Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart
?I?d like to thank everyone for coming out on a Sunday evening. This is something we?ve been anticipating and trying to get back to and that?s to talk about postseason football at the University of Kentucky. It?s an exciting time for our football program and we?ve got some players and our head coach here to visit with you. I?d like to tell you that we?ve been formally invited and formally accepted a bid to the Music City Bowl. We?ll be playing Clemson University on December 29th at 1 p.m. (EST). I?d like to thank Scott Ramsey, the Executive Director of the Gaylord Entertainment Music City Bowl. I?d like to thank their committee for giving us the opportunity to go down there. They have done a first-class job with this process. They?ll be great to work with. We?ve known them for a while. We had a previous experience with them and we are looking forward to going to Nashville and participating with their committee and the staff they have working down there.
?I?m extremely proud of our players and our coaches and what they?ve accomplished under Rich [Brooks] leadership. What they have done – their perseverance – especially for the group of seniors, I?m very excited for them and what they get to do. They?ve earned the right to represent the University of Kentucky in a bowl game and to take on an opponent like Clemson, I know it will excite them and it will be something they will remember for the rest of their lives.
?I?m thankful to the players and the coaches who committed to rebuilding this program through a very difficult time. It?s a big step forward and something we want to begin to do on a regular basis, which is go into postseason play and play in bowl games. This is a step in that direction and I want to thank the players and the coaches for what they?ve done.
?Most of all, I want to thank the fans and the season ticket holders. They?ve been loyal and supportive through some tough years. This is a reward for them as well, a chance to watch the team play in postseason play against a high-quality opponent. We?re looking forward to that. I?d like to thank them for hanging in there with us and supporting us. I know the Big Blue Mist or the Big Blue Wave or whatever you want to call it will descend on Nashville and it will be something very special for our fan base. We sold tickets at a very high rate. We had an initial allotment of 20,000 tickets that is completely sold out to our season ticket holders. We will continue to try and get more tickets as we speak. I will tell you that our first initial allotment is sold out. Many of our fans have gone through the Music City Bowl folks and they?re getting some tickets through that window. I?ve seen it happen so many times at the University of Kentucky, at an SEC Basketball Tournament, people find their way to get tickets at the University of Kentucky. I anticipate an incredible scene down there in Nashville on the 29th. So, to our fans, thanks again. We appreciate you hanging in there with us and being supportive of these players and coaches. It means an awful lot.?
Kentucky Head Coach Rich Brooks
?We?re obviously excited to be practicing in December. We had two practices this weekend and we?ll have two practices next weekend and then after finals, we?ll go into the weekend and the week leading up to Christmas. We?re looking forward to the Music City Bowl. I think it?s a great destination for our fans. I know they?ve been there in 1999, but it?s a convenient trip for them. It?s obvious that they?ve gobbled up the available tickets and hopefully there will be more to come our way so more of our fans can go to Nashville. Clemson is a very good football team. They?re high-scoring; I think they led the ACC in scoring offense. Their defense is ranked 12th in the nation. They?re a well-balanced team; they?re good on both sides of the ball. They have great speed and this will be a real challenge for us. We?re looking forward to that challenge. I would say they?re very comparable to the good teams in the SEC from an athletic standpoint and a talent standpoint. It will be a great opportunity for us to go down there and see if we can continue the improvement we showed in the second half of the season.?
On the bowl process?
?I was on the outside of the process looking in just happy to be there. I think the Liberty Bowl had shown a lot of interest, and the Music City Bowl, as well as the Independence Bowl. I?m just happy to be going to a bowl game. I think Nashville is a good destination for our fans. We obviously have a quality opponent from the ACC which will be good for us to see if we can get our eighth win on the season and only the sixth bowl win in school history.?
On the ticket sales for the Music City Bowl?
?Fans showed up here, they just didn?t show up here selling out. We had a great group of fans here, 50- to 55- to 62-thousand every game. They got to see some exciting football. Although, I?m sure they weren?t pleased with every facet of every game. They saw some great players and some of them are here tonight to talk about this experience. I didn?t have any doubts that our fans would follow us to a bowl game. There wasn?t any doubt in my mind. This is a good group of fans that showed up and cheered this team on and now they get a little reward for them being patient and going through the down years that we struggled through with the sanctions.?
On how important it is to play well in the bowl game?
?I think it?s critical. We just can?t relax now and say we?ve made it to postseason and we?ve reached a goal. We want to win this thing. It makes the reunions a lot better when you?re the Music City Bowl champion then you are at 7-6, rather than 8-5.?
On practices since the end of the regular season?
?I?ve been very pleased. I think they?re having fun out there. They?re into it, if you will. I think this will be a great opportunity to get more work with a lot of younger players, as well as continue the football education, if you will, of this football team so we can become better at what we?re doing.?
On what it would mean to the program to win the bowl game?
?The ACC is a very good league. They defeated both teams that played in the ACC Championship. They?re a quality opponent. I would much rather go into a bowl game playing someone that?s real good than someone that?s got a worse record than us, for example. This is an opportunity for us to step up to that level and see if we can compete like we did in our last two big games against the SEC bullies for us, in Tennessee and Georgia. This is a very similar type game. They have those kinds of players, those kinds of athletes and we need to see if we can continue to matchup and compete and see if we can win a game against a team like that.?
On how going to a bowl game has impacted recruiting?
?I think we?re being received with a little bit different energy on the recruiting trail than we have in the past several years. This staff is a very hard working, dedicated group of men who I think have done a very good job of recruiting under not ideal circumstances and now those circumstances are going to get better and they are better. Hopefully, the efforts will show off with continuing to bring in the type of players that are going to visit with you today.?
On preparing for the bowl game?
?The difficult thing to judge is you never know, with a long layoff, exactly where you?re going to fall on gameday. Some groups handle that process better than others. We were in helmets and shoulder pads the last two days. We?ll get into full gear. We?ll actually have some contact, as far as live stuff at some point, earlier in the process rather than later leading up to the bowl game. We need to get back into a mentality that we played the last five games with, and that?s being a physical football team.?
Kentucky Players
#16, Wesley Woodyard, Jr., OLB
On the opportunity to play ACC foe Clemson at the Music City Bowl ?
?We are excited to get to play in the Music City Bowl in Nashville. It will be a great opportunity to play in a big game against a good team like Clemson. We need to take advantage of the opportunity.?
On if he could see that this team was going to be good in the offseason ?
?We started working hard in the offseason. As we worked I could see that this was a team that was close and hardworking. They wanted to win and do whatever it took to win. It has been a pleasure to play with guys who have gone out and mad plays to get wins and fight so hard not to lose. There just was never any quit in this team and I am just proud to be apart of it.?
On building upon a bowl game ?
?It is an exciting feeling to get to play an extra game and build upon that. The future of the program – we have to make sure that it is going to continue to stay bright. We have to come out and take advantage of this game and get a victory. It will help to build off this success for recruiting. A lot of guys will be excited to play and they will step up and come out and have fun.?
On the extra practice time ?
?Usually we have a big delay in practicing. Now we have the chance to get out there and practice for an extra month. This is where we want to be. We are just out their having fun and enjoying the chance to practice football.?
On the bowl game festivities ?
?We are looking forward to the activity and everything that comes along with the bowl game but we really just have to stay focused and be prepared for the football game.?
On what a bowl game means for the seniors ?
?I am real proud of these guys. You have guys like Matt McCutchan who comes out everyday battling through injuries. He is a tough guy and we are just glad that things are finally paying off for the seniors and guys like Matt.?
#19, Keenan Burton, Jr., WR
On playing in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 29 ?
?It feels good to get the opportunity to play in the Music City Bowl against Clemson. I am sure that the Kentucky fans will travel in bunches to Nashville and the game will be a good opportunity to play against a high-quality team like Clemson.?
On ACC opponent Clemson ?
?I don?t know that much yet. I know that they have a great defense and a great running game. They remind me a lot of Florida and LSU in regard to the amount of talented athletes that they put on the field. I am eager to watch some film on them.?
On getting motivated for the bowl game ?
?It won?t be hard for us to understand what we have to do and understand our motivation. This is our next game and that is important and regardless of who it is or where it is we have to be ready to play.
On the fans support for the Music City Bowl ?
?It will be exciting, you will be able to look up in the stands and it will look like a home game to a certain extent. It is just the fact that we want to give our fans something they haven?t had in a while, something special and that is a bowl appearance. We just want to be the better team on that day even though we will be going against a good team.?
#9, Durrell White, Sr., DE
On whether or not the big Kentucky fan base played a part in the bowl selections ?
?I am sure that our fan support played a part. Everyone knows that our fans a very loyal and love to travel to see Kentucky play and it will be very excited to watch all our fans travel to Nashville.?
On what it means to play in the bowl game at Kentucky ?
?As a player it is very exciting to help get this program to a bowl game for the first time since 1999. We know what it means to the state and we always just wanted to come out and play out best. We did not care who we play we are just excited to get the opportunity and want to get a win.?
On playing Clemson ?
?I love a challenge and the Clemson defense will present a challenge. This will be a good opportunity to showcase the University of Kentucky and show the country what a good football team we have. I have watched them a little bit, they have an outstanding team with a lot of speed and it will be a challenge for us. I think we will rise to the occasion and we will be ready to play.?
On how it felt to hear that UK was going to the Music City Bowl ?
?It hasn?t really set in about where we are going yet or who we are playing. As a senior, sticking around and going through all the turmoil and going through all the bad things we had it is amazing. I can?t really describe it, this is why we stuck around to help turn this program around. The since of accomplishment will set in as the week goes along.?
On building a foundation of success at UK ?
?We have built a foundation. We really wanted to make a statement this year for the University of Kentucky. We wanted to show people that we really could play football, that we haven?t forgot how. Us seniors sticking around, helping the younger guys. Now it is up to them to take it up a level and get this team to the SEC Championship and continue to build.
On the excitement of the bowl game ?
?It is going to be nice. I have already had a couple of friends calling wanting to know where we were going. To go to Nashville and play in the Music City Bowl will be awesome. I have been so excited to play in a bowl, I almost don?t know what I am going to do with myself.?
#62, Matt McCutchan, Sr., C
On the team going bowling for the first time in seven years ?
?I have never been there so it will be a new experience and I can?t wait to soak up everything. We have got to that point and we are excited about getting to a bowl game. That is what I have waited for, that is why I came here ? to turn this program around and do some good things.?
On the thrills of the season ?
?I won a state championship in high school and that doesn?t compare to beating a Georgia or going down and playing in front of 100,000 people at Tennessee. We have had a great season and we want to continue that in to the bowl game.?
On the team?s rebound after the loss to LSU ?
?We were a little down after the loss to LSU. We didn?t want our team to go down that way. We fought back and made it a five-game season. We turned it around and we got to a bowl game.?
On Music City opponent Clemson ?
?They have a great offense and a stingy defense. I think they started off 7-0, so they are a good team who will be tough to deal with and we are going to have to show up.?
On the mentality of practice ?
?We have had a week off and basically a little conditioning here and there. Everybody seemed real fresh and ready to go and real excited. It was a good couple of practices and hopefully that will continue on.?
