UK Coach Hal Mumme
On the quarterback comparison between Couch andManning:
“I really like ours. If I didn’t have ours,I’d want theirs. They don’t play against each other. Tim(Couch) goes against Tennessee’s defense and Peyton (Manning)goes against our defense. It’s a media deal. I don’t spend alot of time watching Peyton. I know he’s a great player anddeserves all the accolades he’s received and that he’s going toget. We like him a lot.”
On keeping Couch healthy the entire season:
“We’rehappy our offensive line has played as well as they’ve played.I think we can play a lot better than we did Saturday. We’repleased with their progress (overall). They play a big part inany success we’ve had this year.”
On being 5-5 going into the final week:
“We try andtake one (game) at a time. We were hoping to be here. We wereactually hoping to be a little better than we are now. If youlook back at five or six plays in various games through theyear, we could be a little better then we are right now. Ithink the guys responded well for the first year. It obviouslyput out some good things for recruits to look at. It shows themwhat our system is supposed to look like. If we get a few morebodies in here, we ought to be pretty optimistic.
On Tennessee’s style of defense:
“They’ll blitzsome. They’re not like Vanderbilt or Mississippi State, that’snot their nature. They play a defense very similar to ours instructure. They will blitz, but they do most of their pressurewith the ends and the tackles.”
On getting ready for the Tennessee game:
“I don’tthink we’ll do anything outlandish. It will be pretty much thesame schedule we’ve had every week. The guys know theimportance of this game. At this point in the season, I don’thave to say a lot to them to get them ready for this one. Theyknow we need to get that beer barrel back.”
OG Jeremy Streck
“We are really setting a stagehere. We’re 5-5 and getting set to play Tennessee to determineif we have our first winning season since 1989. Hopefully, wecan win back the beer barrel and get set for a bowl.”
DE Robert Jones
“I am ready to go. We knew that wehad to take care of the last two games if we wanted to go to abowl this season. We went down to Nashville and played reallywell against Vandy. Now, this is it. This one we have to takecare of.”
DB Littleton Ward
“We have a lot at stake onSaturday. If we win, we could possibly go on (to a bowl game),but if we lose we stay at home. We have to have a good week ofpractice and focus on doing the little things right.”
On senior day:
“Its sad, but at the same time itsnot sad. I don’t have any regrets. I’ve been here for fiveyears and I want to go out with a bang. I have grown attachedto a lot of guys here and it is hard to leave them. Hopefullywe (the seniors) can have a good game.”
On Tennessee:
“They have a good offense with PeytonManning, Marcus Nash, and Peerless Price. As a defensive backI am going to have to focus on my job and really step up mygame. My goal is to go out there and have a good game. We haveto pull out all the stops and make things happen early.”
SS Tremayne Martin
“This is the last time I willput on the Blue and White for Kentucky. It has been a lot offun. I really appreciate the guys who have gone out every dayand worked hard. We have had a good game plan in every game.Sometimes the plays just didn’t go our way. Tennessee is agood challenge for us. As a secondary we will have to playwell and try to contain them. We have to be in position to makeplays and then make them. If we can make plays, it puts theoffense on the field. I want to accept the role that CoachMumme has given me as a captain and go out and work hard. Hopefully we can have a good week of practice and come togetheras a team. This is it for the seniors. We are going to staywith the game plan and hopefully come out with a victory.
Associate Athletics Director Larry Ivy
“We are inthe process of erecting temporary seating for this week’s gamein the four corners of the stadium for an additional 1,650seats. They are primarily for the students since theirallotment had been reduced in the past few years. But byadding these 1,650 seats, we are rewarding them for theirsupport this season. We don’t expect any extra (public)tickets to come available from this construction, but if thestudents don’t claim them, they will become available to thegeneral public on Wednesday.”
“If this works – which we think it will – we will be settingthese bleachers up at the beginning of next year to have themavailable for the students for all of next year.”
