The Kentucky football team seeks its first road win of the season Saturday when it travels to Starkville, Miss., to take on Mississippi State. The Wildcats have won three of the last four meetings with the Bulldogs and look to make it two consecutive when the two teams square off at 2:30 p.m. ET.
The Wildcats are coming off a 49-0 loss to No. 14 LSU two weeks ago in Baton Rouge?s Tiger Stadium. The Tigers scored on each of their first four possessions and Kentucky had two long drives but came up empty in the scoring column. Mississippi State is coming off a near upset of Georgia in Athens. MSU hung tough with Georgia the entire game, picking off three UGA passes and falling short, 27-24.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – 10/23/06
Head Coach Rich Brooks
Injury report?
?Fatu Turituri is out for the season and he will have surgery sometime next week. He tore his ACL and both knee lateral cartilage during drills last Wednesday. Joe Schuler has decided after consulting with the doctors and extensive test that this will be his final season playing football. I think this is a very wise decision because his concussions are popping up more easily and frequent. The good news is that Lamar Mills is closer to being back to normal, as is Myron Pryor. We will also get Corey Peters back for some action and (possibly) Jamil Paris. I won?t rule [Jamil] out for this week but he is either a few days or a week behind Corey Peters. That (getting Peters back) gives us a lot of help at defensive tackle, which is a position that was obviously very thin in the LSU game. Rafael Little is still out and we will just have to see how he comes a long in the week or so.?
On Mississippi State?
?Mississippi State is very different team the last two games than they were when their quarterback (Michael Henig) was hurt the first game. He broke his collarbone and he came back and started against Jacksonville State. They did a very good job against Georgia, down to the wire. This is a team that is like us, very young and in some positions although they do start nine seniors, six on defense. I think that speaks about the level of talent they have on the defensive side of the ball. They are young on the offensive side with their leading rusher at tailback, who is a freshman. The quarterback seems to have made a big difference coming back. They?ve moved the ball better than they have in his absence. They?re a physical team and a hungry team. We need to play a much better game than we did the last two games.?
On having the week off?
?I think it helped us from the standpoint of the (defensive) tackle position being healthier. We had a longer practice than normal on Sunday. It looked like the guys had fresh legs and a lot more skip in their step. They looked really good. We got some of the guys who haven?t got a lot on playing time some experience in the JV game.?
On players in the JV game?
?It gives the guys a chance who don?t play that much (for the varsity) and some of them have barely had a chance to play, like Rocco Maragas. He played a very good game at quarterback. We had Eric Scott at center and this was his first real live action at center. All the guys that played in the game did a great job. Twenty-seven of the guys on the other team have already committed to play at Division-1 schools. I think they gained a lot in experience and we are able to coach them off that game film.?
On Joe Schuler…
?Joe [Schuler] has expressed that he would like to stay connected with the program this year and possibly in the spring, getting out there and helping coach the younger guys and help Coach Smith (linebackers coach Chuck Smith) during practices. He is an outstanding young man and I feel very bad for him, as I do for Fatu Turituri (who had a knee injury last week) that their season has ended this way. Hopefully we can finish up this season as we would like to so that they have some reward.?
On the running game ?
?One of the reasons we are not running as well is because we are in the shotgun a lot. In shotgun, unless your quarterback is a runner, like West Virginia for example, it is a little harder to establish a running game. So we will get back under the center more. Does that mean we won?t be in the gun? No, because we will be and will continue to do some of the things we have done well.?
On improving the defense ?
?We are obviously not happy at all about where we are in our defensive performance. We just have to keep working and getting better at the things we are not doing well and it is not one thing consistently. It seems like we have various breakdowns in gap responsibility, a little bit of it has been physical but most of it is just not being in the right place at the right time and we just have to coach them better at that.?
On stopping opponents running game ?
?Obviously, it is very difficult to have a good defense if you can?t stop the run. If you can?t stop the run that just leaves them to throw it whenever they want to, at their own choice, rather then when they have to. The other thing that we have done very poorly on defense is third-down and long. We could have helped ourselves and our numbers, everything would be better if we were just getting off the field in those situations. When we have played well enough on first and second down it seems like we have let them get the first down on third.?
Kentucky Players
Matt McCutchan, C #62
On the teams focus during the off week…
?A lot of time was spent on our running game. We wanted to keep the quarterbacks fresh, so we just ran the ball all week. It wasn?t really a free week because we worked hard to improve the things that need improving.?
On his current health status…
?You?re never going to play 100 percent in this league, but I do feel pretty good. I don?t feel as fresh as I did at the Ole Miss game, but it?s gotten better and better each week. I?ve had four or five weeks to get healthy (after his ankle injury) and I can definitely feel the improvement.?
On Mississippi State as a team…
?Any game in the SEC is going to be tough. They played great against Georgia last week. It?s going to be at their house, and they?re not just going to let anybody walk in and take it from them. We?re expecting a tough game, but I think we?ll come out and play hard.?
?Each year is new and different. They?ve gotten better in the last few weeks. It?s going to be a dogfight down there, and we?re just hoping to come out on top.?
Dicky Lyons Jr., WR #12
On how the weather conditions are affecting play…
?The worst thing about it right now is that we?re going down to Starkville and it?s warmer down there than it is up here. We?re not really used to playing in warm weather lately, but we?re just going to try and concentrate on catching the ball.?
On the mood in the locker room over the past week…
?We?ve been trying to relax and focus on the upcoming game. We?ve been doing 11-on-11 scrimmages – starting offense vs. starting defense, and we?ve just been having a lot of fun. Everyone?s been working really hard and getting pretty competitive.?
On the importance of this week?s game…
?Every game we play is supposed to be the biggest game of the year. It doesn?t matter if you?ve won every game or lost every game. It?s still the biggest game of the year because it?s the game you?re playing this week.?
On feeling the pressure of being 3-4…
?We definitely do feel pressure, but that?s what you want. You want to feel that pressure because it motivates you to go out there and do well, and that?s what we want to do.?
Johnny Williams, LB #51
On the bye week preparations…
?We?re really looking at a lot of X?s and O?s and a lot of teammates are getting together outside of practice to look at film. Hopefully we can go out and execute consistently and play the defense that I know and the coaches know we are capable of playing.?
On defensive game plan preparations this season
?We?ve been doing a good job of preparing (for games); it?s just that we?re not really consistent. We will play a couple of good snaps and then give up a big play. We?re just trying to focus on consistency and have everybody take care of their responsibilities on the field.?
On the defense?s difficulty in stopping the run this season
?I think it?s a combination of a lot of young guys and a couple of missed assignments. If you mess up in this league, they will make you pay.?
On if preseason expectations of the defensive line and linebackers were over-estimated
?I think we just went by what we saw on film and going through practice every day. I don?t think we really over-estimated, I think we thought if we worked hard and played hard it would translate on the field. And I think it will, we haven?t given up and we?re still working hard to do the right things and move up the ladder.?
On linebackers coach Chuck Smith
?Coach Smith is one of the best coaches I?ve ever had. It?s a thrill being coached by him. He makes me want to play hard. We get along great. He?s been the same throughout the season, trying to keep us positive and cleaning up even the littlest mistakes we make.?
On whether the game this weekend is a must-win
?We prepare for each game as a must-win. There?s not an emotional change from week to week. We?re just coming out to win. It?s like you know that this game is do-or-die. We?re now playing a five-game season.?
On practice this week
?We had a really good up-tempo practice yesterday. Everybody was breaking on the ball, and we did not have many people getting yelled at for messing up. I sense that everyone is really focused this week.?
On the pressure to win this week
?I think we are embracing it. We just want to prove ourselves to everybody. The statistics don?t show it but all of us feel like we have gotten better. We?re just trying to go out and show it with a win.?
On criticism of defensive coaches
?It bothers me because it is because of us (players) that they are getting it. We know we have contributed to that. I feel like I should be playing better to help the team and the defense.?
On the difference of his play from last year
?I feel like I have matured a lot since last year. I have learned a lot more. The game is beginning to slow down for me. I am starting to understand what the other team is trying to do as well as ours. It has made it a lot more fun for me to go out and play.?
On the transition from high school to college
?It takes a while, especially if you are switching positions. Just going from high school to college the speed is so different and the terminology can be hard to pick up.?
Jeremy Jarmon, DE #99
On the cost of making mistakes during a game
?If you make two mistakes during a game, the time you make those two mistakes could be plays when the opponent could possibly score. So we have to continually get better as a team and eliminate our mistakes.?
On the importance of this week?s game
?It?s crucial. I looked at a little bit of film yesterday and Mississippi State is a much-improved team. They have their quarterback Michael Henig back. Their players seem pretty fired up about him coming back, so we have to match their intensity and overcome it.?
On this week?s opponent Mississippi State
?Their players feed off the crowd and they are a very physical football team. (Mississippi State Head Coach) Sylvester Croom is a good coach and he always has his players fired up. They play from the start to the finish. They are physical; they are a very physical football team up front. That?s what we have to focus on as a defense. As defensive linemen, we have to match their intensity on the offensive line.?
On the pressure to win this week
?There?s pressure every week. We have to match their intensity and play our best game of the year. We go into every game knowing we have a chance. We just have to take care of business.?
On concerns of playing flat after an open date
?I don?t think so. If anything I think we are going to come out a little more fired up. As players we have had some time to sit back and spend some time with each other on and off the field. We all have the same goals in mind and we?re ready to play.?
On how the JV game inspired players during this off week
?A lot of the varsity guys were on the sideline watching our JV team and watch our offense produce pretty well against some pretty good players. And we watched our JV defense totally destroy (the opponent?s) offense. We were watching those guys play with intensity. We just have to do the same.?
On practice last week
?It was a pretty physical week last week. We went back to the basics but sometimes going back to the basics can still be pretty physical. Our one-on-one blocks were head up with our offensive linemen. That?s not the easiest task in the world, so we did a lot of things to prepare last week.?
On criticism of defensive coaches
?It?s not the coaches? fault that we are in the situation we are in now. It?s the players? fault. Particularly, we as the defense are going out there and making mistakes. We?re not doing what we are supposed to be doing on select play calls. When we do that, good teams find holes in the defense and capitalize on it. As a player, knowing I am making mistakes, it doesn?t make me feel good that the coach is taking all the blame for the mistakes I am making. So that just makes me work harder on the field and to make sure I know what I am supposed to be doing. When teams scramble like LSU did, we made a lot of mistakes and that wasn?t Coach (Defensive Coordinator Mike) Archer?s fault. We just have to go out there and do what we can. We are playing for ourselves, our pride and our coaches.?
