Ad Disclosure
Following Kentucky loss, Derek Mason credits his players for their continued fight
Published:
Vanderbilt lost again on Saturday but the Commodores continue to fight for their head coach.
That was the message Derek Mason emphasized after losing to Kentucky 38-35 in Lexington, which featured the Commodores winning the second half of a game for the second consecutive week.
Both true freshman quarterbacks for Vanderbilt scored multiple touchdowns in this game as Ken Seals completed 21 of 32 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns while Michael Wright threw for a touchdown and rushed for another.
Following the defeat to Kentucky, Vanderbilt fell to 0-6 on the season. The Commodores are set to host Florida next weekend in Nashville.
Here are the highlights of Derek Mason’s postgame comments.
Mason on his team not tuning him out:
“That’s not the case, that’s not going to be the case. We decided a long time ago, man that we were gonna make the journey, we’re gonna make the journey together. So would that, I tell them, when things don’t go (our way), I’ll take all the blame. That’s my job. When they play well, I’ll give them all the credit.
“Our kids are really working hard. We’re close. And I’ll continue to tell them, we got to be able to go through this to get to it, then they’re not gonna back down. They’re gonna fight for everything that’s out there. We just want to be a little more consistent and make sure that we’re not waiting to the end of ballgames to play the type of ball we want to play.”
Mason on Vandy’s issued defending Terry Wilson, especially on 3rd and 26:
“I don’t know what to tell you. When you come free on a zero blitz you expect a guy to beat that. It is a zero blitz, which means that there’s not much on the back end but we came scot-free, weren’t able to make the tackle… That’s the difference in the ball game.”
Mason on Vandy playing Michael Wright near the goal line:
“It’s about competition, making sure we can utilize every offensive weapon that we have. Mike Wright can run the ball, I think at the end of the day, like I said, both of these guys always root for one another, but I think down there when you’re trying to punch it in, it helps at times to be able to have, like a guy where they got to play 11 man football.
“And if you don’t play 11 man football, just like you saw that, it can get hard to cover like Terry Wilson, it can get hard like down there man but if you don’t cover Mike Wright.”
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
