Sept. 21, 2002
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UK Coach Guy Morriss
On what happened at half time…
“I don’t know. I just told them I’m not interested in winning the fight, I just want to win the game. I told them to behave yourselves and go play ball. I don’t know how it got started and I don’t care how it got started.”
On how the team played in the second half…
“I thought (defensively) they picked it up in the second half. We shut them out in the fourth quarter so we were very pleased about that.”
On facing adversity in three of the last four games…
“I think it is certainly valuable to our team that we’ve been able to overcome those situations. In every ball game there’s going to be adversity, that’s just the ebb and flow of the ball game. We may be up or we may be down, but through the whole thing I just told them to throw a blanket over the score board and just keep playing hard and everything is going to take care of itself.”
On why the team has played so well in the fourth quarter…
“I think it’s a credit to our kids and how they’ve conditioned themselves from a physical nature. I don’t know if they feel like they have something to prove or if they just have a lot of resolve and determination.”
On Artose Pinner…
“I’m going to have to get him a cape. He’s unbelievable.”
On being 4-0…
“Well, I know it hasn’t been done for 18 years. That’s a long time and there’s not anybody on our football team, coaches or players, who’s been at Kentucky and been 4-0 before. It’s a very special feeling.”
MTSU Coach Andy McCollum Quotes
On MTSU’s performance…
“We gave a great effort. I have to go back and watch the film I think Andrico (Hines) did a good job. It looked like Dwone (Hicks) got going after our first turnover, but he got hurt later in the game and couldn’t play. Overall it wasn’t a good day and we’ve got a lot to go back home and work on.”
“I thought their defense played well, but I was proud of our offensive line. I thought we did some nice things rushing the football and they came out as a group and took the challenge. A couple drives we didn’t finish or convert, but (Tyrone) Calico did some things and Andrico (Hines) made some plays.”
On Kentucky running back Artose Pinner…
“We had chances and opportunities, but we missed too many tackles. That last run by (Artose) Pinner was ridiculous, we had to miss eight tackles on that play. He’s an outstanding player – I don’t want to take anything away from him, but we should be able to tackle him. He doesn’t go down on first contact, he makes a lot of plays and he catches the ball well.”
On scuffle at end of first half…
They called two personal fouls – one on (Jerry) Vanderpool and another on (Jared) Lorenzen. It looked like Lorenzen swung at him and Vanderpool pushed him back and they called personal fouls on both of them, but Vanderpool gets thrown out of the game and Lorenzen doesn’t. We lose two starters and they lose two backups. We’ll learn more from the film – it was ugly and there’s no place for it in the game.”
On injuries…
“(Brandon) Westbrook has had trouble with his knee but he fought through it and played hard. He probably is going to be out a few days. We’ll find out more about Dwone (Hicks) when we get home.”
On losing two defensive players to the scuffle…
“The second half we ran out of depth up front. We lost (Jerry) Vanderpool and (Devarick) Scandrett up front – those are two starters on our pass rush. We don’t possess the numbers to lose those two. That hurt us on getting pressure on the quarterback.”
UK Player Quotes
#20 Artose Pinner RB
On halftime mishap and how it effected play…
“It had a big effect (on our play). We came into halftime fired up. The offensive line was fired up because they attacked the quarterback, the captain of our team. We came back in the second half fired up.”
On being 4-0 heading into Gainesville…
“Who would’ve thought UK would be 4-0 going into `The Swamp’?” We kind of thought we had a chance. A lot of people thought our cross-town rival would beat us but we got through that too.”
On rating his runs…
“This was a new one. I kept telling myself `if I keep surprising myself, good things are gonna happen’ and this week I surprised myself again.”
#13 Aaron Boone WR
On today’s game plan…
“We knew we wanted to spread it out a lot more today. We knew we couldn’t beat the blitz every time so we spread it out.”
On going to Florida…
“I think a lot of people love this conference because of the `Tennessee’s’ and the `Florida’s.’ For us to be in this situation, it’s exciting for us to go down there.”
On team unity based on the halftime mishap…
“We got in there and messed around. It’s something we’re not proud of but when somebody comes in our house and does that, we’re not gonna back down.”
On his touchdown play…
“I had been running that play all day. I guess if I was Ernest Simms, I wouldn’t have worried about it as much. You’re told not to look back because it can slow you down. I looked up at the big screen to see who was behind me and fortunately I was able to run in.”
#22 Jared Lorenzen
On what happened at halftime…
“It got us excited. When a team comes into your backyard and starts fighting it gets you pumped up and ready to play. The fight probably shouldn’t have happened, but it was nice to see the team come out there to support us.”
On the team’s confidence…
“Our confidence is very, very high. This is one of the tightest-knit bunch of guys I’ve been around and it is just fun to play.”
On his performance…
“When `Tuse is running that hard and the receivers are playing so well it makes my job easy.”
#26 Morris Lane
On the incident at halftime…
“It was an ugly incident. It shouldn’t have happened. They talked a lot of trash but sometimes that’s just part of the game. It has no place in college football, but it did rally us together.”
On preparing for Florida…
“If you can’t prepare yourself for Florida, you’re in the wrong sport. We’ll just go back to our drawing board and try to correct our mistakes and get ready to go the swamp.”
MTSU Player Quotes
#9 Andrico Hines QB
“We got down early and fought like crazy to get back. Things didn’t go our way and we have a lot of improving to do. That starts this week in practice. They (Kentucky) have a good football team over there. We have to give them credit.”
“The offensive line did a great job today. They have two great defensive linemen. They had a good scheme for us. It was good coaching on their behalf. We just need to execute better.”
#54 Randy Arnold LB
On bench-clearing altercation before the half…
“I didn’t know what was going on. I heard the crowd so I looked up and (Jared) Lorenzen was on the ground. I was really just trying to break it up. When something like that happens you can’t just run off. You have to stay in there with your team.”
#27 Tyrone Calico WR
On trash talking with Derrick Tatum…
“It was pretty much in fun. After the game, we shook hands and hugged each other. When we’re out there exchanging words, it doesn’t really mean anything. It is part of the game. I think we both feed off of it.”
#80 David Youell WR
On playing from behind in each game this season…
“Anywhere it is hard to play from behind. No matter who you’re playing – SEC, Sun Belt – it doesn’t matter. We just have to find a way to come out ready. That’s all it boils down to. The seniors have to lead the team and get us out there. The others have to follow us.”
#2 Michael Woods LB
On the team’s slow start…
“I really don’t know what it is. We just had slow starts the last couple of games. We have to improve on that and get it going in the first half.”
On Artose Pinner…
“He’s really a north-south guy. He’s great at breaking tackles. He’s a person you have to try to wrap up, and we didn’t do that today. We had him wrapped up in the backfield a couple of times, and he still broke loose for the long runs.”
