Oct. 18, 1999
Coach Hal Mumme
On UK’s defensive improvements and players stepping up:
“I just think some of our young guys are growing up and are starting toplay with a lot of confidence. There are guys making plays on every snap.You can’t really narrow it down to one guy but obviously Anthony Wajda isPlayer of the Week in the SEC. There are a lot of plays being made outthere by (Marlon) McCree, (Jeff) Snedegar, and Ryan Murphy who had a greatgame. All of our defensive lineman played well along with Eric Kelly,Kenneth, Grant, Jeremy Bowie, and Willie Gary so it is hard to narrow itdown.”
On Anthony Wajda’s playing time since David Johnson’s injury:
“I think Anthony would have worked his way in for playing time. I don’tknow if you would have seen him as much. We probably wouldn’t have takenWillie and David off the field but Anthony is a great player.”
On Georgia’s defensive scheme:
“Basically, they run the same defense that we do. Us, Georgia, andTennessee are all about the same when it comes down to scheme and coverages.”
On UK’s last two games against Georgia:
“I thought they were both great college football games. We just came out onthe wrong end.”
On HB Kendrick Shanklin’s play as a slot receiver against LSU:
“He really helped us a lot. He is a great blocker and we were reallygetting that out of Dougie Allen before we lost him. Kendrick really did agreat job with that and made some plays to catch the ball.”
On RB Artose Pinner’s play:
“He runs hard and the first attacker rarely takes him down. He doesn’t havegreat speed but he has good speed. He’s a really hard-nosed runner. We’regoing to give him some more chances and hope he keeps maturing.”
On allowing QB Dusty Bonner to call more plays at the line of scrimmage:
“The very first big play of the game was a throw to (James) Whalen and hechecked to that. In the third quarter, there was swing route to AnthonyWhite on a blitz and he checked to that. There were several really good runchecks.”
On Georgia’s offense:
“They are awfully explosive. They could score some points on us that’s forsure. They scored 24 in the fourth quarter against Vandy. I think (thegame) could go back and forth.”
On changing preparation for a road game:
“We don’t change very much. Obviously it’s hard to play on the road in theSEC. We play a lot of crowd noise at our Thursday afternoon practice.”
On Georgia QB Quincy Carter:
“He’s a really big guy. Not only is he fast and quick, but he’s really hardto bring down which is what makes him such an effective runner. You reallyaren’t going to stop him but hopefully you can slow him down and containhim enough where he doesn’t beat you. He really is an accurate passer.”
On UK’s chances of winning the SEC Eastern Division title:
“We’re just going to take them one game at a time and try to get the sixthwin. Once we get that, then we’ll see where we are in the conference race.Right now this is a really important game. If we could get this one thisweek, it would make all that stuff fun to speculate about during the openweek.”
On UK’s young team and how they have played through seven games:
“It probably hasn’t been as big a surprise to our coaching staff and to theteam as it has been to everybody else. There was just so much negativearound early, particulary after the first game, that I think everybodyrelaxed. I think the team’s expectations are still extremely high and allthe stuff lately has just added confidence to them.”
Player Quotes
Marlon McCree
UK Linebacker
On being an unheralded player:
“I think I get my fair share of publicity, but I honestly don’t care toomuch about publicity. I got a lot of publicity in high school and I foundthat media attention can give a player a false sense of himself. I wouldjust like to keep my priorities in order and focus on the next game. Ireally don’t like to get involved in the hype. We still have to line up onSaturdays and get the job done each week.”
Matt Brown
UK Left Tackle
On the UK running game:
“We are working really hard on improving the running game. Coach (Guy)Morriss is spending a lot of time teaching us the fundamentals so we reallyhope to increase the potential of our running game.”
On the Georgia game:
“Our confidence is really high coming off three wins in a row. We are justgoing to prepare for Georgia like we did everybody else. It’s a big gamefor us, but it’s a big game for them, too. You should see a hard-foughteffort by each team.”
On staying focused on the next game:
“The important thing is to not start looking down the road at what bowlgame we are going to. We just have to worry about one game at a time likeCoach Mumme says.”
On team balance:
“It a good feeling for an offensive lineman any time you score all yourtouchdowns on the ground. It gives us confidence to know that we can scoreon the ground if we are unable to score in other ways.”
On UK’s stellar team defense:
“That is giving us even more confidence. When the defense is playing greatis makes us want to go out there and get after them even more. It is justreally great how well the defense is playing the last few games.”
Kendrick Shanklin
UK Kick Returner/Wide Receiver
On making big plays:
“You can’t expect to have the ball in your hands all the time, but when youdo, you need to make something out of it. I think I did that Saturday (withhis 56-yard punt return for a touchdown) Hopefully I can get some moreplaying time, but right now we are just focused on getting victories so Iwill take it when I get it.”
On the Baton Rouge-native’s punt return for a touchdown:
“It was great, especially against LSU. But I just think that the guys dida great job blocking for me like they have been doing all year. If they cancontinue that, hopefully we can run a few more back.”
On Georgia:
“Last year we felt like we should have gotten a victory. We played well,but the offense did not come through in the second-half. But we feel likewe can play with them. It will be tough being at their place with theirfans being all fired up. You have to have confidence going into any game.So we just need to go there and take that attitude, hopefully we can get a victory.”
James Whalen
UK Tight End
On the state of the team:
“Every game we play is a big game. Our next four games are all against goodteams and with where we sit now, we have a chance to finish the season as abig-time program. We know that if we just go out there and work hard, wehave an opportunity to compete. Coach Mumme and his staff have done a greatjobrecruiting. We have the players, we just have to go out there and execute.”
On Georgia:
“We went down there two years ago and we felt like that one got away fromus also. Last year we came out strong early and let them come back. Georgiais a very good football team and they are well coached by Coach Donnan.They are very physical and very strong, but we feel like we have theathletes that wecan compete at that level and win.”
On the familiarity with winning:
“It is a great feeling, not only for us but for the people in theCommonwealth, that not only are they going to see an entertaining game, butthat they expect to win each week like we do. That really rubs off on usand is wonderful because we know that we can win if we go out there andplay like we should.”
