What Jeremy Pruitt said after the loss to Georgia

Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt faced the media following his team’s loss to the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon. He was positive and pretty clearly impressed with the fight that his group showed in a tough environment, despite what the score says.

On moral victories...

“To me there’s no moral victories, I’m not going to stand up here and be proud we lost. But I said all along that I was worried about how we played, how we approached the game. If we will starting doing the way we did this week every single week, the other stuff will take care of itself.”

On his team’s fight...

“We got fight in us. We’re not going to quit. It kinda gets me excited. You know, this team has had a lot of negatives go towards them for a long time. I’m proud of them for the way they fought. It ain’t easy. That team in red today, they tried to change the way we think. They play the right way. Our guys kept fighting, which means we’re headed in the right direction.”

On Darrell Taylor... and THAT play...

“He got some licks on the quarterback today. I’ve never seen in my life, you hit the quarterback and he fumbles on third down, then the tight end scoops it up and runs it 30 yards for a touchdown. That’s a first for me. I’ve had a lot of firsts this year.

On the secondary...

“I thought we covered a little better in the back end. That made the quarterback hold the ball some. Most of the time we didn’t get them by protection breakdowns, I thought we had some coverage sacks. I thought we played better from a coverage standpoint, but we’ve still got to tackle better.”

On Quart’e Sapp...

“Well the first thing is that he’s healthy again. He’s been battling an injury for a while, which led to his frustration. Quart’e has worked really hard so it’s not surprising.”

On facing Auburn and Alabama next...

“The team we played today, the one we play next and week after that. They’re all ranked in the top ten. You want a measuring stick? Go out there and play them and see where you’re at. I think today was a good lesson for our guys. If we execute, we have a chance for success.

On Tennessee’s lack of experience...

“We’ve got five guys on our football team that are seniors that are playing right now. I’m not trying to make excuses because there is none, but the only way to get better at football is to play it. We’re getting better on the run. We’ve got to take what we’ve got and we’re gonna roll with it.”

On the pass offense...

“We’ve got to do a better job at putting our runs and passes together and creating some explosive plays.”