Oct. 29, 2001
KENTUCKY VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE
FOOTBALL PRESS CONFERENCE
WILDCAT DEN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2001
Head Coach Guy Morriss
On injuries:
“Dewayne Robertson will practice tomorrow, we’ll limit what he does but we’re listing him as probable right now. David Johnson will practice tomorrow also and I think he’ll be probable. Matt Brown is doubtful. He’s day-to-day and having some problems with his shoulder, I’m not sure if he’s going to be able to play or not. Leonard Burress is questionable, he’s day-to-day and Keith Chatelain will practice tomorrow, he’s listed as probable for Saturday’s game.”
On time off:
“It was good for us to have some time off to get rested and healed up a little bit.”
On only four games left:
“We talked to our kids about making this a four-game schedule at this point. We feel good about our chances to win all four of them or certainly three of the four and that’s exactly what we’re going to try to do. The fact that offensively we’ve done better the past two weeks has given our offensive players a lot of confidence. The fact that Dwayne and David are back in the lineup, and if they can stay healthy and make it down the stretch, it certainly will make us a better team. Our kids are excited and their attitude is good right now.”
On MSU:
“They’re in the same boat as we are approaching this game. They’ve had a week off to rest up. They approach this game like we are, only five games left and we can win all five and here’s a chance to get number one against Kentucky. I assume that is the way they are approaching their last five games.”
On Joe Lee Dunn’s defense this season:
“The scheme is the same. He’s not going to alter his philosophy. He’s going to come after you. His entire intention is to disrupt your offense either by getting sacked or by putting your quarterback on the ground enough where it takes him out of a rhythm.”
On mentality going into weekend:
“I think that from an offense standpoint, we’ve had two pretty good outings. We’ve averaged over 450 yards of offense in those two games. You look at three out of our last four games we’ve averaged over 28 points a game and our kids feel good about that. From a defensive standpoint, to hold Georgia to seven points in the first half, they have to feel pretty good about that. The fact that we’re getting a couple players back that can help us will boost our confidence. I think special teams will play a big role in this one, we’ve been able to hold up and do a pretty good job there. Those kinds of things have our confidence going in the right direction.
On Dunn’s defensive pressure:
“It’s a case of pretty much intense pressure almost every down. Their particular philosophy and style is that they don’t mind dealing the overload blitz anywhere on the field and at any time in the football game. A lot of that falls on our quarterback to get us in the right play or recognize it. Our offensive line is going to have to be sharp this week and our receivers must be on the same page with our quarterback to make the adjustments that we need to make. Any time a team overloads you, you have to make them pay for that and a lot of that burden falls on the quarterback’s shoulders.”
On QB Jared Lorenzen:
“Right now Jared has a lot better feel of this offense. I think that he understands the adjustments that he has to make and he has certain adjustments that he knows that will handle a particular look or blitz. I just think he has a better understanding of how the whole picture fits together.”
Offensive Lineman Nick Seitze
On Mississippi State:
“Mississippi State has great athletes and they have a great defense. They have great size and speed too.”
“Both teams had a week off to prepare for each other. And just like us, they are looking to put things together right now.”
On improvement:
“We can see we are improving just by watching the tapes week in and week out. We just need to keep improving. We need to get both sides of the ball playing together at the same time.”
Safety Patrick Wiggins
On the team’s defense:
“Basically, we need to put more pressure on the quarterback. We need to be more aggressive. Even though we have played well at times, we need to be more consistent. We have a lot of guys who are in great shape and can make plays. We just need to do it more often.”
On the team’s approach to the last four games of the season:
“They are games we can win. That is how we look at them. We don’t have the record we thought we would have and never thought we would be in this situation. But we are. Now, we just need to go out and do what we can to win these last four games.”
