end of the day, a lot of really positive things in the run game, but there’s a lot of positive things out on the perimeter, wide receivers being a huge part of it, too.”

On how Tennessee spent the bye week emphasizing the need to play smarter

“We do an autopsy of the game every Monday when they come in. How it all flows together, the things that we’re in control of. And I said to the guys tonight, there’s so much more that we can still be smarter in. I’m not sure I necessarily agree with a couple of them, but at the end of the day, we got to play smart.

On how invaluable Qua Moss has become for Tennessee’s defense 

“That position in the middle of the football field, to be able to cover the way that you need to, when you’re in the slot defending that, you got to defend the entire field and he does an elite job in coverage. Had a big breakup on the post route, had a chance to be an explosive play. And then he’s physical, he tackles extremely well and he takes pride in it. He gets on the rest of our DBs when we’re not tackling well. So just an elite competitor.”

On the Faizon Brandon shovel pass to Mike Matthews for a touchdown, teams having to prepare for two different quarterbacks

“Certainly, Faizon can throw it too, you know what I mean? And trust him in that way. But it’s a counter play, and we blocked it well. Mike did a good job reading it, blocked it well out on the perimeter. But it was just an opportunity to use Faizon in a unique way.”

On how George MacIntyre played

“The way the game unfolded, second half became more limited once you push it up three possessions. And I thought we missed a couple shots early in the football game. When you take shots, you’re not gonna hit them all. That’s what I said when he came off to the sideline in the first quarter. But he was in the right spot, he was on time. We’re close on a couple of them, and he was really composed. Had a great understanding of protections, and changed a couple of them and got the bigs in the right spot, and did an elite job.”

On what led to the successful second half, if it’s adjustments or the game wearing on opponents

“Combination of all those things. There were some subtle adjustments, a couple things that we added for the second half. And then there was some execution, and that’s the box. It’s the running back seeing it and getting to the right spot. So all of those things, it’s a game of small margins. And when it’s going well, it looks easy. It’s not, and when it’s not, it’s usually not something extravagent. It’s everybody settling in and doing their job.”

On why officials did not review the potential Dasaahn Brame touchdown

“They said that they did review it. I asked them.”

On the defensive performance

“Field position early in the football game, we weren’t necessarily on the wrong side of it, but it wasn’t in a positive way. Defensively, there’s some things that we gave up from communication, being in sync, letting the quarterback get out a couple of times. Some penalties that extended some of their drives. We got a chance to have them third in forever, and end up with a defensive hold and a call that extends the drive for them. But at the end of the day, just when the ball got to the 50, to the plus territory, they did a great job of locking it down and forcing field goals when they were in the red zone, and forcing points, and did a great job in the second half.”

On the secondary’s performance, stepping up in the run game

“They got in some formations and were gonna make those guys tackle a little bit tonight. They made some big plays, Ty made a great play on a counter that had a chance to spit to a bunch of grass. He understands ball-me man relationship with the blocker in front of him, pulls his pin, and gets the guy down. And then in coverage, those guys, they’ve been consistent throughout the course of the year and did a really good job tonight, too.”

On injury updates on Dasaahn Brame and Tyree Weathersby

“I don’t have an update on those guys yet.”

On Dejuan Lane having four interceptions

“I like playing with that guy.”

On William Inge being in attendance tonight, him being a motivation to the team

“He’s been an inspiration, motivation to everybody inside of the building. Tonight was his first night back with us, and having a chance to be a part of it. We gave him a game ball in the locker room tonight. But he’s been an inspiration to all of us. I think I said this before, but rarely in life do you know that you’ve truly witnessed a miracle in God’s hands on somebody. And it’s been uplifting for everybody inside of our building to see that happen.”

On DeSean Bishop running for 1,000 yards again

“Special player. Represents everything that’s good about college athletics. The growth of the man. And it certainly has played into the player, too. He’s a special competitor, tough, smart, relentless. And he plays the game with a physical presence that is rare, and a huge part of our success tonight, but since he’s been here.”