Sept. 17, 2001
KENTUCKY VS. FLORIDA
FOOTBALL PRESS CONFERENCE
WILDCAT DEN
SEPTEMBER 17, 2001
HEAD COACH GUY MORRISS
On game this Saturday: “I concur with our President, its time to get back to work. We’re looking forward to this opportunity to play Florida this weekend, and our kids are excited about the opportunity in playing the No. 2 team in the county.”
On break: “We treated it like an off-week. We went back and worked our younger players and red-shirt players and let them have a 50-play scrimmage for three days. It gives them the opportunity to show us what they can do, how they progressed and get them more work than they otherwise would have had if we played.”
On team on events of last week: “Obviously on Tuesday they were buzzing about it, they were in shock just like everyone else. We didn’t ask them to put it totally out of their minds – just to put it aside a little so we can get our work done. It’s a big deal to them and they were wondering how this was going to affect our country and themselves.”
On Florida: “It’s a big challenge for us. Florida is a great football team. Coach (Steve) Spurrier does a really nice job and he’ll have those guys ready, I m sure. We’ll have our hands full on Saturday. We have to get our kids refocused and concentrate on what we need to get done this week. Hopefully we’ll get a good effort from our kids and let the chips fall. That’s how we’ll approach it – give it our best effort and see what happens.”
On Florida defense: “They seem to be playing a little more simple this year. I think they cut out some of the things they were doing last year. It is theirS second year in the system and that has made them a better defense. They learned it and they’re reacting now.”
On UK improvement form last year’s game: “Offensively we’ve got to do some things to help our defense stay on the sideline and take some time off the clock. We have to hang on to the football. As you know, last year right before halftime we had two turnovers and that buried us right there – we’ve got to do a better job of hanging on to the football.”
On mental state of team: “I know they’re not going to totally forget about what’s going on in the world. But we’ve got to find a way to put it aside and concentrate on playing this football game this weekend.”
On DT Dewayne Robertson’s health: “He’ll practice tomorrow. We’ll limit his reps as a precautionary measure but he’ll be on the field.”
On DT Jeremy Caudill: “He’ll try tomorrow, he wants to play this weekend and we’ll put him out there and see how he responds. If he can get through the week without a lot of pain then he will play. He wants to play.”
On health of UK defense: “Jeremy Bowie is going to play, he’ll be close to full speed. On David Johnson, we’ll look at him on Tuesday and see how he does. Caudill is the only one there is question about.”
On UK players thinking about Florida: “They feel like they’ve got nothing to lose so let’s go take our best shot. We’ve got to be sound, line up correctly, execute and don’t turn the ball over. Their attitude is that nobody thinks they can win so let’s circle the wagons and get after.”
On QB Shane Boyd: “I think we’ll be patient with Shane since he only has the one game under his belt. We want to see how he moves the club and executes in different situations.”
On Florida’s strength: “Personnel – they’ve got great personnel and great depth. It seems like they send guys to the NFL draft and graduate a ton each year but they just fill the holes. They seem to understand the defensive system better, their entire scheme, and they have a great team.”
OG KEITH CHATELAIN
On getting back into the routine of practice and playing: “Routine is our only escape from what has been going on. Practice has really helped keep our minds on our jobs. It’s hard to watch TV with the coverage (of the terrorist attacks) on nearly every channel. You can only take so much before you fill up with anger and need to move on.”
On getting back on football: “It will be difficult, but it can be done. For the most part we have to refocus and think about Florida.”
On the Florida game last year: “We were pumped up and thought we definitely had a chance to win the game. We have to go out and find that again this year.”
FREE SAFETY QUENTUS CUMBY
On playing Florida: “The (Florida) game is going to be different for me because these will be my first snaps against them. I played sparingly my sophomore year on special teams and I didn’t play at all my freshman year.”
On how to beat Florida: “We could score on them, we just could not stop them from scoring on us. So that will be our big thing. We need to stop them, and then hopefully our offense will come out and put some points up on them.”
On confidence: “It is very important to believe we can beat Florida because if you don’t believe that, then you have already lost something.”
On the national tragedy: “The first day (Tuesday of last week) it was real hard to concentrate on football. Our hearts went out to the families that were affected. (Saturday) we all went up to Wal-Mart and handed out ribbons.”
DT DERRICK JOHNSON
On Florida: “We have to be real careful about their running game. They have a great passing game and people don’t realize their running game is just as good. We’re going to have to try to stop the run first and then forcing them to pass will be a way to shut down their unpredictability. We’re excited about playing the No. 2 team in the country. We’ll look at things a bit differently. This is a great opportunity and we’ll be ready to go.”
On the national tragedy: “Everyone’s real concerned about what is going on. In a way, it’s good to get back into football. The practice field is like a haven. It gives us a way to clear our minds. We’re interested but at the same time we want to stay focused on what we’re going to do on Saturday. This really makes you realize that, however important you think football is, it doesn’t come close to the importance of life, family and friends.”
DT DEWAYNE ROBERTSON
On Florida: “The offensive line of Florida will be great. We’ll just have to go out and play to the best of our ability. We’re going to go after them as much as we can.”
On the national tragedy: “I was shocked when I heard about it. It will kind of help to play the game this weekend, get our minds off the tragedy. But we will still be praying for the victims and their families.”
