The Kentucky football team returns home to play host to Florida Atlantic for Hall of Fame Weekend. Kick-off between the Cats and Owls is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. in Commonwealth Stadium.
Kentucky (4-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference), which clinched back-to-back SEC-opening wins for the first time since 1984-85 and charted its first road win in an SEC opener since 1984, is coming off a 42-29 fourth-quarter comeback win at Arkansas last Saturday. Quarterback Andr? Woodson, who broke Trent Dilfer?s NCAA all-time record for consecutive passes attempted without an interception, threw for 265 yards with two touchdowns. The senior signal-caller now has 296 straight tosses without a pick.
The Wildcats notched their fifth fourth-quarter comeback in their last nine outings last week and have now won nine of their last 10 games for the first time since the 1977 campaign.
Florida Atlantic enters the game with a 3-1 record, having defeated North Texas 30-20 last Saturday. The Owls, which began their football program prior to the 2001 season, are coached by Howard Schnellenberger, former Wildcat letterwinner and assistant coach who himself is a member of the UK Athletics Hall of Fame.
QUICK NOTES
Kentucky is No. 14 in The Associated Press poll and No. 15 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. It marks UK?s highest ranking in the AP poll since the 1977 team ranked No. 6 on Jan. 3, 1978. UK?s No. 15 ranking in the USA Today poll is the highest in school history. The Cats made their first appearance in the AP poll since Jan. 3, 1985 last week and are ranked in that poll for back-to-back weeks for the first time since Oct. 9 and 16, 1984. UK is ranked in the ESPN/USA Today poll for back-to-back weeks for the first time in school history. Kentucky?s 4-0 start is its best since the 2002 squad began at 4-0. It?s also the first time since 1950 that Kentucky has opened the season 4-0, including at least one conference win. Quarterback Andr? Woodson holds the NCAA all-time record for consecutive passes without an interception with 296. Last Saturday at Arkansas, he surpassed the NCAA record of 271 held by Trent Dilfer of Fresno State in 1993. Linebacker Wesley Woodyard is one of only five players in the nation this season to record 50 or more tackles. He also now has 306 tackles in his career, becoming the first Wildcat since Marty Moore (1990-93) to reach 300 stops. He currently leads the SEC in tackles, averaging 12.5 per game. The Cats have won six consecutive home game for the first time since a seven-game stretch that spanned the 1986 and 1987 seasons. Including last season, Kentucky has won nine of its last 10 games. That is the best 10-game stretch since the 1977 team won nine of its last 10 games of the season. Kentucky has won back-to-back SEC openers for the first time since 1984-85 and charted its first SEC-opening road win since defeating Mississippi State in Starkville on Oct. 13, 1984. Kentucky has won seven consecutive non-conference games, the most since a seven-game nonconference win stretch from 1996-98. Kentucky has scored 40 or more points in all four games this season, the first time in school history that the Wildcats have tallied at least 40 in four straight games. UK?s offense ranks 10th in the nation, averaging 47.0 points per game. UK ranks No. 10 in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 47.0 points per game. The Cats are a perfect 20-for-20 in the red zone this season including 18 TDs and two FGs. Kentucky ranks in the top three of nine SEC statistical categories, leading the league in first downs (105), and red zone offense (100 percent). The Cats rank second in scoring offense (47.0), total offense (486.8), turnover margin (+1.5 per game). Kentucky?s rushing offense has made drastic improvements from last season. UK currently has 14 rushing TDs. UK charted just 12 rushing TDs in all of the 2006 season. UK also ranked 11th in the league in rushing last season, averaging 98.6 yards per game. After four games this season, the Wildcats rank fourth in the SEC and 19th nationally in rushing offense, averaging 227.2 yards per game.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – SEPT. 24
Head Coach Rich Brooks
Opening statement?
?Alfonso Smith looks like, of the players that were dinged up on Saturday, the most doubtful. X-rays today were negative, which is good news, but we?re going to have to see how it responds in the next day or two. I would say he?s doubtful for this week. The rest of the players will be participating in practice, maybe not all tomorrow, but certainly by Wednesday. I don?t know if they?ll be 100 percent. Keenan Burton will practice tomorrow for the first time on a Tuesday in two weeks, so that?s good news. He didn?t play too bad for not practicing last week; I just don?t want him to get in a habit of it. Looking at Florida Atlantic, I think we?re looking at a dangerous team. They?ve got speed, an excellent quarterback (Rusty Smith), and are second in the nation in turnover takeaways. That?s where we were at the end of the year last year, which is one of the reasons they?re off to a 3-1 start and have been able to beat Minnesota, to name one school from a BCS Conference that they?ve already handled. So we have our work cut out for us. They will obviously have plenty of motivation, which you all are well aware of. We just need to make sure that we continue to get better as a football team. I talked to my team yesterday about the mistakes we made the last two games, and I can?t remember ever in my coaching career, two games in a row allowing a kickoff being returned for a touchdown. In the first two games of the season, that?s something that we did extremely well. We didn?t fill some gaps on the one (vs. Arkansas) and just allowed an easy crease and our safety was not in position on that side as well. Just simple mistakes like that. Their defensive touchdown (fumble return), one of our lineman thought that it was a pass instead of a run and didn?t block the guy he was supposed to and he came in and hit Andr? even before he could get to the handoff and the ball comes out and they get an easy touchdown out of it. The good news is that we made those mistakes and found a way to win the game. We can?t continue to make those mistakes and expect to win as we go forward, so we have a lot of work this week.?
On the strengths of the team in Saturday?s game?
?Well I think that after a rough first half, where we allowed a lot of big runs, I think our defense stiffened and played extremely well. They only had one offensive touchdown in the game, and none in the second half. Our defensive line continues to progress and get better. It shows that we?re not only athletic but that we can be physical, and we?re getting that way. I was pleased to hear that (Darren) McFadden said we were one of the most physical teams he?s played against, not too many people have said that about Kentucky in recent years.?
On the offensive line?
?I think they?re getting used to playing together. We still have three guys that are relatively inexperienced, one of which is a senior and two of them are sophomores. Jason Leger has obviously taken, like a duck to water, to the offensive line. His toughness is very evident, even when he?s got something bothering him, you can?t get him out of there with a crowbar. He?s a tough guy and he wants to be out there where the action is. A lot of the yards we?ve been able to make between the tackles have been because of the blocks that he?s gotten. Zipp Duncan and Justin Jeffries continue to get better every week. Even though they make a mistake here and there they are extremely dedicated to making sure they don?t make that mistake a second time, and that?s a key to getting better. Garry Williams has been as solid as a rock and so has Eric Scott. Eric Scott has just played great; I mean he?s just done super. We had a really good guy for three years starting for us at center in (Matt) McCutchan, but he didn?t have the speed and athletic ability to be able to get up to the second level that Eric has. Eric has taken full advantage of his athletic ability. It?s a really good starting group. Christian Johnson has been in there as well, and if I can keep getting his weight down, maybe he?ll be out there on the perimeter with the rest of those guys. Brad Durham has played quite a bit too. Those are the two guys (Johnson and Durham) who have played the most in backup roles, so I think things are starting to come together for that group.?
On the team?s ability to come back in the fourth quarter?
?It?s a combination of several things I think. One, we have a few more players that we can rotate in there and keep some of our guys as close to fresh as we can. We have more choices and if we do have to substitute some different people in there on both offense and defense, than we have some options. Obviously the running back position has proven to be a really good example of that, as has the wide receiver position. The defensive line, we?ve been able to rotate some guys in there and not fall off the face of the earth. Then it really comes down to a belief and conviction that they really can come back and win. I don?t know how dark rain clouds can get when you give up nine points in as short of time as we did, and these guys found a way to fight through it.?
On his impressions of Florida Atlantic coach Howard Schnellenberger?
?He?s a great coach. He?s won a national championship, which not too many guys coaching can say. That ought to speak for itself, but than he?s gone in and turned a Louisville program into a viable national player. He started the program at Florida Atlantic and has already beaten some people that you don?t expect those guys to beat in that short of time. He built that program from scratch and has taken them from Division-I-AA to what it is now.?
On the play of sophomores Trevard Lindley and Jeremy Jarmon?
?We?ve got a really good senior class, but also have a lot of really good young players on this team that keep showing up every week. Jeremy Jarmon is a warrior. He?s played a lot of snaps and he?s in the action. If he isn?t getting the tackle in the running game, he?s always around it. He?s consistently putting pressure on the quarterback. He?s a big time player. Trevard is remarkable. He?s starting to come out of his shell a little bit as I?ve gotten him to say a few things the last couple of weeks. He just has a knack for quietly making spectacular plays and most guys that do that usually jump up and down, pump their chest, show-off their number or pull their jersey out, but Trevard just comes back to the sideline as if to say, ?There?s another one.??
On how much he wants the team to enjoy the high ranking (being ranked #14 in one poll and #15 in another)?
?I would rather have them enjoy it at the end of the year, and that?s what I?ve kind of told them. Usually you get about one day to enjoy what just happened and then you have to start thinking about the next one. If you don?t, it will all be gone. If you don?t get better and you don?t focus ahead, but you?re looking back, than you?re going to get beat.?
On what impresses him most about Florida Atlantic?
?Their passing attack and speed at receiver. Their secondary is very good as they have one player (Tavious Polo) who already has six interceptions, that?s a career for a lot of defensive backs, and he?s got it in four games. They?re second in the nation in turnover takeaways, which is how you win games. So we?re going to be severely tested to hang onto the ball. Andre?s streak is obviously in jeopardy every week, but especially this week the way they ball hawk, it?s in jeopardy. Everyone knows the guy who?s coaching them (Howard Schnellenberger) and what kind of coach that he is. He?s an outstanding coach and they?re going to come in here and we?ll just have to be ready.?
Kentucky Players
#19 Keenan Burton, WR
On the feeling of being ranked among the top 15 teams in the country this week?
?I thought we had the potential, but you never now where you are going to be. You dream about it. We have a long way to go. I think we can get much better. We just need to keep plugging away and win the games we need to win. We need to do the little things to get better. More teams are going to play us tough, so there is added pressure to perform well. It is fun to be ranked, but we need to strive to do better.?
On the confidence Kentucky has late in games to come from behind?
?I think it starts from the top – your coaches, your quarterback and all the way down. Everyone has to continually gain confidence in themselves. The majority of the time we try to stay together and work hard. If we are in it together then we will be successful. We were calm because we were in the same situation the week before against Louisville. We are confident in ourselves. We feel whatever the situation is, we can overcome it. At the same time, you can?t keep putting yourself in a hole because if you keep doing that there might be a situation when you can?t get yourself out of it.?
On when he thinks the Kentucky program turned the corner during his career?
?I can?t really pinpoint any time right now, until we look back at this season and see that it was successful. Right now, we have so much more work to do. We can?t say we have turned a corner because just as fast as you go up, it could be just as fast going down. When you look at our schedule, we don?t have time to celebrate. We might want to celebrate after the season is over with. We are in a situation where we want to compete as hard as we can every week and enjoy success. ?
#13 Steve Johnson, WR
On the match-up with Florida Atlantic?
?They are number two in the nation in takeaways. They are 3-1 right now. We have to go out there and practice like they are an SEC team. We have to come out with that fire we had against Arkansas and Louisville. They play with a lot of energy and it shows, beating a Big Ten team.?
On playing with a lot more confidence?
?When the team is doing well, the energy feeds everyone on the team, including myself. When you see someone doing well, it makes you want to step up your game also. Our confidence has been throughout the season, it has been big. We just have to keep up our confidence and everything else will fall into place.?
On using the rankings for motivation?
?Well we are number 14 now. If we lose, who knows when we will be back in the rankings? Let?s keep rolling so we don?t have to fight to get back in the top 25. Florida Atlantic is really balling right now. We will have to bring our ?A?-game. It is crazy being ranked. Coach has kept us level-headed and keeps us focused.?
On how Kentucky?s defense has performed this season?
?The defense has stepped up big. They have been playing like some Wildcats on the field. They have been playing hungry and making a name for themselves. They have been playing a lot better on third downs also. I give a lot of credit to the defense for holding McFadden to just one touchdown. That?s big for our defense. We have a bunch of seniors on the team now and they know how it has been in the past. Nobody wants to go back to that.?
#99 Jeremy Jarmon, DE
On what do you need to work on more?
?I need to work on getting off blocks more. I have to get my hands on good with the (offensive) tackles.?
On what?s made the difference with this year defense?
?We believe in each other, we did a lot of things with each other in the off-season. We?re so comfortable with each other out there.?
On the defense making game changing plays instead of giving them up?
?It?s great, because in the past our defense has always been doubted, if we keep playing hard we will achieve out goals.?
On Florida Atlantic Coach Howard Schnellenberger?
?I heard he?s a pretty good coach, a pretty fiery guy, and has his team believing they can do big things.?
On the team chemistry this year?
?It?s definitely the team chemistry. Coach Brooks has all of us believing in one another to do our jobs. I do the best I can on every play and expect the 10 other to do their best also. When everyone?s doing their jobs everything falls in place.?
