Kentucky Head Coach Rich Brooks
Opening Statement ?
“We’re excited to be here and I think we are ready to play the game. I think our players have been through enough practice and been through the bowl activities and now its time to get down to business. I’m just thankful to the Music City Bowl for the hospitality they’ve provided for us.”
On the potential type of game tomorrow ?
“I can see it being a low-scoring game on our side because I like Clemson’s defense. They have great speed, have good pass rushers and run defenders, they hit you and do a good job of taking the ball away. We need to make sure we maintain possession of the football and keep their defense off balance.”
On the meaning of the game for UK ?
“A postseason game is a postseason game for either team. Certainly it’s a step forward for us since we haven’t been to the postseason since 1999 and have struggled the last several years while coach [Tommy] Bowden’s teams have been very productive during his whole tenure there. I think that experience sometimes lends itself to being ready when we have a bunch of guys playing in their first bowl game.”
On the LSU game being the running point of the season ?
“I was not a very happy coach and I didn’t have a very happy team. We needed to address why we played so miserably when we were capable of playing better and we addressed that in the two weeks leading up to the Mississippi State game. The players responded very well. We improved on the two things we needed to improve on ? stopping the run and running the football. We are not a juggernaut at either one of those things but we improved enough to make a run at the end. They didn’t shy away from what we were asking them to do. They accepted the challenge, rolled up their sleeves and did it without hesitation.?
On the Clemson running game ?
“Scares me to death. We have not played a team that runs the ball as well as Clemson does. We have not played a team that has across the board, tight ends and fullback included, that has as good a front as Clemson. I don’t think there is anyone in our league that runs the ball as well as Clemson except for Arkansas and we didn’t play Arkansas. We had trouble stopping the run against LSU, Florida and quite a few teams in our league so I’m very concerned about Clemson’s running game.?
On what the game means to the UK program ?
“Eight wins would be the second most in 28 years at the University of Kentucky. That’s a fairly significant step for a program that hasn’t had the success that Clemson has had on the football field. I think it would be a tremendous way to finish for these seniors who have persevered through the probation and tough years. It would be a very special moment in their lives. I’ve tried to impress upon them that they are capable of doing things that not a lot of Kentucky teams have done. We accomplished some of those things this year ? getting to a bowl game, the 11th one in school history, winning seven games, tied for the second most in 28 years, beating a Georgia team we hadn’t beaten in 10 years. It’s a thing where they can make their mark coming off two or three miserable years in Kentucky football. All of the sudden they can leave with their head held high knowing they made a difference and established some credibility for Kentucky football.”
On the differences of the 2006 UK team ?
“Better players and better attitude. The quality of the young men we have on the team, they are not afraid to take criticism or roll up their sleeves and go to work. They’ve taken care of business on and off the football field. We have more players in that mold now than we had two years ago.”
On the team?s confidence level after the LSU game ?
“I think our confidence has grown. Once we beat Mississippi State on the road that raised our level of confidence in what we were capable of doing because we hadn’t played the way we were capable of playing. The win over Georgia raised that level even further. It was bruised a little against Louisiana-Monroe but we were able to survive and win the game and then there was an extremely disappointed locker room after the Tennessee game. Now we are stepping forward to another major challenge against a very good football team.?
On the Clemson rushing attack ?
“We are looking at a team that lost three games by a total of five points in Clemson. We have to stop them from breaking long runs. When we tackle well we usually play pretty well but when we miss tackles we’ve been gashed. We are still a work in progress on defense. We need to be able to contain their running game and it will be a real challenge for us. Well I hope that light switch is on because it needs to be on. We need attack the line of scrimmage and it we don’t Clemson will put you on your heels really quick.”
On spending increased time with the media this week ?
“This is what bowl games are about, really, to try and get some positive exposure for your football program and certainly I’m pleased with the young men that represent our football team and the way they handle themselves with the media and fans and everything involved. From the rib eating contest to the karaoke contest everything they’ve done I think they’ve handled with class and dignity and that reflects on the type of people they are.”
On Keenan Burton comparing this game as UK?s National Championship game ?
“I tell you, whatever Keenan says I like. He’s an outstanding player and a great individual. He’s one of the biggest reasons we are here because he’s a great leader on the field and is the type of young man coaches love. He’s not afraid to tell the team to pick it up and that’s one of the things that had been missing on this team.”
Clemson Head Coach Tommy Bowden
On how he has been impressed with UK in the last five games ?
“Their improvement defensively. The wins they had. They challenge you on defense. I know defensively, you look at stats, but I think that’s misleading. Their style of defense makes it difficult for us to do what we do, which is a horizontal type of passing game. Just the last four or five games they’ve played, they have been strong. We’ve put more concentration [in the film room] on their last few games as opposed to what they did earlier in the year. Their wins have given them confidence. It’s tough to substitute confidence.”
On getting the ninth win of the season ?
“As you look at college football, 119 teams, half of them are in bowl games, right there you’re in an elite group if you’re in a bowl. If you win, you then jump to another level. There are less nine win teams than eight wins. All head coaches and athletics directors want to see progress and want to see you accumulate more wins. We had six wins in 2004, eight in 2005 so nine wins this year would be a little bit of improvement.”
On the Kentucky fan turnout for the game ?
“There might be 40,000 Kentucky fans out there. Usually we have a huge block of orange and outnumber people when we go to bowl games. But I believe we’ll see a lot of blue hats and blue tops. We’ll have enough orange fans that will be here. We’re road warriors when it comes to bowl games when it comes to showing up, making noise and being enthusiastic. I don’t think it will be significant. They may outnumber us by a few thousand.”
On Kentucky All-SEC quarterback Andre? Woodson ?
“He’s very productive. In this case, their conference is very competitive from top to bottom. I coached in the SEC for 11 years. Four wins in the conference is tough to do. For him to be that productive versus that quality of competition says a lot.”
On the prolific Kentucky passing attack ?
“I think Boston College led our conference in passing, but it’s a different style of passing attack. South Carolina was a very good throwing team. They had about 500 yards against us. We couldn’t slow them down. I would say Kentucky would be very favorable to Boston College and South Carolina in terms of production.”
