Nov. 9, 2002
Recap?|?Final Stats?|?Notes?|?Photo Gallery |Photo Gallery II
Kentucky Head Coach Guy Morriss
On the emotions after the game…
“As you can imagine, our kids are a little down right now. The thing we talked about was, whether we won or lost this game, we have to put it behind us and get ready for Vanderbilt. Our biggest challenge this week as coaches and players will be to put this behind us and get ready for next week.”
On leaving 15 seconds on the clock before the field goal…
” We told (QB) Jared (Lorenzen) that if he made the first down we were NOT going to call the timeout. If we didn’t get it we would use the timeout. He went to the huddle to explain that to the team and evidently everybody didn’t get the message because it was inadvertently called with 15 seconds left on the clock. It was called by mistake. At that point I made the decision to line up and kick the field goal.”
On what he saw at the end of the game…
“From what I saw it looked like one of our players had his hands on it. I don’t know who it was but I thought one of our players had a chance to intercept it or knock it down. I don’t know just how it happened in a flash, but I think we had our hands on the football.”
On his past experience with this type of play…
“I’ve been on the other side of it a couple of times, but never where it went against us.”
On the team’s celebration after taking the lead…
“I think our kids were just having some fun. I would have gotten really upset about it if it had been a defensive player because the defense still had to go back on the field. I think it was a couple of offensive players who just felt good about doing their job.”
On the play of Aaron Boone…
“We have a lot of playmakers on this team and he’s one of them. He’s been doing that all year.”
UK PLAYERS
Artose Pinner, RB
On the last play of the game…
“That’s the kind of thing you only see in the movies and maybe every once in awhile in the NFL. I never expected that to happen. We’ll just have to block this game out. We’ve got to concentrate on getting ready for Vandy.”
On being the fifth player to rush for 1,000 yards…
“It’s a very elite group of players and it’s definitely an honor to be a part of that group. I have to give credit to Coach Morriss for having confidence in me. The offensive line made it possible for me.”
Jared Lorenzen, QB
On WR Aaron Boone…
“He is by far the best receiver I’ve played with. Every time I throw it, he wants it. He’s a great playmaker. That’s it, that’s Aaron.”
On the fans at the end of the game…
“If anything, it hyped us up more because you know that all you have to do is finish it and the goalposts are coming down.”
On the final play of the game…
“If you threw the ball a thousand times, you might complete it once, much less for a touchdown. We’ve just got to finish. We learned today that you’ve got to play 60 minutes.”
On the effect of the game on the team…
“This is the worst possible thing that could have happened to us. We’ve had to overcome so much already. I never thought we’d have to get through something like this.”
Derek Abney, WR
“It’s almost surreal. We felt like we had it won. It blows my mind that we lost.”
Aaron Boone, WR
On the loss…
“We’re just shocked. It was just so high and so low. It’s just so hard. This was one of our last big games as seniors.”
On his performance…
“I felt good. I only had a few catches and fortunately they were big ones. This was a game my Mom was able to see, so I was happy about that.”
On the Commonwealth Stadium crowd…
“I don’t think this stadium has ever been as loud as it was at the end of the game. It got us going, really got us fired up.”
On next week’s game against Vanderbilt…
“I think we’ve got to come out with a lot of vengeance. We’ve got to be ready.”
Leonard Burress DB
On the last play…
“Everybody was just going deep. Everything just happened so quickly. I stayed back in case someone caught it. I was to the left and I dove and I missed. All that was left was D.T (Derrick Tatum). It was just a fluke play.”
On defensive preparation…
“The object in our practice drills is to knock the ball down. It’s something we work on everyday. LSU just made a great play.”
LSU Head Coach Nick Saban
On the last play of the game…
“We always say to play for the full 60 minutes and this is why. Two seconds left and we have a 75-yard play. We go over that play every Thursday at the end of practice. It’s not a unique play – you’re just lucky when it happens to be tipped to your guy. I’ve been on the other side of it before, as a defensive coordinator, so I guess this evens things up. I’m proud of our guys for battling there at the end.”
On his feelings about the game…
“I was pleased with about two and a half quarters of the game. We’re up 21-7 and seemed to be controlling things. I thought we were wearing them down. It’s to their credit that they kept fighting.”
“We were fortunate to win this game. We didn’t dominate them like I thought we should have – there was no knockout punch. We just didn’t look that good in the second half. I was certainly happy about the results, but I wasn’t happy about the process. If you want to be the team that we think we should be, you can’t play like this, especially on the road.”
LSU PLAYERS
Joseph Addia, RB
On practicing the final play…
“I knew it would come up sometime. We practice it about once a week.”
Norman LeJeune, SS
“I was on the sidelines about to untuck my shirt. Then I thought we still have two seconds left. (QB) Marcus (Randall) rolled out, broke a tackle, and threw it up. Next thing I know we are rushing the field.”
“It was unbelievable. The quarterback made a great throw and the receiver made a great catch. I don’t believe in luck, so it was God that helped us. Never in my whole life did I think I would experience anything like this.”
Jack Hunt, FS
“That’s why you play 60 minutes. You can’t ever give up, and you have to keep a positive attitude about it. We made some mistakes and let them get back in the game. But we kept playing and made a big play at the end to win.”
Domanick Davis, RB
“That was rough, man. We were up 21-7. Then we didn’t play as hard there for awhile, but we all came together. Miracles can happen.”
“That play sums it all up – never quit, refuse to lose.”
Devery Henderson, WR
On game-winning catch…
“It was like a dream I can’t believe it still. I was just thinking get where you are supposed to be, and if something happens then it happens. I saw it get tipped then I just reached out my hands and there it was.”
