UK Coach Hal Mumme
On improving on mistakes from the South Carolina game:
“Offensively, we have to execute better. I was pleased with our effort, (but) I was not pleased with our execution. We missed some short passes in the end zone. Tim (Couch’s) comments after the game show what kind of leader he is and I think you’ll see that work accordingly on the field this week in practice. I don’t want to sit here and whine about how bad we played because I think Coach Scott and his troops had a lot to do with it. It’s hard to go on the road in the SEC and win. We still have a team in its infancy and we got taught some lessons out there.”
On Northeast Louisiana:
“We’re capable of losing to anybody. If you look at the records of the teams they have lost to – mostly in our conference – they are a pretty good football team. Other than Georgia, I think they’ve played everybody extremely tough, and of course they’ve won a couple of games. As I recall the last time they came to Lexington they won. You’re not going to have to tell us to take them seriously. We want to go play another game on Saturday.”
On surprises for Kentucky so far this season:
“I think our defense is playing better than I thought we’d play at this point. Our defensive staff is to be commended and our defensive kids are to be commended, not cajoled, for not being fast. We can’t make them any faster than they are. When they play good unit team defense, and we can get them in positions where they don’t get out-athleted, they’re really doing a great job. That’s the biggest surprise of the season. I think it’s the main reason we’ve won three games.”
On Anthony White and Derek Homer:
“They are unselfish people. They’ve done everything we’ve asked. This (past) week Anthony was more of a role player and Derek was more a a ball carrier. A couple of weeks before that it was the opposite. I think both of them are very good backs. They block when they need to block. They catch balls when they need to catch balls. They rush when they are asked to rush.”
On the impact injuries to Jimmy Haley and Kio Sanford have had on the team:
“The effect is immediate in terms of certain plays that they were good with and certain formations we could use with those guys that we can’t use now. It also has a domino effect because Haley and (Kevin) Coleman split a lot of time. Now Coleman is having to play every play. Lance (Mickelsen) and Kio (Sanford) split a lot of time, so Lance has to play every play. Those guys are just not going to be as effective when you have to go 65 full-speed snaps as opposed to 32 or 33.”
OT Jonas Liening
On protecting Tim Couch:
“That was our main objective coming into the season — to protect Tim Couch. We knew the talk before the season when people were saying we couldn’t protect anybody. Criticism is criticism. We knew what we could do and we’re going out there and showing it right now. We’re going to continue it this year. A lot of us will be back next year. We’re going to keep it going and get better and better.”
On UK’s 3-3 overall record:
“I’m not satisfied and I don’t think anyone is satisfied. We’re talking about changing Kentucky football. We’ve had two losses on the road in the SEC that we could have easily won with a few things going our way in Mississippi State and South Carolina. Three wins and three losses is a starting point for a program, but the way we look at is this is our year. We want to go to a bowl game this year. We want it now.”
CB Willie Gary
On the South Carolina game:
“I think we may be down but as we work in practice and take a look at our mistakes, we will make improvements. We will be fired up for Saturday night’s game (vs. NE Louisiana).”
On UK’s defense:
“Sometimes we have our ups and downs, we just need to be more consistent. I have confidence in our defense.”
WR Craig Yeast
On playing with Tim Couch:
“When I’m on the field with Tim (Couch) he knows where I’ll be. I have a lot of confidence in him and I think he has a lot of confidence in me right now. The quarterback and receivers have to have a good feel for each other and I think Tim and I have good chemistry right now.”
On the first half of the season:
“I think we have had a good first half of the season. We have made some mistakes and I think we may have given away a couple games. But we will continue to work hard this season and think about a bowl game until we can’t think about a bowl game anymore.”
