#25/22 KENTUCKY WILDCATS (6-3, 2-3 SEC)
vs. VANDERBILT COMMODORES (5-4, 2-4 SEC)
Saturday, Nov. 10 ? 2 p.m. EST
Nashville, Tenn. ? (39,773) |
TV: BBSN-TV (Delayed) |
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“Cat Walk” will take place around 10:45 central time at Gate 1
Coming off back-to-back losses and an open date, the Kentucky football team hopes to bounce back on Saturday when it travels to Nashville to face Vanderbilt.
The Wildcats are vying to notch their fourth consecutive win against the Commodores, including their second consecutive in Nashville. Kentucky is the Southeastern Conference?s leader in pass offense, averaging 273.9 yards per game through the air behind senior signal-caller Andr? Woodson, who is averaging a league-best 270.1 yards per game.
The Wildcats are seeking to post their seventh win of the season in back-to-back years for the first time since 1976-77. Kentucky is bowl-eligible in conseuctive years for the first time since the 1998-99 campaigns.
Vanderbilt is coming off a 49-22 loss at Florida last Saturday in Gainesville, Fla., but has won two of its last three games, including an upset victory on the road against South Carolina on Oct. 20. The Commodores need one win to become bowl-eligible for the first time since 1982.
QUICK NOTES
Kentucky ranks 11th in the nation and is third in the SEC in scoring offense, averaging 38.9 points per game. UK has scored at least 40 points in six of nine games this season. Kentucky leads the SEC in passing offense (273.9) and ranks second in the SEC in total offense (450.1). Kentucky has charted at least 300 yards of total offense in 14 consecutive games and twice this season have gone over the 500-yard total-offense mark (vs. Florida and Florida Atlantic). Kentucky has passed for 200 yards or more in 15 straight games. Kentucky is No. 25 in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings. This is the first season in school history that UK has been in the BCS standings. Kentucky is one of seven Southeastern Conference teams that are ranked in all four polls (AP, USA Today/Coaches, Harris Interactive, and BCS) joining LSU, Georgia, Florida, Auburn, Alabama, and Tennessee. Linebacker Wesley Woodyard leads the SEC and currently ranks 26th nationally in tackles, averaging 10.2 per game. He is the only SEC player to average double-figure tackles this season. He has recorded at least four tackles in 33 consecutive games, every game since the start of the 2005 season. Defensive end Jeremy Jarmon is tied for fourth in the SEC and tied for 28th nationally in sacks with 6.5 on the year. Quarterback Andr? Woodson leads the SEC in passing yards per game, averaging 270.1 ypg and has throw for at least 200 yards in 15 straight games. Woodson also has thrown at least two touchdown passes in 10 straight games. He ranks second in the SEC and 18th nationally in passing efficiency (147.7). Kentucky has made the most of its third-down opportunities this season, as the Wildcats rank eighth in the nation and second in the SEC in third-down conversions. UK has made 50.4 percent of its third-down chances so far this season. UK ranks in the top three of seven SEC statistical categories, leading the league in pass offense (273.9), first downs (231) and kickoff coverage (43.6).
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – NOV. 5
Head Coach Rich Brooks
Opening Statement?
?Just an update on our injury situation, obviously Marcus McClinton will be out, but Paul Warford will continue to work with no contact early this week, and will be questionable for the game Saturday. It?s possible that he might be able to see action. We?ll know later on in the week. Tony Dixon worked yesterday; the ankle flared up a little bit, so we?ll have to see how it responds by tomorrow. I?d say that he is questionable. Corey Peters, who strained a knee in the Mississippi State game, will also be questionable. Most everybody else, although they may not be 100 percent, will practice and play this week, assuming we don?t have any practice injuries or setbacks during the week.
?The Vanderbilt team is obviously a better team than they were a year ago. They?re sitting on the verge of bowl eligibility, looking for one more win, and defensively they are one of the best teams in our league in scoring defense and total defense. Offensively they present some problems because of the option and the quarterback run game. Their receiver, Earl Bennett, is obviously a big-time player, so we?ve got our work cut out for us on both sides of the ball. This is a game that we need, and they need, so just like it has been most of the year, it?s a huge game for both teams.?
On the playing status of running back Rafael Little?
?He?s fine. His conditioning probably isn?t 100 percent, but he?s practicing 100 percent. He did the latter part of last week and then again yesterday, so he?s ready to go. I would expect him to start.?
On what a healthy Rafael Little gives to the team?
?Well, all you have to do is look at where he stacks up in the SEC receiving and rushing performances in a career and where he is in rushing, receiving and all-purpose yards while at Kentucky. He?s obviously a very, very talented player that?s meant a lot to us when he?s healthy.?
On Vanderbilt?s win on the road a couple weeks ago at South Carolina?
?Well they play very sound, and are physical and quick up front. They?re covering much better in the secondary than they have in the past several years and they were able to basically shut down South Carolina?s offense. They got some decent pressure on the quarterback, but more importantly they covered on the back end.?
On not looking ahead and playing one game at a time?
?Well that?s how we?re going to approach the rest of the season, that it?s truly just one game at a time; and that right now this is the most important game of the year.?
On if the players? focus during the Mississippi State game was on the bigger picture rather than the current game?
?No, I don?t think that that happened. I just think we had an emotional letdown. We had been in situations earlier in the year where we thought we could step on the gas and get it back, and we did. You look at the Arkansas game, or the LSU game, we had come from behind and played well. We did so in the Louisville game as well, when things didn?t look good at certain points in the game. The unfortunate thing is when we stepped on the pedal in the Mississippi State game, we ran out of gas, there wasn?t any gas in the tank. So we just need to focus on one thing, and that?s Vanderbilt. We need it.?
On what Vanderbilt does offensively, using two quarterbacks?
?I think they?re still doing the same things with both guys. I?ve been very impressed with their new guy. We obviously had fits with (Chris) Nickson last year, and now the new quarterback (Mackenzi Adams) comes in and he?s really going to try and win this job both running and throwing. We have proven that we have struggled with some of the things they do offensively. It?s just a difficult thing to defend and we just need to continue to keep getting better at it.?
On the play of Vanderbilt receiver Earl Bennett?
?What they?ve done with him, particularly more this year than they did last, is that they?re moving him all over the place. Where we normally would try to flop Trevard (Lindley) on him to go side to side with him, they?ll go trips and put him as the third guy, which means you usually have to have a linebacker occupy that area. They also use him in the backfield and have him come out of there at times. So, matching your best cornerback on him is very, very difficult because it just screws up a bunch of things you do defensively. It becomes more problematic to you when doing that. He was great two years ago as a freshman, but now he?s older and more experienced. He?s probably stronger and quicker and more knowledgeable about what they?re doing in the offense. So he?s just a really good player, obviously.?
On what Vanderbilt does defensively?
?They have speed, but they?re also very disciplined. They are extremely disciplined on defense and like a lot of people, they do different things, but they?re a lot better at disguising it than most. You can?t really get a pre-snap look at them. They are doing different things with their front, bringing different pressures and blitzes. I think they lead our league in sacks, which is a pretty impressive defensive performance that they?ve had so far this year.?
On VU defensive standouts Jonathan Goff and D. J. Moore?
?Well I just think they?re very athletic and very experienced. I think they start five seniors on the defensive side and, I?m going to digress a little, they start five seniors on the offensive line, four of which are redshirt seniors. Defensively, those two guys (Goff and Moore) are always around the ball, so you better know where they are and get someone on them in the running game. In the pass game, they?ve been disruptive as well. We just need to do a good job executing and do a good job of getting hats on hats in the running game and protect our quarterback this week.?
Kentucky Players
#56 Braxton Kelley, LB
On having the off week?
?I got a lot of rest. I?m feeling really fresh right now. Right now we have to focus getting better and fix the things we messed up against Mississippi State.?
On what point during the off week did you think we really need to get back out on the field?
?During the off week we really needed that rest. I could tell yesterday when we were running my legs felt really good, for a player to have that feeling it really helps a lot in his performance for the next game.?
On focusing on just one game at a time?
?We are just focusing on Vanderbilt right now. After that just focus on the team we play the next week. You can?t look forward in the SEC or you will get beat.?
On Vanderbilt playing for a bowl game this week?
?I expect them to give us their best shot and bring us their ?A? game.?
On proving yourself again in the SEC race?
?We really have to come back out and prove that we are still one of the teams to beat in the SEC, we aren?t the old Kentucky team who always had the ability to do something but never came out with victories.?
On playing with a chip on your shoulder now?
?I think we are, we really have to come out and play this game with no fear and play well in every phase, which we haven?t done a lot of this year.?
#19 Keenan Burton, WR
On having a bye week?
?It gave us a chance to get back in the field and be fresh. We have had the opportunity to put everything in perspective and get ready for this big game against Vanderbilt. We are back to business and we have been working on getting back to the basics. It is time for us to start taking one game at a time and we are doing that.?
On his injuries?.
?I feel good and excited. No one can tell me anything in practice this week about my injuries. I?m ready to go. I?m just excited to be back on the field and feeling healthy. I don?t know how many reps I will get in practice in this week because I am getting back into the swing of things. I am feeling really good and just enjoying it now and feeling 100 percent is the best news to me.?
On playing Vanderbilt?
?They will definitely be fired up for us. We will be fighting, too. Just because we have six wins does not guarantee us a bowl game. So, what they are going through trying to get to a bowl game is the same thing we are going through here at Kentucky.?
On his health?
?I practiced yesterday and I am getting used to cutting and all. I was a little tentative at first so I got on the turf because of the harder surface to see what I could do and I did pretty well. I?m excited because I?m healthier than I have been for a while.?
On improving kickoff returns?
?Our special teams are all about speed on the kickoff return game. We are holding our blocks longer and trying to get to the blocks while the kickers are hanging the balls in the air longer than they used to. They (opponents) are doing things differently because we were so successful last year. It is a great compliment but we have to overcome it.?
On Vanderbilt?s Earl Bennett?
?Earl Bennett is one of my close friends. He is probably one of my best friends in college football. I wish him to do well but as far as this week I am going to have a hard time rooting for him on Saturday. He is a special player and does so many things well. Earl is one of the best in the country.?
#20 Dominic Lewis, DE
On Vanderbilt wide receiver Earl Bennett?
?We are trying to eliminate big plays and keep them contained as much as possible. I have seen Earl Bennett in the backfield and playing split out. He has done it all and is a good player. We are going to try to contain him from having a career night against us like he has done in the past.?
On the week off?
?You run a little faster and have a little more pep in your step. The week off does a lot of good for your body. We should all be strong, enthusiastic and come ready to play. We had a lot of guys out with injuries and most of the guys playing had some kind of nagging injury. When you play in the SEC you can get banged up so a week off is good. Last year after our bye week we were able to come back and do some positive things. This year I think we can do the same.?
On being ready to play?
?After you lose you are always ready to get out there and play the next game. Having an extra week to think about our loss to Mississippi State has really been eating at people. I can?t wait to get back onto the field. We put pads on yesterday for the first time in a while and it was a little strange feeling. But we feel good about it and I think all the rest will pay off.?
