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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMEDecember 1, 2007Erik AingePhillip FulmerJerod MayoATLANTA, GEORGIA THE MODERATOR: We're going to ask Coach Fulmer for some opening comments, his thoughts on the game, and then we'll take questions just for Jerod and Erik, and then we'll excuse them back to the locker room and continue on with Coach Fulmer. COACH FULMER: Well, we came down here to win this football game. We prepared hard, and believed that we could. I give a lot of credit to a really fine LSU team and Coach Miles. They played well enough to win the game. We had our opportunities, didn't quite get it done. I am very proud of this team for getting themselves here and very proud of the effort that they gave today. Our defense played its absolute rear off, considering that some of the shortcomings that we had with some injuries and other things, and a great effort, as did the offense. They played really hard. You know, usually a turnover backed up will get you beat, and that's kind of what happened. Erik Ainge is the reason we're here, one of the reasons that we're here, and we certainly don't -- we win as a team, we lose as a football team, not any one of us. Q. Jerod, can you just talk about defensively you guys did give up some yards, but when it came to the red zone, you were able to make stops there. Can you talk about what happened in those situations? JEROD MAYO: That's been pretty much the way this defense has played all year, given up yards but not the amount of points. I'm really happy with the guys, how they played up front, and defensive backs. But there were plays in the game where we could have made a difference. Just a team loss, and LSU did an excellent job. Q. Erik, a lot of teams have tried to pick on Zenon this year. Was that part of the game plan, to go after him? And what do you think he did on the play to return the interception? ERIK AINGE: He made a good play. I shouldn't have thrown the ball out there. I mean, just as much as he made a good play, I made a bad decision. We played good, we protected all night. The guys played hard, I throw an interception for seven points when it's a tie game, it's going to get you beat. It's on me. Q. Erik, it looked almost like they maybe switched from zone to man on that play, is that what happened? ERIK AINGE: They changed to a different kind of zone, but it shouldn't have mattered. I saw them change to it. I should have thrown the ball to Austin Rogers, No. 21. We would have had a big play. Q. Erik, do you think they may have got away with some pass interference penalties there? It seemed like there were three or four no-calls? ERIK AINGE: You've got to credit them playing tough and physical. If you can play hard and play physical, the less you're going to let the boys play, then that's what you've got to do. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with you, I'm just giving them credit for playing physical. You've got to credit them. Q. Jerod, could you comment on Ryan Perrilloux. It seemed like you guys hit him a few times, but he had a pretty good day. JEROD MAYO: He had a good day. We didn't know who we were going to see today. He came in and made some good throws. The defensive line did a good job of getting to him. When it came down to it, he made some good plays. Q. Erik, talk about that last interception, what you saw there. ERIK AINGE: Trying to throw a post to Quintin Hancock and they defended it well. When you get out of the norm of what you're coached to do, and I tried to come back to something late, guys are flying over there when your eyes are to the left, guys come from far -- those guys are fast, they come from far distances, and I didn't see him. He made a good play. But 1st down, throw it away, 2nd down, throw it away, 3rd down, throw it away, and then you can make a play on 4th down if it's not clean. Q. If you could pinpoint one thing, what would you say the difference was today? ERIK AINGE: Turnovers. I thought we did some good things on offense, we did some great things on defense, enough to win the ballgame. Really that first one for points, that turnover will get you beat any time. SEC Championship, second game of the week, it doesn't matter, practice, scrimmage, if you throw a pass like, turnover like that for points, you put yourself in a bad situation? Q. It looked like in the second half you guys really created some momentum by getting those turnovers of your own. Where did that come from? Did you make adjustments at halftime? JEROD MAYO: Coach did an excellent job at halftime making a few adjustments and calling some great plays really. Those guys up front did an excellent job with the movements and things like that and opening up gaps for linebackers to shoot in. We made some plays like that, but we just didn't make enough. Q. Erik, you've made really good decisions all year. Did you feel like today was just a case of just trying too hard and trying to make a play because you could see it within your grasp, winning the title, and just trying to make a play? ERIK AINGE: I mean, you know, with the exception of those two plays, I made pretty good decisions about all day. It takes one play to get you beat. You know, sometimes you think something is going to be there based on -- same thing that happened to Florida. You know, that zone, yeah, he should have been open, guy made a good play, and you can't -- you've got to see what you see. That's what Coach Cutliffe says, see what you see. Just because something should be open, doesn't mean it's going to be. It's on me. COACH FULMER: I don't want to interrupt. We play as a football team, and as I said earlier, we wouldn't be here if it weren't for the play of both of these young men on my right. He's sitting here and being very forthcoming and some of that, but he also played a heck of a football game and got us to Atlanta to play in this game, so I'm not going to sit here and let him take all the blame. We could have darn sure played better in a lot of places, and you win as a team, you lose as a team. There's enough blame to go around for the staff and the coaches and the players. It's not that kind of game. Football is a team game. Q. Jerod, were you all aware of how many of their players were leaving the game, getting knocked out, and did you think at any point that you were taking away some of their playmakers and their ability to make some things happen? JEROD MAYO: It was a very physical game from the first quarter all the way to the fourth quarter. Some of our guys got knocked around a little bit, but we got back up, and some of their guys did the same. When it came down to it, their players were in there and their players made plays. On the defensive side of the ball we didn't make the plays we needed to. THE MODERATOR: We'll continue on with questions for Coach Fulmer. Q. Can you describe Ron Perrilloux's efficiency today. COACH FULMER: I thought he played real well. I thought they called a plan within what he does well. The one throw before the half against two deep was an outstanding throw, but it was also -- it was in the air long enough, we probably should have made that play. I don't know whether the corner found the receiver long enough or the safety just didn't get there. But they used his running ability all the way up to the last play there. He's a good player certainly, and they did a good job of doing what he could do. Q. Would you mind discussing the decision to go forward on 4th and 4 there in the fourth quarter instead of going for the points, kicking the field goal. COACH FULMER: There was a lot of things going through my mind right there. I felt like we could make it, and we had a really good play on, and we just didn't complete the pass or we would have been a 1st down. You kick the field goal, you've got to score again, you've still got two timeouts. You've still got to score a touchdown again, and I felt strongly that we could make it. The field goal kicker missed two field goals. That really had nothing to do with it, but that was in the conversation there that we had for a short period of time. Q. At linebacker I know Ryan went out in the first half and Nevin got hurt. What kind of adjustments did that force you guys into? COACH FULMER: Well, with Nevin out it took us -- and Ryan, it took us out of any of our mustang package in the second half. We're so thin anyway in the secondary positions, which those guys -- Nevin plays. So I thought Nevin came in and did a good job for Ryan, and when Nevin got hurt, I thought that Alex did a good job at Sam linebacker. When Alex got banged up and hurt I think Adam came in and did a good job. They were thin, you know. Q. With as much time as LSU held the ball in the first half, any concern with your defense wearing down in the fourth quarter? COACH FULMER: Yeah, I was very concerned. We're a well-conditioned football team because we've been on the field way too much all year. Some of that is getting ourselves off the field, as well. There in the fourth quarter what did we have, three three-and-outs? That give us new life because we didn't have to stay out there forever. We played way too many -- we played 46 snaps in the first half. Offensively we just weren't keeping the ball nearly enough. It was a concern. Q. How much were you influenced by watching what Arkansas was able to do last week, by using the two backup quarterbacks that you did today and the kind of plays that you used, the options and that sort of thing? COACH FULMER: That's a little package that we have run most of the season, but it does give us a little bit of change of pace with Gerald Jones there. Q. Talk about Eric Berry, there was a big game by him. And also talk about Jerod's played down the stretch. COACH FULMER: Jerod Mayo has played unbelievable down the stretch. He's truly an All-Conference player if not an All-American player. He's played outstanding. LSU has had a very efficient running game, and if it hadn't been for him out there -- it seemed like he made about every tackle there for a while. He's a heck of a player. Eric Berry is going to be -- if he stays healthy and everything, he's going to be one of the best players to play in the secondary in this league before it's all over with. He's doing really well and grown up a lot during the course of the year, and we'll just keep getting better. Q. Does this loss hurt worse than 2001? COACH FULMER: (Laughing) No, no. I mean, they all hurt the same. 2001 obviously meant not going to the National Championship game, then we were probably a much better of a team back then just as far as personnel quite likely, not nearly as young. We're playing a lot of young people right now, which is exciting for the future, and it's exciting to watch them grow up here. It also makes you have some gray hair sometimes. Q. I know that you were quick to defend Erik there just a few moments ago, but what did you tell him after the game? And what was his attitude like, if you had a chance to speak with him? COACH FULMER: This group of young men have been unbelievably unselfish and hard-working and picking each other up all year long, and that's basically what I told them after the game, that it wasn't any one person's fault. It's not. It's not. He's played hard, trying to make a play. You know, I told Erik same thing I said to you guys. He helped get us here, a big reason that we're here, and he has no reason to blame himself. You know, athletics, that's the way it's going to be. Somebody is going to win, somebody is going to lose, and you hope you take your lessons and you get better from them. Q. Can you kind of describe the frustrations with how hard it is to get to this game, and I know Tennessee is now 0-3 I think since '98 in this game. Can you describe the disappointment? COACH FULMER: Yeah, but we've also been here five times, please print that, as well. A whole lot of people would like to be here since '98, and not very many people have. Yeah, it's a great scene, it's a great game, and basically in this league you have to win the conference twice. I don't know if there's a better venue in the country than what we have here in the conference. Everybody talks about our team. You know, we had three really quality wins, just like everybody else on the Eastern Division side. We earned our way here, just like whoever won it last year or the year before or the year before. We played our rears off when we got here. We're looking forward to coming back and winning it. Q. Do you have a Bowl preference at this point? COACH FULMER: Yeah, we'd like the Rose Bowl, how's that (laughter)? End of FastScripts |
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