Dec. 6, 1999
Coach Hal Mumme
Opening Statement
“We appreciate the fans in the Commonwealth supporting us all season, ouradministration, Dr. Charles Wethington Jr., C.M. Newton, Larry Ivy andeveryone else who has been a big part of this. I’d like to thank ourplayers for their persistence and courage to hang in there through a tryingseason and coming out winners. It’s tough to wait and see if you getselected, which is what we’ve done for a couple of weeks now. I did that atValdosta State and was disappointed when we didn’t make the playoffs in1993. That’s a tough thing to tell your kids. We appreciate the people atthe Music City Bowl and the SEC Office helping line this up for us, and nowwe just want to go down there and do our best to represent the SEC and theCommonwealth.”
On the Music City Bowl
“The Music City has been one of our favorites all along because of itsproximity for our fans. Plus, with this probably being Coach Newton’s lastbowl trip with us, going to Nashville was an added incentive for us, sincehe coached there for so long.”
On the bowl system
“I think the bowl system is great. It lets young people display theirtalents and really helps you build for next year. Look at the two teams whoplayed in the Music City Bowl last year, Alabama and Virginia Tech. Theyhad pretty good years and you have to believe that the bowl game helpedthem get where they are now. I don’t think there are too many bowls now.You have 44 teams going to bowls and 112 or so playing football. I don’tknow why people would say that about football and not about basketball. Thebowl system is what makes college football such a great specatator sport.”
On team activities from Dec. 17-22
“We’ll practice mainly. We’re waiting to see just what we’re allowed to doin entertaining the team, but the focus of the time will be practice.”
On the team’s focus
“This team wants to win this bowl game and equal last year’s record. JamesWhalen told me before the season that he thought we’d be a better team thisyear, and that can be true. If the records are the same, I’d say this is abetter team because they played together and overachieved. They weren’t astalented, but they were better in the team concept.”
On the team’s practice schedule
“Last week we really focused on the young guys, this week we’ll split it upand when we come back on the 17th it will all be focused on Syracuse.”
On Syracuse
“They are a talented team. They’re a nationally-recognized program and Iknow they haven’t had the kind of season they had hoped to, which makesthem dangerous.”
On last week’s practice
“I liked all the stuff I saw on the field last week. Jared (Lorenzen) hasgotten better in his knowledge of the offense and is in better shapephysically. Now he just has to improve in the classroom. He’s not where Iwant him academically and really needs to step it up. I like what I sawfrom Mike Kamphake and Martez Johnson, Drew Ashcraft and Derrick Abney. I’msure there were some standouts on defense, too, but I wasn’t paying as muchattention to that side of the ball.”
On the extra practice time
“I think it’s invaluable. Just look at last year’s participants and thekind of years they’ve had this season.”
On the team’s travel plans
“We’re going to go down there on the 26th, mainly because you’re notguaranteed great weather here or there. And we have such great facilitieshere that we’d rather stay in Lexington than go down there and practice onan icy high school field.”
On the UK football program’s growth
“From my own perspective, I think we’re right on course. I didn’t expect tocome in here and win the conference right away, but I did hope to come inand win and get to some bowl games and recruit so we could be competitivein the SEC and have a chance to win it. Other people had other opinions,and may think we’ve done better than they thought, but from my point ofview, we’re right on track.”
UK Quarterback Dusty Bonner
On getting a bid:
“It is big for us because it was our goal all year long. Just to get toplay another game is a great thing for the seniors because they get anothershot a winning a bowl game. For us young guys it is a chance to learn andenjoy ourselves. It is the reward at the end of the year and we are excitedabout it. Now we have to practice hard and get ready for it.”
On the team’s accomplishments this season:
“We felt all along like we could do this kind of thing. We knew it wasgoing to take a lot of hard work and we have had some tough ball games andsome tough losses, but we just have to try to better and improve each year.”
“Going to the bowl was our goal and anytime you set a goal you definitelywant to reach it. This team wanted to reach that point and now that we havereached it, want to do the best we can in the game.”
“It’s just a great feeling like anything. If you want a certain job and youget it, you’re excited about it. The thing about it is, when you put a lotof hard work into it and you get it, it’s just that much more gratifying.Now it’s just going to take some more hard work to go in there and try towin the game.”
On several UK players returning to the lineup from injury for the bowl:
“Like Coach Mumme said, to get guys like Quentin (McCord) and Brad (Pyatt)will be a big lift for us. They are just so fast that they can separatefrom people in a hurry. Any time you get your players back it helps. Ondefense we will also get some key guys back. Plus you really want theseguys to get to play in the bowl game because they have worked hard all yearlong and they deserve to play.”
On the feeling from last year to this one:
“Last year we had a great year and we lost some great players from thatteam, but we didn’t want to go down any. We wanted to get better. I thinkwe did that so we just need to continue to improve so in a few years we canget this program where we want it to be.”
UK Free Safety Anthony Wajda
On playing in Nashville:
“When we played at Vanderbilt it was a huge game for both teams, but Istill considered that a home game for us. You looked up and the place washalf-full with Kentucky fans. Being 3.5 hours from Lexington we will beable to look up and see a lot of Blue and White in the stands.”
On several UK players returning to the lineup from injury for the bowl:
“It is going to be great to see our guys back. We began the year as ayoung team and towards the end of the year we just kept getting younger andyounger because of the injuries. First we were playing juniors andsophomores, but by the end of the year the sophomores were being looked atas the most experienced guys on the team. It is going to be good for us toget some of those juniors back like Quentin (McCord), Willie Gary and EricKelly and get them back in the rotation. Experience does a lot for afootball team and they have been there before and their bodies are used tothe wear and tear.”
On whether he doubted that the Cats would get a bowl bid:
“I pretty much knew that we would get a bid when we got to six wins andTennessee beat Vanderbilt and Auburn lost. We thought the Music City Bowlwould take us because we could make so much money for them. As well as ourfans travel, I thought we would be a good match for them.”
UK Receiver Kendrick Shanklin
On the difference between this year and last:
“Last year we got there, were happy that we were there, but we didn’treally do our jobs. This year we want to complete the job and then comehome with that victory for the Big Blue faithful.”
On the team’s state-of-mind heading into the bowl game:
“Last year everyone was like ‘When are we going down there’ or ‘What are wegoing to do when we get down there’ and not focused on the game. This yearit’s more like ‘Let’s stay here and practice’ or ‘Let’s do what we have todo to get ready for the game and let’s go out and get the victory.’ We willjust go down a couple days before and get a sense of the environment.Everybody wants to go down there and get the victory. That is the mostimportant thing this time. We are definitely more business-like.”
On Syracuse:
“I know that they have lost some close ballgames. I know they have playedMichigan, Virginia Tech and Miami. I know that they have been in bowls forthe last five or six years and they have a good tradition of putting guysin the NFL. We are going to have our work cut out for us in this game andwe will have to plan well, execute and definitely be on top of our game toget a victory. We are going to be in for a real battle.”
On being selected to play in the Music City Bowl:
“Any time you get a chance to go to a bowl game it’s a great thing. I thinkgoing back to Nashville is great because the fans are close and we’ll haveall the big blue faithful there. We are definitely excited to be playing agood football team in Syracuse. They are a big team and have a proudtradition.”
On accomplishing their goal of being selected to a bowl game:
“We knew coming into the season that everybody had picked us to win twogames, if even that many. We were ranked like 60-something in the nation.We use that as motivation. It is a sense of accomplishment, especially forthe seniors. To go to back-to-back bowl games is a sense of accomplishmentfor them.”
On UK’s upcoming preparation:
“For this week, we’ll be just getting the fundamentals down and getting thegameplan together. When we come back after exams, we’ll focus on Syracuseand what we are going to do. We are just trying to get back in the rhythmof playing football and getting ready for the bowl game.”
UK Center Nolan DeVaughn
On exceeding the preseason expectations:
“When you look at the preseason magazines and people only had you winningone and two games, that is motivation for the whole year to get better andprove people wrong.”
On the offensive line’s play this season:
“It started out real well. We started making some weird mistakes toward theend and obviously we have to keep working at it to become a good offensiveline. We would have one person break down and everybody else would be fine.It seemed like that would happen on a consistent basis for us. We just haveto be consistent in our play.”
On the number of sacks the offensive line allowed:
“We had a lot of trouble picking up blitzes. You know every week that youare going to be playing against guys that will be in the NFL. It is justsomething for us to work on. Things happen.”
UK Free Safety Willie Gary
On returning from a high-ankle sprain to play in the bowl game:
“I will definitely be ready. I’m pretty much ready right now. I have to geta little rust off. I’m not feeling any pain right now. I just need to getback into the swing of things.”
On getting the chance to play in a bowl game:
“I’m excited because I missed the Outback Bowl last year. I am going to behungry and ready to go.”
