The University of Kentucky football team opens its 2006 home slate against Southland Conference member Texas State. Kick-off at Commonwealth Stadium is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be carried on the Big Blue Sports Network (radio and delayed television).
The Wildcats, who are 86-23-6 all-time in home openers, are looking to post their first win of the season after dropping a 59-28 decision to intrastate foe Louisville last Sunday at Papa John?s Stadium.
The Cats are set to begin their 34th season of football at Commonwealth Stadium. The Wildcats, who ranked 27th nationally in attendance last season, are 107-95-4 all-time within the confines of their current home.
Head Coach Rich Brooks
Injury update…
?Start with an injury update ? Myron Pryor hurt his foot and toe in the second quarter of the game; he is doubtful for this week. He could not practice today. X-rays were negative, but it looks like he will be out this week very possibly. Durrell White did not practice today with a hyper-extended elbow and it looks like he is questionable for this week. Michael Schwindel tore a ligament in his thumb and a break in his thumb and he will be out this weekend. He did some good things this week at safety and on special teams for us. So, he will miss this week and possibly next week as well. He may be able to play in a cast in the coming weeks.?
On position and changes to the starting lineup…
?The offensive line will get the major overhaul with Michael Aitcheson starting at right tackle, Fatu Turituri at right guard, Christian Johnson at left guard and Garry Williams at left tackle. Roger Williams had a death in the family and did not practice today. It is very possible that Ashton Cobb could start at strong safety on Saturday. There also will be some shake-up in the defensive end position to be determined at later date.?
On Texas State…
?We?re facing a team that could give us some problems defensively, as if we didn?t have enough on Sunday. We?re facing an option attack and they know how to run and know how to win. They were a very good team a year ago, they got off to a great start with a victory on Saturday. They will bring a spread-option, quarterback-read out of the gun offense. They threw it a lot last year, and threw it effectively Saturday night. They have a new quarterback who is very fast and led the team in rushing this past weekend. He did a real good job at throwing the ball as well. Defensively they will play a 4-2-5 defense and we will be challenged to get some offensive production up front. We couldn?t sustain anything against Louisville.?
On Sunday?s loss to Louisville…
?I didn?t see a lot of bright things in the game, I did see some big-play production by the offense. I saw some individuals played pretty well on defense. I was impressed with Karl Booker and Trevard Lindley. Marcus McClinton played as physical as he has since he?s been here. Wesley Woodyard did some good things. Offensively, Keenan Burton is obviously a major weapon. Dicky Lyons will start ahead of DeMoreo Ford at wide receiver. Dicky did some good things in this game as well. There weren?t a lot of really good things in that game. Our punting was okay and our four extra points were good.?
On getting ready to play after a disappointing loss…
?We?re opening our home season and that?s got to be a motivational factor to this team. Getting straightened out has to be a motivation to this team. We?ve talked about the attitude of the team (that) these guys have demonstrated and now it?s time for it to show up.?
On Micah Johnson …
?Micah did some good things and that is another change we?re making to the lineup. He will start in Braxton Kelley?s place on Saturday. Micah did some good things, but Braxton didn?t play as well as we think he can play. Micah is still a freshman, he still isn?t doing everything right, but he did some very good things in the game.?
On the short work week…
?I am concerned, always, particularly with the preparation with the radically different offense we?re going to have to face. We need to be disciplined defensively. We have to work very hard to get disciplined this week.?
On last year?s close call with Idaho State…
?All we have to do is look back at Idaho State and know we can?t take anything for granted. Those victories (by I-AA teams) this weekend will remind us of that. I thought the victory at Colorado (Montana State) was impressive.?
On defensive end options…
?Well, we have quite a few. Jeremy Jarmon played very well in the game. We also take a long look at J.D. Craigman and decide who practices the best between the other guys, and considering Durrell?s (White) elbow problem to be enough to jeopardize him re-injuring his elbow. Jarmon played quite a bit and played well in the game on Sunday.?
On the run defense vs. Louisville…
?I thought we?d be better in the area, but our run defense was an absolute travesty. I still think we?re going to be better, but we?ve got a lot to prove.?
On Andre? Woodson?s play…
?I thought Andre? competed well, and he handled himself well. I think last year the frustration would have been even greater and he would have slumped. I thought he played well even though we didn?t protect him that well. He made some very good throws, he made another extremely good deep ball to David Jones and could have been another touchdown. He missed a few throws early, but he recovered from that. I thought under the circumstances he played fairly well.?
On Dicky Lyons and Keenan Burton and the deep threat…
?I think as the year wears on, that will pay some dividends. People will have to be concerned with us going deep. I think Lyons showed some very good speed, and we had another one down the middle to Jacob Tamme that could have been big as well. People have to be concerned about that, we will continue to take those shots down the field. So it should keep people honest on the intermediate routs and some holes will open up for the run game as well.?
On the run game…
?We would have run a lot more if we hadn?t been behind 21-0 and if we could have had more snaps. But, when we run it we have to run it effectively and not keep stalling. I?d like to run the ball 35-40 times a game, and hopefully we?ll be in a better position to pick up that number. I wasn?t happy with our passing attempts either. I also wasn?t happy with our yards per rush or our pass-completion percentage. We had 260 yards in the game and 45 snaps, and we?re not last in the conference (SEC) in total offense. It?s a tough league.?
Kentucky Players
#45 Lamar Mills
On the game against Louisville?
?We didn?t play the best game we could have. Give credit where credit is due, Coach Petrino and the Cardinals came out and took it to us and they were ready to play. They made good plays from beginning to end, and it was a tough night.?
On the attitude of the team?
?We?re trying to put the game in the past. There?s nothing we can do about it. We can?t change the score. We can?t play them again unless we meet them in a bowl game later in the season. We need to keep moving forward.?
#12 Dicky Lyons, Jr.
On Texas State?
?Texas State is a good team. They wouldn?t come up here if they didn?t think they could win. They were in the (national) semifinals last year. They have good speed.?
On what the team learned against Louisville?
?We learned that you have to play fast and listen to the coaches. The coaches told us that we couldn?t play sloppy football, and we came out and played sloppy and Louisville jumped all over us.?
#4 Micah Johnson
On the rest of the season?
?We can?t dwell on one loss. We have to continue to fight and keep on playing hard. There are plenty of games left to be played in the season.?
On guarding against a letdown against Texas State?
?We have to continue playing with intensity in practice. Today, everyone was intense, and everyone was real focused. We can?t have any excuses coming into this game. We just have to continue to work and continue getting better.?
On his first collegiate game?
?My heart dropped when Coach Brooks told me that I was going in. I knew that I was going to go in soon, but when he said it, I knew I had to get ready to play. It was a good learning experience. I think I?ll continue to get better.?
#72 Michael Aitcheson
On how the team responds from the loss at Louisville?
?You have to go out and prepare for the next game. There?s nothing that we can do now. That game is behind us so we just have to get ready for Texas State.?
On staying positive?
?You can?t crumble under pressure. We opened up with a bad game, but we still have 11 opportunities left this season to play well. The players and coaches aren?t going to give up, so we have to continue fighting and continue playing our hardest.?
