James Franklin: "Wait till we've been here two years"

Listen to what James Franklin said in his postgame press conference when a reporter asked why Vandy can’t get over the hump:

“We’ve won 5 games — we’ve won 4 games in the last two years combined. Our kids fight and compete every single week. We’re recruiting better than ever. The culture’s been changed.

“We still got steps to take like everybody in the country but the culture has changed. These kids have invested, the coaches have invested, we’ve competed and played against everybody, everybody in the league, and we’ve been here 11 months.

“Wait till we’ve been here two years. You’ll see real culture change, I can guarantee you that.”

He did mention “obscure calls” from officials and injuries to the offensive line but his message was that his team played “awful” in the first half and still found a way to compete, and that he takes full responsibility and that “I’m gonna get it fixed.” When somebody asked what Tennessee did to stop his offense, he said: “They didn’t. It was us. We didn’t play well. You’ve got to run the offense, you can’t turn the ball over.”

As he left the field last night, Franklin yelled to the UT fans. “We’ll be back,” he said.