Sept. 8, 2008
Head Coach Rich Brooks
Opening Statement…
“I have an injury update. Josh Minton will have surgery on his knee to repaira cartilage tear that he sustained during fall camp. He will be out indefinitelyand we will see how he responds to the treatment. From the game, there is nothingthat came up this morning or yesterday, just a few bumps and bruises and everyonewill be ready to go this week. Middle Tennessee is a dangerous team for us andthey do some things offensively that have given us problems in the past. Theyspread the field; throw the ball and the quarterback runs from the gun. Defensively,they play very fast and they are athletic. Any time someone can hold Maryland, an ACC team, to 14 points, their defense is doing very good things. This isa big game for us because we still have problems that we have to iron out andwe need to improve a lot more this week.”
On Kentucky ‘s defense…
“It’s the best defense I’ve had since I’ve been here and I will continue to saythat. Sometimes we match up better against certain schemes than others. This(game vs. Middle Tennessee) will be our most severe test defensively.”
On Kentucky ‘s offense against Norfolk Stat e …
“We got things loosened up when Randall Cobb came in. It’s always more difficultfor the defense if run production comes from a different source than usual. Itputs a lot of strain on the defense and makes them worry about the perimeter,versus the inside and the handoffs. Cobb completed a few passes down the fieldwhich helped. We are still a work-in-progress with the running game and the entireoffense. We made progress and everyone was able to see what the backs are capableof if we give them the opportunity.”
On the health of Tony Dixon…
“The first game his health didn’t make much difference. It made a little difference,but he was a little dead legged and pretty sore. He will be much fresher thisweek and we will see a different Tony as far as quickness and explosion. Louisvilledidn’t give us a lot of room to run. We didn’t create a lot of room and Louisvilleplayed well on defense.”
On quarterbacks Randall Cobb, Mike Hartline and the wide receivers…
“I would like to see them do things that are productive, correct and done well.Randall Cobb did a lot of marvelous things, but he also did bad things. Someof them didn’t hurt us, but could have hurt us a lot. We went into the firstgame with Mike Hartline and we were so intent on not screwing up, that we mayhave coached too much caution into him. Now we need to give him more freedom.We are still a major work-in-progress at wide receiver getting guys running theright route, a good route and then catching the ball. The ball thrown over themiddle to E.J. Adams down the field could have been a touchdown. It was a bigplay and an excellent throw, but it just plopped to the ground. We aren’t usedto seeing that around here because our receivers have been very sure-handed inthe past.”
On Middle Tennessee ‘s defense…
“Middle Tennessee runs around on defense, they are active, quick, and the thingsthey do on defense will give us problems. We will have a hard time picking themup on pass blocking and that may force the quarterback out of rhythm with turnoversand bad throws. For a team who passes a lot, they have done a good job of notturning it over and taking it away.”
On punter/kicker Tim Masthay…
“He is stronger, more mature and is one of the better workout guys on our team.His technique on the punting end has gotten much better and the technique onthe kickoff has improved. He has always had unbelievable leg. He had an unbelievableleg when we saw him in camp going into his senior year of high school. Tim hasas much talent of any punter or kicker I have ever been around as far as strength.He has the ability to go to the next level should he stay consistent in his puntingthis year.”
More on Middle Tennessee …
“Regardless of whether they had beaten Maryland or not, they had our respect.They certainly got more of it after beating Maryland . I watched some of theMiddle Tennessee State vs. Louisville game last year and I was impressed withMiddle Tennessee’s response to the environment at Papa John’s Stadium and howthey moved the ball at will against Louisville ‘s defense. They did a betterjob moving the ball on Louisville ‘s defense than we did last year.”
#27, Ashton Cobb
On last week’s game against Norfolk State …
“We played well. In the first half we started out slow, but in the second halfwe picked it up and played really well. This week is going to be a real challenge.Middle Tennessee State had over 400 yards of offense last week and they beatMaryland . It is going to be a real challenge this week but we’re up for it.”
On what he knows about MTSU…
“They have a lot of speed, throw the ball out, and run a spread offense as wellas the option to keep you off-balance, so you don’t know what they’re doing.I think it’s going to be tough, but we’re up for it.”
On the defense’s performance so far this season…
“I think once you taste success, you don’t want to go back. You want to keepdoing whatever it takes to keep tasting that success. If it’s extra film, extradrills, or whatever, that is what we are willing to do to keep that taste ofsuccess on our tongue.”
On the team’s mentality…
“I think we expect to win. That has been the culture around here for the lastcouple of years. A couple of years ago I was talking to some teammates and theysaid that they used to look at the schedule and say `oh this is an automaticloss’ and I don’t think it’s like that anymore. Each game is very winnable. Wefeel that we can compete with anybody as long as we bring our A-game.”
On the secondary against NSU…
“We picked it up in the second half. We have great defensive backs coaches inCoach Thurmond and Coach Brown. They work well together and they are real bigon technique. We’ve improved our technique and we’re playing a lot tighter coverage.The key to defense is technique and the willingness to get the ball.”
On the future possibilities for the defense…
“After this week we will be able to tell a lot of things. Coach Thurmond mentionedthat we were top-10 in defense, third in the nation in scoring defense and thirdin passing defense. But that doesn’t mean anything, each game is a one-game seasonand you have to take it like that. You can’t look ahead and you can’t dwell onthe past. You have to take it one game at a time.”
#99, Jeremy Jarmon
On playing Middle Tennessee State…
“They spread the ball around a lot in their offense. After watching film on them,they remind me a lot of Florida . A lot of things that they do are very similar.Their quarterback does some things that Tim Tebow does, like a draw pass. Theyhave a quick offensive line and they are well- balanced. It’s going to be thetoughest challenge so far this year, so we are going to have to be well preparedfor them.”
On if MTSU’s performance against Louisville last year caught his attention…
“Absolutely, that is when we first started to watch film on those guys last year.We watched that game and I think we saw another game. We got a chance to actuallysee their defense and some of their offense. We realized that last year theywere a good football team. I remember that we made some comments at this timelast year and we felt like they were on a good stretch and were going to be alot better.”
On why it is difficult to defend against the spread offense…
“Because there are just a lot of different options that they can do; they cango option or read and some of the blocking schemes are different. Overall thedefense, all 11 guys, has to be well disciplined. In my opinion, this is goingto be a challenge for us because they have a lot of weapons and they do a lotof things very well.”
On if this year’s defense is better equipped to handle the spread offense…
“I think so. Guys are going to get prepared this week and everyone is going todo their job and nothing less. We are going to be prepared to play them (becauseof) how good their offense is.”
On if Middle Tennessee is a challenge he thinks Kentucky needs right now…
“Absolutely, we definitely need this challenge because they are loaded on offenseand can move the ball around. I saw that in their games against Maryland andTroy . It’s going to be a challenge for us defensively.”
#76, Justin Jeffries
On Middle Tennessee State…
“We watched some film on Middle Tennessee State yesterday and they move arounda lot. They move to the ball well on defense and they are quick because theyhave some great athletes. I think it will be one of our biggest challenges ofthe year so far.”
On the offensive line…
“I think we are trying to play with more pad level. Coach has been on us allweek to get better on pad level. We are doing what coach wants us to do more.We got downfield better last Saturday than we did against Louisville. Overallwe are getting better, we are stepping forward every week.”
On who is playing quarterback…
“I don’t think it changes our job. Our job is always to protect the quarterbackno matter who is back there. Once you get going the only thing we worry abouton the offensive line is taking care of whoever is back there.”
#29, Alfonso Smith
On the running game…
“It took us a while to get our running game on track this past game because Norfolk State wasn’t getting the penetration that we saw against Louisville. They stunted a lot that made it hard to read the holes. I think as the game got going we started to really hit the holes and really opened up our offense.”
On Randall Cobb…
“He brought a different dimension to the game. He opened up a lot of other things on offense with his ability to run the ball. Their linebackers started overshooting their holes because they were worried about (Randall) Cobb getting loose and running.”
On his running game…
“I started off running hard back in the spring and I have been really anxiousto go out and prove I can run hard. I have been working at staying focused andwatching the defense so I can go in and make a difference when it is my time.I really worked hard in the off season to get my body in shape so that I couldmove the pile and get stronger. I knew that playing in the SEC that I was goingto need to be as strong as I can.”
On Middle Tennessee State…
“They are a very impressive team with a lot of strength and speed. They use aspread offense so it will be a good test for our defense. I think this is thebiggest challenge for us this season. They have a lot of talent and we are goingto have to practice hard this week to prepare for them.”
