UK Coach Hal Mumme

On what he told the team after the LSU game:

“I told our players we have two more games. We still have a chance to finish bowl eligible and how they reacted to these past two defeats and how their attitude was in the open week and this week coming up would determine how they would finish the season.”

On Vanderbilt’s defensive style:

“It’s a 4-3 scheme. He does a better job of schooling his players in the small nuances of things that make it effective.”

“Vanderbilt is a dangerous football team. They held LSU to seven (points), we held them to 63. They held Florida to 20, we held them 58. We’re just going to have to do a better job (on defense).”

“Their linebackers are as good as we’ve seen and their corners are as good as we’ve seen. They like to blitz you. They just do a good job of getting a lot of numbers around the ball. They hustle. They play hard on every snap.”

“Woody is a great defensive coach. He’s been doing this a long time. He understands how to outnumber you, particularly at the point of attack, and he does a great job. It will be a tremendous challenge for us.”

On playing after the off week:

“We did do well against Indiana (after the off week earlier in the year). Hopefully, we’ll be able to duplicate that. We’ve had two real physical ball games prior to this week. That was the case prior to Indiana. Mississippi State was very physical as was the Louisville game.”

DE – Bamidele Ali

“It was good to get some days off. Sometimes it’s good to get away from football and just get some days to yourself. We never take Vanderbilt lightly. They have a great defense. They held Florida to just 20 points, so we know we have to step up and perform. After the LSU game, coach pointed some fingers and told some people that they needed to step up. I think that was something we needed. LSU was a real eye-opener. We need to come back and show the kind of defense we are.”

WR – Craig Yeast

“Vanderbilt has a very good defense. They held Florida, but we think they are beatable. If our defense plays well and puts the offense on the field we can be successful. What makes them successful – especially on defense – is that they play hard and play as a unit. Anytime you play as a unit and swarm to the football like they do, you’re going to play well.”

WR – Kevin Coleman

On overlooking Vanderbilt:

“When people think about Vanderbilt, they think of a great academic school. But they have a lot of good defensive players and their offense is improving. They have given some of the top teams in the country a run for their money.”

FS – Willie Gary

On the off week:

“It was tough sitting at home and watching everyone else play. It would have been nice to be out there, but this gave us a chance to get healthy again.”

On playing with their backs to the wall:

“We just need to go out and play hard for two straight games. If we do that, we can keep hopes alivefor a bowl. But in the SEC, every game is tough. Vanderbilt has a strong team and it’s going to be a tough game.”

FB – Anthony White

“The off week helped us come back from the injuries that we had earlier in the season. It really gave us the confidence and the mindset to finish off the season strong and re-evaluate our goal to get into the bowl game.”

“Coach believes that we can go 2-0 and in order for you to win any game everybody has to believe as one. He told us that if you believe you can win–so that is our game plan.”

“In this league (SEC) you really cannot look at everybody’s games each week because you will go crazy. We noticed all year long that Vanderbilt won’t let you score many points on them. Even the best offensive team in the nation won’t score many points on them. Our defense has to try and stop their offense and our offense has to come up with some good plays.”

LB -Lee Wesley

“We must respond with a positive effort in this game against Vanderbilt. We are in a must win situation right now. We have to go out and practice hard. We have to win these next games or we will not qualify for a bowl game.”

“We have a lot of key players that are coming back for this game like Kio Sanford, Jimmy Haley and Anthony White. That is going to help us out a lot and we think that we have a good chance to come out with victory.”