The Kentucky football team looks to improve on its perfect 3-0 home record Saturday when it plays host to South Carolina in the final game of a two-game homestand at Commonwealth Stadium. For the third time this season, the Wildcats will be televised by an ESPN network, as the game will be carried on ESPN2 at 7:00 p.m. UK is 3-0 at home for the eighth time in Commonwealth Stadium history (since 1973) and the first time since 2002.
The Wildcats are coming off a 45-36 win over Central Michigan last Saturday. Quarterback Andr? Woodson threw a career-high four touchdown passes, including two to wide receiver Keenan Burton, as the Cats held off a late Chippewa charge. The Gamecocks played last on Thursday, Sept. 28, dropping a close 24-17 decision to No. 2/3 Auburn.
Kentucky and South Carolina are meeting for the 18th time in school history with the Gamecocks holding a 10-6-1 all-time advantage, including a 6-3 mark when playing in Lexington. USC has posted six consecutive victories over the Cats and Coach Steve Spurrier is a perfect 13-0 all-time vs. Kentucky.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – OCT. 2
Head Coach Rich Brooks
Injury update?
?We have three players getting MRIs today, Corey Peters, Tyler Sexton and Jamil Paris. I would say all three players will not play this week. Ricky Abren got put in a cast and will condition tomorrow. We expect him to be able to practice on Wednesday and be able to participate in the game with a cast on. Rafael Little will not practice tomorrow, we?ll give him a go on Wednesday and see how his knee responds. I would say he is questionable for this week but more probable than questionable. Matt McCutchan is still very doubtful; he did not play in the game on Saturday. He is still having trouble with that high ankle sprain when he is engaged and trying to drive somebody. Jarrell Williams is having hernia surgery tomorrow, he?ll have that fixed.?
On being 3-0 at home for the first time in four years?
?I think this team is set on achieving some things that haven?t been done here in awhile. I think they?re finally starting to accomplish some of those goals. First it was the SEC victory over Ole Miss and then we?re 3-0 at home.?
On Coach Steve Spurrier?
?I can?t speak for the players and what they think of Coach Spurrier?s aura as you put it. But, I can say that he is an excellent football coach. He has done what I think is a very excellent job down in South Carolina. He obviously did a great job at Florida and that program continues to be successful. A lot of these players were in grade school when he was still coaching at Florida, so they may not even remember.?
On Kentucky?s defense?
?If somebody had told me before the game that we were going to win (by this margin), I would have taken it and run. Now, after the fact I?m not real pleased with what happened defensively. I was more upset after the game than I was after looking at it on film. I happen to think Central Michigan is a very good football team, that doesn?t excuse some of the mistakes or lapses that we had on defense. They made some plays when we played good defense. Their quarterback made some great throws and their receivers caught the ball when they were covered on numerous occasions. Now, did they have some wide open catches as well, yes they did. I wasn?t pleased on how we lost our intensity and focus on defense.?
On the comparison of the offensive development to the defensive development?
?If you compare some of our offensive talent with our defense, you would see that we are a lot younger on defense. Even though we are starting some seniors we are very inexperienced in a lot of areas on defense. Offensively it seems we have grown up this year, defensively we still need to grow up. We need to learn how to finish it. We?re making a lot of big plays on defense, the turnovers you mentioned. We?re stripping the ball, we?re putting it on the ground and we?re recovering it. But we?re also giving up way too many big plays. The most disappointing thing is the third-and-long situations. That can?t happen. You can not let a team convert a third-and-10, a third-and-17 or third-and-11. If we get that solved then the defense is cutting it down considerably. We did make a stop and then the special teams went out there and they (Central Michigan) run a fake punt on us for 18 yards. That adds to the rushing total and keeps the defense on the field despite that not being their fault. That was the special teams? fault that the drive continued which led to a score and tightened the game. That made it even worse. Those are things though that you can?t lay on the defense. In my mind out of five games, we?ve have two bad defensive games but, we?ve had three good defensive games.?
On the cycles of the game?
?As I told some of the players yesterday, it?s interesting how you go through cycles. I still think we?re a decent defensive football team. We still have a lot of work to do. But, usually when one side of the ball gets voided of the criticism and the other side gets criticized it?s usually the other way around the next week. The ones who got criticized do better. If you?re not careful it flip-flops and you lose the game because the other side of the ball messes it up. Now the offense got criticized last week because we couldn?t protect the quarterback and we couldn?t score any points in the second half when the defense basically kept us in the game down at Florida. Now the offense comes out against Central Michigan and scores 45 points, but with some help from the defense in getting them field position with turnovers and good special teams? returns. But, the bottom line is we?re 3-2. It?s not always pretty, but we?re still a young football team and we?re finding ways to win. We?re trying to find a way to make it prettier and we?ll continue to work on it.?
On finding a way to win?
?I like that we?re finding a way to win games that a year or two ago we would have probably lost. We?re competing and we?re trying to find ways to accomplish things that need to be improved. This is a huge test for us this week to see how much our players want to back up their talk about how they?re more dedicated. They?re going to have to do some extra work on their own, more than just the 20-hour rule set by the NCAA. They need to watch some tape and clean up some of their own mistakes. They have to spend a little of their own time, just like when you go to class you have homework.?
On the play of Marcus McClinton?
?Marcus has played the best football this year than he has at any point since he?s been here. He has a lot of room to improve because I like to tell guys that they can keep doing better than what they?re doing. Although he?s made some really big plays for us, he can improve on little things like an angle of a break.?
On the offensive line?
?This was the best game our offensive line has played all year. Christian Johnson had his best game of the year. Jason Leger was remarkable. Trai Williams had his best game this year, so they did a very good job.?
On the relationship of Keenan Burton and Andre? Woodson?
?Keenan Burton is an outstanding team leader and Andre? Woodson has become one. That to me speaks volumes for both of them. Their relationship has obviously translated to success on the field.?
On Myron Pyror?
?If you look at the snaps Myron has played he?s probably played three games out of the five and he did miss one game entirely. He was also limited in some of the others. But he has made as many big plays in that amount of time than any defensive lineman in the country, as far as sacks, fumbles, fumble recoveries and an interception. We?ve talked about how we all thought he would be something and he?s now finally backing it up on the field. He has to refine some of his skills but, he has the chance to be a great college football player with a chance to go to the next level.?
On the improvement of South Carolina?s offense with Syvelle Newton at quarterback ?
?They?re different (from early in the season) because they?re scoring points and moving the ball. They didn?t move the ball very well against Mississippi State. But, their game against Auburn was one of the strangest games I?ve ever seen. South Carolina didn?t have an offensive snap in the entire third quarter and I think Auburn only had three in the fourth quarter. It was a strange football game. They?re a very productive offense, and he?s (Syvelle Newton) obviously a great athlete. We have a major problem, and we experienced it last week, when the quarterback is a good athlete and we have things covered trying to fill up the rushing lanes to take the quarterback?s option to run away. We gave up a lot of our rushing yards on what I would call broken plays last week. Newton will kill you running the ball if you give him those options, so we?ve got to find a way to take care of that. So rush lanes and coverage become really important. I think they?re (South Carolina) a really different team with him (Newton) at quarterback.?
On South Carolina?s defense?
?South Carolina is not as big physically as some of the teams we?ve faced, but they have a lot of speed and quickness. They give you a lot of movement with their line and a lot of pressure with their linebackers. They mix it up quite a bit. They have done an outstanding job in coverage; they?re one of the top pass defenses. They?re a very quick, physical team without having a lot of size.?
On South Carolina?s receivers?
?If you try to concentrate on (Sidney) Rice then (Kenny) McKinley will kill you and then visa versa. They have two guys who are big time players that will be difficult to cover.?
Kentucky Players
Keenan Burton #19, WR
On playing South Carolina Saturday at 7 p.m.?
?This is a big game. Winning this game would give us a stronger start in the SEC which is really important going into the next few weeks. It?s time to buckle down and really prepare. We are progressing fast and we want to keep that momentum.?
On a Kentucky team never beating Steve Spurrier coached team?
?He is a great coach surrounded by great talent. Steve Spurrier is able to get his team to execute the big plays and that is why his teams are so successful.?
On how the Kentucky offense is progressing?
“We still have a lot of things to improve on. We really need to help out the defense and capitalize on our field position instead of leaving them with a short field. The short field really hinders us.?
On possibly keeping the home win streak going ?
?It would build our confidence not only for now but for the future. Another win at home would prove that our program is moving in the right direction.?
Dominic Lewis #20, DE
On preparing for South Carolina?
?We keep preparing on a game-by-game basis. Our defensive line is putting in the extra time to sit with each other and watch film to improve on our mistakes from previous games. In this game we need to eliminate all of the big plays. If we give up one big play it will give them momentum, which is what we want to avoid.?
On South Carolina Head Coach Steve Spurrier?
?He is a great coach that everyone watches. It is an honor to play against him. As a coach he never holds back and he always goes for the big plays.?
On possibly keeping the home win streak going ?
?Coach [Rich Brooks] has been stressing the idea of ?Protecting the Commonwealth.? We come in wanting to win every game for our fans and the community. A win this weekend would prove that this team is one to contend with. It would also say a lot about our defense if we could win this weekend.?
Marcus McClinton #2, FS
On the teams concerns about the South Carolina game…
?We?re trying to stop talking about the game and our concerns, and just come out Saturday and show what we can do. The defense had some individual let-ups during last Saturday?s game, so we feel they can easily be fixed. This Saturday we will be more focused and I feel we can play better.?
On his ability to get the team fired up…
?We try to communicate and get the team fired up so that everyone is on the same level. On defense, we try to communicate more. A lot of the mistakes we make are because of a lack of communication.?
On the team?s mindset going into the South Carolina game…
?It?s a big game, just like every home game. We want to try and protect Commonwealth Stadium. Getting a victory this Saturday would definitely make the future look brighter.?
On going for a fourth win at home on Saturday…
?We want to protect where we play. We believe in protecting Commonwealth Stadium and feel more comfortable playing at home.?
On covering South Carolina wide receiver Sidney Rice…
?We want to do as much as we can to put our offense back on the field. We?re not really thinking about any one individual. We?re more focused on their offense as a whole. If we focus on just stopping one guy, someone else is going to break us down.?
Wesley Woodyard #16, LB
On playing against South Carolina Head Coach Steve Spurrier…
?I?m looking forward to playing against Coach Spurrier for a second time. He?s a great coach all around, with a great team. He knows how to put his team in position to win. We?re just going to go out there and continue to play hard.?
On preparing for the South Carolina game…
?We have to step up defensively – coverage-wise and running-wise. We need to go out there and take care of our jobs, come back strong, and be ready to play.?
On last year?s 44-16 loss to South Carolina in Columbia…
?We had a chance to win it (behind 24-16 in the fourth quarter) and we didn?t finish. Once you have a team down, you need to keep them down. We made mistakes that let them back in the game. To win a game like that, you need to finish from the first play to the last.?
On the four turnovers UK forced in the Central Michigan game…
?We were just doing our job. I was taking up my gap, and my teammates were taking up their gaps. We have many players on our team who make plays happen, and really it?s just being in the right spot. If you do your job, turnovers will happen.?
On playing another Southeastern Conference game at home…
?We have a winning record at home, which is something we?re very proud of. We want to protect our house, and help build our program.?
