The Kentucky football team looks for its first win in Baton Rouge since the 1998 season when it travels to Tiger Stadium to face 16th-ranked LSU on Saturday. Game time is set for 8 p.m. ET. The Cats are in search of their fourth win for the first time in three seasons as they begin a two-game Southeastern Conference road swing.
The Wildcats are coming off a 24-17 loss to South Carolina at home last Saturday. Kentucky scored 17 second-half points but were unable to overcome the Gamecocks despite quarterback Andr? Woodson throwing for 289 yards with a touchdown and tallying his second career rushing score.
LSU is coming off a 23-10 loss at No. 5 Florida. UK is facing one of the most talented, athletic teams in the nation as LSU ranks second in the Southeastern Conference in both scoring offense (33.3 ppg) and scoring defense (10 ppg allowed).
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – OCT. 9
Head Coach Rich Brooks
Injury update?
?Not good news this morning to start out, Rafael (Little)?s swelling in his knee continues to persist and he had a negative MRI. But, we went ahead and had it arthroscoped this morning and we found a lateral cartilage tear and a bruise on his femur that was causing the swelling. It is better than articular swelling which is what we expected. The lateral cartilage didn?t show up on the MRI and it usually takes longer to recover from than the articular tear. I would guess we are looking at a month before he?ll be ready to play. Lamar (Mills) and (Myron) Pryor are still questionable for this week. I think (Matt) McCutchan should be ready to go this week. If he is ready to go he will go back into the starting center position. He got through practice alright last week so we think he is clearly on the mend and will be ready. We?ll see how he works in practice this week. Ricky Abren played a little in the game on Saturday and you have to give him credit. He was playing with one hand, one arm. He is better at this point than he was at this time last week. So, hopefully he?ll be able to give us some snaps again this week.?
On the defensive tackle position who will fill in for the injured players?
?We?re contemplating that and I will make a decision before tomorrow?s practice if we are going to add anybody to the mix. Travis Day will work there like he did last week. He can maybe give us some snaps there. Austin Moss is a little undersized but, he?s a tough kid and a good competitor, he?s a possibility as well. We may have to give somebody else a look in there, but I?ll decide that tomorrow morning. I am not going to pull a guy out of a redshirt year to fill this gap. It?s not appropriate because the injury to Lamar Mills is not long-term and the injury to Myron Pryor is not long-term.?
His reaction after viewing the South Carolina game film?
?I feel pretty much like I did after the game. We didn?t do the things I had hoped we were going to offensively for the first 35-40 minutes of the game. We then started to do the things I thought we would offensively and our defense stiffened up. They gave us some good field position for the offense. Then when we had a chance to really get back into the game and tie it up we didn?t take advantage of the field position. South Carolina did some good things and we did some good things. We just didn?t do enough of them at the right time.?
On LSU?
?They are number one in the nation in total defense. They have one of the top offenses in the nation and in the league. You look at it and you ask, ?How did they lose two games?? They have great personnel and they do not have a weakness. We have our work cut out for us because this is an excellent football team. Clearly this is one of the best teams in the league and is clearly upset with having two losses in the conference. I?m sure we?re going to get both barrels when we go down there.?
On having positive momentum after the valiant comeback effort vs. South Carolina?
?Positive momentum would have been a win. Other than the fact that this team will compete, there isn?t much more than that. We did have a chance to tie it up there at the end and that says a lot about the fight in the team.?
On the tailbacks with Rafael Little out?
?Obviously Alfonso (Smith) will get more action and Tony (Dixon) is going to have to pick up the slack. Tony hasn?t had as many opportunities to get into the open field as Rafael has and I hope that is happenstance. Tony is going to have to do a better job at finding the open hole if there is one. When he (Dixon) gets into the open field he is very dangerous. We need to get him the ball in those situations like we have been able to with Rafael.?
On opposing team?s schemes changes from last year to this year?
?There is a tradeoff and I don?t think they are scheming against us any differently. Last year we were minus a receiving corps and we had an injured Jacob Tamme. We were under center with the quarterback 60-70 percent more this time last year. This year we?ve been in the shotgun more. When you?re in the shotgun you increase your passing ability and being able to get the ball out. It then negates your ability to run the football, particularly when you?re in a shotgun offense that doesn?t really have a quarterback option to run the ball. Therein lies our problem, we?re much better passing than we are running as opposed to last year, but that?s a large part of what we?re doing. Andre? (Woodson) has a little more time to get the ball out from the gun and he has a little better vision. We have done both, but he seems to be more effective and comfortable from the shotgun.?
On using the shotgun and not being able to run play-action?
?We?re trying to get the ball in the endzone the best way that we have. The bottom line, this offense is more productive than last year?s offense was. That is what we?re trying to do, be more productive.?
On who takes over punt-return duties?
?Keenan Burton will be the first choice. We have other choices with (Dicky) Lyons and (DeMoreo) Ford as well.?
On the defense?
?It?s tough, we still are not getting the consistent play that I feel we are capable of, in particular the run defense. We seem to on occasion not attack the blockers with our backers like we should. We miss a gap once in awhile. Earlier on (in the season) we had some defensive lineman bat some passes down and we haven?t had that in awhile. Just a lot of things we need to do better defensively. But, the one thing we have done well is we are very conscious of stripping the ball and this last game we may have been a little to conscious of it. We were going for the ball a little too much and we weren?t going for the solid tackle as we should have been.?
On the evaluation of his team at the mid-point of the season?
?Offensively we are doing better in the passing game than I thought we would. We?re not doing as well running the ball as I had thought. There is a reason for that because we are emphasizing it (passing) more because we having more success with it. (Andre?) Woodson is much further ahead than he was a year ago, and going into the season you didn?t know where he was going to be. So, that is very pleasing to us. Our receiving corps is better than a lot of people expected. Defensively, we are not nearly as good against the run as I though we would be. We?re better at taking the ball away and making some big plays on defense, but we?re also giving up plays. We?re more inconsistent than I would have hoped. Our punting game has improved like I thought it would, I feel we?re doing a pretty good job in that area. Our kicking game is still unproven. And our return game is still very solid. I would say we are about where people thought we would be. I was hoping we?d be better than 3-3 at this point.?
On the LSU offense?
?JaMarcus Russell is unbelievably accurate. He is efficient and very difficult to get down. He?s a big man, a very big and strong guy. They have a very physical offense line. They?re an extremely talented team.?
Kentucky Players
#9 Durrell White, DE
On the team?s injuries?
?It?s SEC time, so no one?s 100 percent. As long as we try to remain healthy and complete treatments we?ll do well. We are definitely down in numbers but not in spirit.?
On third-down conversions?
?On first down, we need to play better and get the opponent behind the chains. We need to play more aggressively on first and second downs to help on third downs.?
On playing at LSU?
?It?s a hostile environment. It?s important for the younger guys not to be psyched out. We need to be ready to battle.?
On Saturday?s loss to South Carolina?
?The coaches tell us to keep our heads up. There is a lot of football left. We need to stay focused because we need to win three more games. Saturday, we rolled our sleeves up and went to work and I commend the guys on that.?
#46 Joe Schuler, LB
On the young defense?
?The more experience a team has, the more they can prepare. With the inexperience of the players it affects the decisions made on the field. That?s why it is important to watch the film as a team and individually to be prepared for the upcoming game.?
On LSU?
?LSU is a big and physical football team. It is important for us to be ready to hit somebody. We need to watch film and prepare because it is going to be a dogfight. Anytime you go into a fight like this you need to practice hard and be ready to execute the right plays and follow your assignments. Most importantly, we need to believe in ourselves and believe that we can win.?
On the improvements of the defensive line?
?Compared to last year, we have improved a lot but there is still room for improvement. We are better at covering our assignments and filling the gaps, but we can still make better decisions and more plays. It?s a marathon, not a sprint, and we have just begun the race.?
On starting the midpoint of the season?
?Each game is a new season and especially now that we have played six games and have six games left, we are at a new point. We have to win at least three (to be bowl eligible), but we won?t be satisfied unless we will all six. We need to continue to get better and focus. We need to believe that we can do it.?
#18 Jacob Tamme, TE
On overcoming Saturday?s loss to South Carolina…
?It?s never easy to get over a loss. You heart sinks for a while, but your head has to move on. At this point we?re 3-3 and we have a lot of good things ahead of us. We still have a lot of opportunities to do things with this program that haven?t been done in a while. We?re definitely going to keep fighting.?
On the possibility of still getting to a bowl game…
?We thought that winning Saturday?s game would be a good turning point for us, to go 4-2. Unfortunately that didn?t happen and we?re 3-3. We fought South Carolina until the very end of the game, and we left everything on the field. Now we have to move on. We?re in a better position than we?ve ever been at this point of the season (in my career). We have to go out and play good Kentucky football and I think things will work out for us.?
On the opportunity to pull an upset in upcoming SEC games…
?I think we have a chance to win every time we step onto the field. We?re a team capable of doing that. But, the teams we play are not pushovers, they?re very solid teams. If we bring out best game, I think we have the chance to pull an upset.?
On the possibility of pulling an upset this week…
?At some point I feel an upset like this could happen. We have a team that is going to always keep fighting, and at some point that is going to result in a big upset. Of course, we hope that this week could be the week to make it happen.?
#72 Michael Aitcheson, OG
On the mentality of being 3-3 with six games left to play…
?We have to find a way to get three wins out of those six games to accomplish our goal of getting to a bowl game. It takes a lot out of us to lose, but we will bounce back.?
On the possibility of defeating a team like LSU…
?I go into every game confident that we have a chance to win. That?s my attitude now. If you go into a game doubting yourself before the ball is even kicked off, you?ve already got several strikes against you. You have to go into the game confident believing that you can win.?
On this season?s offensive line…
?We have many great improvements since last season, particularly our passing game. We?re more consistent in our playing. We?ve been driving the ball more, and have had more success in third down conversions. I am really proud of the progress we have made. I think everyone?s doing a great job, but we want to work to be better.?
On being 3-3 in the SEC…
?Mathematically if you?re 4-2 with six games left, the chances of course are more in your favor. The odds of being 3-3 aren?t as great but it?s still probable. It still can happen. We have to get three wins out of the next six games and we?re into a bowl game. And we think that it is definitely something we can accomplish.?
