April 22, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky football team is ready to wrap up spring practice with the annual Blue/White Game, presented by Verizon, which will kick off Saturday at 3 p.m. ET at Commonwealth Stadium. Admission and parking are free and first-come, first-served to the public.
Previously announced as an offense vs. defense scoring system, Blue/White will now be a true game format with the first team (White) taking on the second team (Blue).
“The players wanted more excitement and felt that a game format would do it,” Coach Joker Phillips said. “I know that a scrimmage scoring system can be confusing and this will be easier to follow.”
One twist for the Blue/White Game is that the Blue team will be staked to a 14-0 lead on the scoreboard to begin the game.
Phillips said earlier that limited numbers of players at some positions were the motivation for an offense vs. defense format. The coach noted that under the new game format, players could switch teams if needed.
More Information on the Blue/White Game:
- Admission and parking are free on a first-come, first-served basis. (If you’ve never gotten to sit on the 50-yard line, here’s your chance!)
- The Red, Blue and Green parking lots open at 8 a.m. and fans are welcome to tailgate.
- Stadium gates 2, 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11 open at 1:30 p.m.
- Seating will be available in the north, west and south lower sections of the stadium.
- Verizon, the event sponsor, will be positioned inside stadium gates 4 and 9. Verizon will be giving away sunglasses, lanyards or drawstring bags while supplies last.
- Team roster cards will be given away at the stadium gates. There is a coupon on the back of the roster card which is good for free admission to that night’s baseball game at 7 p.m. vs. Arkansas.
- The stadium ticket office outside gate 4 will be open from 1-3 p.m. in order for current season-ticket holders to renew their tickets.
- Concession stands and the Nike Team Shops will be available on the stadium concourse.
- There will be a radio broadcast on the Big Blue Sports Network, including WLAP in Lexington (630 on the AM dial) and WHAS in Louisville (840 AM).
More Thoughts From Coach Phillips: Listed below are some additional quotes from Coach Joker Phillips on spring practice.
“Really, now the work starts. We have installed all of our offense and all of our defense and now Saturday is the game. You won’t see a lot of it, but you will see some of the things that we have installed. Really, the work starts for our football team now in making sure that they are working hard this summer and preparing to compete in the fall.”
On the kicking game …
“Those two guys (kicker Craig McIntosh and punter Ryan Tydlacka) will handle our kicking duties. One thing that we have to do in the other areas is make sure we have the right guys back returning. That is the biggest concern right now.”
On where the team is on learning the defense …
“I felt really good after the (April 9) scrimmage that the guys felt really good with what we had put in. Then we installed some more packages and once we installed those packages I don’t think that we got a good grasp (of the new ones). Then I thought that we lost what we had put in the first part of the spring. We took a little bit of a step back in the last scrimmage (April 16). Hopefully, we can take a step forward in this scrimmage.”
On co-defensive coordinator Rick Minter saying he wanted to throw it all at them early …
“He threw it all at them, that is for sure and some of their brains did cramp up about halfway through. But I thought that the (April 9) scrimmage they competed and it was one of those days where the defense just smothered the offense. But I liked how the offense came back last Saturday and a lot of it had to do with the defense putting some more packages in and not having as better understanding of it.”
On defensive end Collins Ukwu …
“Ukwu is playing really fast right now and is becoming a really violent pass rusher. A lot of the things that we are doing with moving him is helping him get on the edge of people and then he is chasing the ball once it is thrown down the field or gets into the secondary.”
On defensive tackle Mister Cobble …
“We would have liked to had him more because I thought that he was coming along well this spring. He missed some practices (after an injury).”
On his feeling coming into the spring game compared to earlier years …
“Going into 2007 I felt a little bit better because Andre Woodson had played the whole year. We just need to get some things corrected. We also had a quarterback battle and we felt good about the quarterback that had taken over at that time. We also had more playmakers and this team is a little bit different. This team reminds me a little of the 2008 team after the 2007 team (graduated). We have more playmakers, we only had Dicky Lyons coming back as one of our playmakers (in 2008). I think that this year, La’Rod (King) could be a playmaker for us and I am really liking what I am seeing out of Brian Adams when we have him and we have more tight ends than we had that year. I feel better about this team than I did the 2008 team.”
On what he will look for out of offense …
“Just overall execution. In spring games, you want to throw the ball and everyone wants to see you throw the ball. I want us to be efficient throwing and catching it. Just moving the football and overall execution.”
