Oct. 21, 2002
Coach Guy Morriss
On Georgia…
“If you look at them on tape, they’re probably as talented as any group we have seen or will see. They’re on a roll right now. They have speed, athleticism, a big offensive line and some really good defensive linemen. At every position, you can tell they are blessed by a lot of really great athletes. They’re playing extremely well, they’re very talented and they’re well-coached.”
On getting a win on the road in the SEC…
“It’s a big deal because it is such a difficult conference to go and play on the road. I think anytime you can go into somebody’s backyard and get a win, that’s really good.”
On who played well in the Arkansas game…
“David Johnson played a tremendous ball game. Of course, he’s been playing well all fall. Aaron Boone played extremely well. Vincent Burns played really well. Jared (Lorenzen) had a better ball game. We had some kids step up and make plays. That was good to see.”
On Derek Abney’s punt return for a touchdown…
“When you go back and look at the tape, you can see there are no deep cleaners on that return like you would expect. It was just a case of people getting on their men and staying with them. It was a lot of great effort to shield them just a little bit. Derek’s got speed and wiggle so he found the cracks and went down the sideline.
On the attitude of the team being 5-2…
“I’m sure if you talked to some of the players they’d agree that although we’re sitting here at 5-2, there’s a feeling of disappointment. We get home from Fayetteville and we’re real happy to be 5-2, but there’s a lot of room for improvement. If we continue to make the kind of mental mistakes we’ve been making, we can’t beat Georgia. The overall attitude of the players is that we must find a way to correct these things in order to be able to beat Georgia.”
On the players’ attitudes of facing the No. 5 team…
“I don’t have to talk to them about the magnitude of this game. They understand the opportunity they have.”
On Georgia’s two quarterbacks, David Greene and D.J. Shockley…
“Greene is a good passer. Shockley on the other hand, is extremely athletic and can run the ball. I’m sure they give him the green light to take off anytime he feels like he can do that. So we have two different guys we have to prepare for. It makes your life that much more miserable.”
UK PLAYERS
#13 Aaron Boone, Wide Receiver
On the stakes of Saturday’s game…
“Whenever you’re on national television you want to play well. And then you add on homecoming and playing against one of the best teams in the country. But I think we’re ready for a big pressure game.”
On Derek Abney’s return success…
“Derek’s a small guy, so he’s kind of hard to hit. But he’s really not afraid to take some shots, so he isn’t going to call for a fair catch very often. He’s really quick, too.”
#98 Vincent Burns, Defensive End
On the confidence level after beating Arkansas…
“That game boosted our confidence. It’s always great to get a win on the road in the conference.”
On the chances of beating Georgia…
“We just want to give all we have and reduce our mental mistakes. If we can do that we’ll be right there with a chance to win. The atmosphere should be great for this game and we’re looking forward to getting out there.”
#2 Quentus Cumby, Free Safety
On the win at Arkansas…
“We went into that game with the attitude that we were going to win. It feels good to get back on the winning track after two losses. That win also gives us some momentum headed into the Georgia game this week.”
On trying to win against Georgia…
“We know how good their team is. We know that if we play up to our ability we are capable of beating anyone on our schedule. We just have to play hard and cut down on our mistakes.”
#22 Jared Lorenzen, Quarterback
On dealing with success and setbacks…
“In the beginning of the season we were 4-0 and we weren’t used to things going wrong. Then against Florida, I threw an interception for a touchdown and we weren’t able to bounce back. We were still down against South Carolina. Last Tuesday, we had a good practice and things started to turn around. We’re learning to deal with both sides of it.”
On hosting No. 5 Georgia…
“We have Georgia at home and that helps us a lot. But they’re another top-10 football team – we’ll have to play mistake-free on Saturday. We’ve improved a lot from last year, but we still have had too many penalties this season. That just won’t work against a team like Georgia.”
On his receiving corps…
“Our receivers are really making plays for me. I throw into double or triple coverage and they go up and get the ball. Aaron (Boone) is hot right now – he’s catching everything.”
#8 Ronnie Riley, Linebacker
On 1977 being the last time UK beat a top-10 team…
“I didn’t think it was that long. I would have guessed the 1984 season since that was the last time we started out 5-0. I think everybody’s jacked up for this – every week is a bowl week and this one is, especially, with Georgia’s record and rank they have.”
On UGA injured offensive players…
“One thing that helps good teams like Georgia put up the record and the season they are having is depth. I think their second-string guys are probably as good as their first-string guys. They just haven’t had a chance to showcase it as much. I think they’ll be ready to play, first or second string.”
On rating defensive performance vs. Arkansas…
“I thought it was fine. When people rate somebody, all they look at are wins and losses. That’s the raw observation that you look for in the game are the points.”
#70 Jason Rollins, Offensive Guard
On preparation for the game this week…
“We try to treat every game the same because every game is a big game. Georgia has a great team, but if we play well and don’t make too many mistakes we know we have a chance at beating them.”
On playing on national television…
“We always enjoy playing on national television, but once the game starts it’s not really an issue. We just have to execute what we want to do and play as hard as we can. If we do that I think we’ll be in good shape.”
