Nov. 1, 1999
Hal Mumme
UK Head Coach
On the offensive line:
“I think their effort has been better and yesterday’s practice was probablythe best effort that we have had in a long time. They are young guys andafter having some success for three games in a row, they maybe didn’t givethe effort in practice that they usually do. This week’s practice has beenbetter than the practice for the Georgia game. All we can ask from them isto try to get better fundamentally each week.”
“I think the extra rest has helped them because our last two workouts havereally been some of the best that we have had all year.”
On the receivers:
“(Brad) Pyatt had a good workout yesterday, but I really think that QuentinMcCord is going to be out for the game. He has a strained arch.”
“We won’t be mixing up receivers to fill (Quentin) McCord’s spot. We willjust use (Brad) Pyatt.”
On the Mississippi State defense:
“They have a pressure defense just like Georgia does, so obviously there isa lot of carryover. Hopefully we are a lot better at it this time than wewere last time against the Bulldogs.”
“They are big, fast, experienced, mean and nasty. Then they have acoordinator who you never know what he is going to do. It is kind of agamble against Joe Lee (Dunn) so that is the challenge. You basically haveto be ready for everything, all of the time. It is the best defense that wehave faced this year. Every way that you want to cut it, it is the bestdefense we have played all year.”
On the frequency of Dusty Bonner getting sacked:
“In our offense we hold the ball a lot. I looked back at some film of thelast two years and there are a lot of times where Tim Couch took sacks. Itis going to happen in this offense because when you throw the ball as muchas we do, you are going to get sacked. We have to get more mature andbetter up front to be able to pick up the rush.”
“Dusty has been reluctant to throw the ball someplace where it can getpicked off or get us in trouble. We would rather have him take the sackthen have him force passes.”
“It comes down to the experience factor for Dusty. He just needs to knowwhen to stay locked on to that No. 1 or No. 2 guy and when to come down toNo. 3, four and five and get rid of the ball. That is the part if he needsto improve, he can, but the only way to improve that is to just go outthere and play in the games.”
On expectations for the UK defense:
“We would like them to hang in there and play a good game. I just want themto go out and play the next play as hard as they can and keep doing it.”
On playing on Thursday:
“You just have to adjust your schedule so today is like Wednesday for us.There is really not a bad part to the change because you also pick up acouple days on the back end of it in preparation for Vanderbilt.”
On facing Mississippi State:
“They have a lot of guys back on defense and they have always giveneverybody in the league trouble on defense. Coach (Jackie) Sherrill is agreat football coach. He has done a great job building that program andbeing there eight or nine years, he is on his second round of recruits.They have gotten a little better at each position in every year he has beenthere.”
On UK punter Andy Smith:
“He is a guy who has sacrificed for us and we really appreciate him forthat. He is having a great season and really has a strong leg that isdrawing some notice by the NFL guys. He is extremely accurate, but he canalso just punt the air out of the ball like he did on the safety against LSU.”
On the off week:
“It has been good for us. We have some freshmen who cannot believe that theseason is this long so I think the off week has helped us a lot.”
UK Player Quotes
TE James Whalen
On the size of Mississippi State:
“They are real big, strong and physical. We just need to use our heads andcreate some opportunities for ourselves.”
On MSU’s defensive scheme:
“They run a lot of different schemes. They run a 3-3 stack and like tobring pretty much the whole house including the kitchen sink. We just haveto be able to adjust by picking up their blitzes and making the right throws.”
On playing on Thursday night:
“It’s wonderful. It’s kind of like Monday night football for us. Othercollege football players around the nation get a chance to sit at homewatch us. It will be a lot of fun. We are real excited. To me it seems likeWednesday now.”
DE Matt Layow
On UK’s week off:
“It has been nice. It allows us to be students and get caught up on ourstudies. We lifted, relaxed, and were able to recover to from any nagginginjuries that we’ve had.”
On MSU’s offense:
“They are similar to Arkansas as far as running the ball. They are realrun-oriented but they can also pass the ball as well. We have to be awareof that and the key thing is for us to concentrate on shutting down the runand not let them beat us from the air.”
On UK’s defense improving against MSU:
“We would just like to keep playing like we have been through the middlepart of the season and improve from the Georgia game and go from there. Wewant to continue to play well and try and give the offense the ball as manytimes as we can so they can score some points.”
RB/WR Kendrick Shanklin
On UK’s offensive plan against MSU:
“Hopefully we’ll be able to hit some big plays. They’re going to blitz andwe’re going to try to hit some receivers and get some big gains. (MSUassistant) Joe Lee Dunn is going to have a good game plan for us. He likesto mix it up a lot. We’ll certainly see some unique defenses.”
On needing one more win to become bowl-eligible:
“It’s a three-game season for us, but right now we’re focusing onMississippi State. They’re a top-10 team and we’re going to try to knockthem off. Every SEC game is tough. We’re going to go all out to get thevictory.”
On his improved return game:
“I’m getting a better feel for what people are trying to do with me. Thedefense is blocking better, I’m finding the little holes and I think I’vematured some.”
OT Omar Smith
On MSU’s defensive plan:
“They try to confuse you and they’re very good at it. That’s why they’rethe No. 1 defense in the nation.”
On the off week:
“It’s been nice. It’s really helped me to get back on my feet. Eight gamesis a long stretch without a break.”
On coming off the Georgia loss:
“How can I not be challenged? After being basically embarrassed last week,I’m really looking forward to getting back out on the field.”
