Oct. 11, 1999
UK Coach Hal Mumme
On the time change:
“The game time has been changed to 12:30 p.m. and that’s dictated to us by the SEC Office. We have no control over that. The SEC sets the TV package. We have no control over the time change. We’re in the SEC and we have to play when they tell us to.”
On LSU:
“They’re just like they always are. They’re huge, they’re fast and they’re athletic. They have a quarterback (Josh Booty) who Bill Walsh says is the best quarterback he’s ever seen coming out of high school. They’ve got fast receivers we tried to recruit and couldn’t get and they have a running back that has torn us up before. They’re very good.”
On Josh Booty, LSU QB:
“He’s a great quarterback. He’s big, he’s got a good release – he’s very much like Tim Couch.”
On UK’s defense against South Carolina:
“I thought they were great. They dominated the game. I was really pleased with their outing.”
On the team’s improvement:
“This team has a great work ethic. I’ve said from the beginning that if character and work ethic are worth anything, we’re going to win a lot of games and that’s right where we are at. Our guys don’t ever complain. They just do what we ask them to do to the best of their abilities. We’re not very flashy. We don’t have a lot of stars, but we have a group of guys who are playing together and working hard.”
On team leadership:
“I think Nolan DeVaughn, Josh Parrish and Matt Brown have shown leadership. Dusty Bonner has done a great job, too. Defensively, Ryan Murphy, Anthony Wajda and guys like that have stepped up and are starting to make plays.”
On James Whalen:
“James Whalen has the same thing that Tim Couch has – a passion for the game. He loves every play of every game. He plays the game with so much emotion.”
On the death of former Wildcat Jeremy Streck:
“It’s a terrible tragedy. It’s always tough when a young person passes away. He was a key cog in our system last year and I know he was enjoying life after college. We’ll miss him.”
UK Tight End James Whalen
On playing LSU at home as opposed to in Baton Rouge:
?That is not an easy place to play. They are very loud and they have a great fan-following down there. It is going to be real fun to have them here at our place with our fans. I am sure that it will definitely be loud.?
On home-field advantage of the new Commonwealth Stadium: ?Coming back from last year we were hoping that the crowds would be that much better. It has proved to be everything that I had hoped for and then some.
On the origin of his passion for football:
?I have played athletics ever since I was two. I always played three sports until I went to college and I kind of missed out on doing that so I just focused in on football. Athletics is just what I do and I love to compete. If I couldn?t compete I am not sure what I would do. It is a lot of fun for me and I really just can?t wait for Saturdays to come around.?
On the work ethic of this Wildcat squad:
?We go out every day and work our tails off with one common goal: to win football games. We did not play all that well against Florida. So what did we do? We came back and put a great work-week together and we beat Arkansas. We did the same thing this week to win at South Carolina, which is not an easy place to play. Everyone on this team shares the common goal to win and get to a bowl game. If we just keep working hard with that attitude in the back of our head, there is a long way for this team to go.?
QB Dusty Bonner
On TE Derek Smith:
“He is doing fine. He is definitely a talented young player. He’s been working hard and will only get better and better with more experience. He’s been doing a good job for us.”
On the importance of UK’s upcoming games:
“We’re in a position right now where we have an opportunity to reach our goals this year. We just need to go out and focus and get after it because if we don’t, we won’t reach our goals. The SEC is a tough conference and we’re getting ready to play some of these upper-level teams in the league so we have to be ready. We need to get better each week and play as a team.”
On UK’s goal of receiving a bowl bid:
“We talk about those things before the season starts. Once the season starts, it’s all about playing football. You focus on playing one game a week and don’t worry about anything else. As far as bowl talk, everybody knows that’s where we want to go and that’s part of our goal. We’ll just keep that in the back of our minds and just focus on the teams we’re playing.”
Center Nolan DeVaughn
On UK’s win over South Carolina:
“Our offense didn’t play as well as it needed to but our defense really stepped it up. It is just a big emotional boost for us, winning an away game. We haven’t won many away games in the SEC since I’ve been here so it’s a big game and we’re getting better.”
On UK’s defense rising up to the challenge against USC:
“We feel great about the win, knowing that we didn’t play well on offense and the defense stepped up. On offense it makes us feel a lot better to know that if we screw up and need them, that they can come in and play well for us. It’s a big boost.”
