Nov. 25, 2002
Head Coach Guy Morriss
On the seniors…
“They have been a great bunch. They’ve provided us with leadership all year long. They’ve been so extremely resilient. We go through tough times and they’ve been there to pick everybody up and keep us going. I’m going to collect my thoughts and feelings after the game Saturday and bring everyone in on Sunday and give them a send-off. I don’t think I can put it into words right now how I feel about those guys. If it hadn’t been for them, who knows where we’d be at this point. They’ve done such an outstanding job and I’m really proud of them. They’ve taken ownership in this football team. We had no discipline problems and it’s largely due to their efforts. They set the standard for the underclassmen. I’m proud of that and thankful for it.”
On the Tennessee game being a ‘bowl game’…
“I got to thinking about that and from a mental standpoint, I think it’s better for us to approach it as just a big game – a game that we obviously want to win. It’s really not a bowl game and we can’t treat it as such. So we just try to stay focused like it’s a normal week. Our kids don’t handle change that well so I thought it was best to treat it like a normal week. The number one priority obviously is to go down there and win the football game.”
On what the season has meant to him…
“I don’t think anyone outside our circle thought we could get it done. We were supposed to win two or three games this year so that’s been pretty gratifying. The contract really helps in recruiting purposes. That really untied our hands and lets us go out and recruit the type of players we need to get where we want to go.”
“It’s good for me as a coach to see these kids have success after all they’ve been through. It’s good from a personal standpoint to win some games. That’s our number one job here is to win games. I think the kids are tasting success and hopefully that’s laying the foundation that we can build on to get this program where everyone in the state of Kentucky would like it to be.”
On Tennessee…
“You put them on film and they are still the Tennessee of old – tremendous athleticism and speed. They have their running game going and their defense is playing very well lately. All you have to do is put on a tape and the kids know they have to get themselves ready to go down there and play a heck of a game. I really expect us to play the best football game this year on Saturday, and we certainly need to.”
“I think the kids believe they can line up and play with anybody. The thing that we have to do is look at the four games we lost and figure out, learn and remember why we lost them and what we need to do so it doesn’t happen to us again. Because we’re going back into the same kind of situation – a big game, a traditional powerhouse football program, an unfriendly environment. What do we have to do to make sure that we don’t let some of the things that happened to us at Florida or against LSU sneak up on us and beat us this week? If we can overcome those types of things, I think we have a chance to win.”
Tommy Cook, Wide Receiver
On Tennessee game…
“It’s more of a regular week for us. There’s nothing different. We’ll go down to there the night before the game, eat, go to sleep and wake up the next morning ready to play a ball game. We know we’re not going to be in the bowl standings so we just have to prepare like we always have and try to go out with a win.”
On the preseason predictions…
“We didn’t have an exact number but you go into every game believing you can win. We wanted to be undefeated going into the last game but sometimes the dice just don’t fall that way. We’re still hungry for another victory.”
On this season being special…
“I think it has been for me because both years I’ve been here we’ve been 2-9. You have to give our seniors a lot of credit. Coach (Guy) Morriss and the coaching staff have instilled a great work ethic in us to make us better. The sky is the limit for the future of this program.”
On Tennessee…
“They’re a great team and the competition level against them rises completely. You have to bring your ‘A’ game against them every time.”
On 2002 seniors…
“It’s sad for them that we can’t go to a bowl game. You look at our record and our standing and we would be going. But they build our confidence and they are our leaders on this team. They got us where we are at and they’re deserving of all the praise.”
Antoine Huffman, Defensive Back
On Tennessee…
“They have a good team with a lot of athleticism. We haven’t beaten them in a while. But this is a new year. We have to come out fast and play strong. We’ll play our own game on Saturday and see what how things come out.”
On UK’s turnaround…
“It’s been great to be a part of this team and everything we are accomplishing. Sometimes it’s nice to be the underdog, like we will be this week, but we’re coming out every week and trying to earn back respect.”
Morris Lane, Linebacker
On having a bye week before the last game against Tennessee…
“The off week came at a good time because it gave us a chance to get a little extra rest before this last game. We also got a chance to work on some basic fundamentals that you normally don’t have as much time for in practice. The most important part of the bye week, though, was probably the opportunity that some of the younger guys got to work on their game in practice.”
On what the defense needs to do to beat Tennessee…
“We need to try to establish our defense early in the game. If we can play physical against their offense and get some stops early it will dictate how the game is going to be played.”
On his time playing football at Kentucky…
“I’ve been here for five years and been a part of some ups and downs. I think through all the good times and the bad, I’ve learned more than anything how to persevere. My time here has been a great experience and now in the end we get one more chance to go out as winners. That’s probably the most important thing to me, is that through everything we’ve had to endure we have a chance to go out the way we want to.”
Nick Seitze, Center
On belief factor this year compared to last…
“The belief factor just has to do with confidence right now. We’re 7-4 right now and a lot people didn’t think we could have a record like that. As a team and as a family, we knew we could have a record like we have. The confidence level is high right now, and we’re going to come out and play Tennessee like any normal Saturday. We’re going to prepare the same and be motivated to play.”
On feeling good about themselves…
“When you gain the confidence we have you start to believe and feel good in yourself. You start taking the right steps – the receivers run the correct routes and things start coming natural to you. You’re not thinking about it as much and it’s just natural.”
On being tabbed a “bowl game”…
“No it’s not a bowl game at all. If people outside the team want to take it as a bowl game they can think what they think. But for us it’s just another game and we’re going to prepare like we do every week. You can’t put any extra-hype on a game that doesn’t need it.”
