Head Coach Rich Brooks

?If we were going to play tomorrow we wouldn?t be in very good shape. Christian Johnson can not practice. We hope that he will be able to practice when we go to Nashville. He?s got a fractured finger. He did it the second weekend that we practiced, which would have been about 10 days ago. One of the fractures shifted just a bit. So, we sat him down and he will not resume contact of any kind. We?ll just wait and see how that goes. David Jones strained a shoulder last Saturday. Derrick Locke strained a back muscle last Saturday. Keenan Burton has some swelling in his knee. E.J. Adams has an ankle injury. Micah Johnson has a groin injury. Paul Warford irritated his shoulder, first in basketball, and then fell down at practice and jammed it yesterday. He?s not practicing. Dicky Lyons?s patellar tendinitis has flared up on him. Those are all of the people who did not participate in practice today. So, thank goodness we don?t have to play tomorrow.

?We?re looking forward to the upcoming game. Our players had a great experience a year ago in Nashville. We?re excited about our opponent (Florida State). Bobby Bowden is obviously an icon in the coaching profession. He has a very good football team. This will be their 26th straight bowl appearance. This is a program that has a lot of great respect nationally. We?re going to have our work cut out for us. They have tremendous speed. Their defense is scary. It looks like we are looking at another SEC team.?

On if the issues at Florida State take any luster off the game ?

?I can?t speak for outsiders. It doesn?t lack any luster for us. Florida State is still Florida State. It doesn?t matter if somebody is injured or suspended. Usually when you go into a game, unless it?s the first game of the season, you?re going to have players missing. We don?t know who is missing. So, I?m not even going to concern myself with it. We know that we are going to play a very good football team, whether they have all of their people or not. They have other people who can step up and replace them. If you look at the recruiting classes nationally over the last five years or so, I think you?re going to see that Florida State is up there. So if somebody that?s a starter has to step aside, there?s going to be another guy in line ready to go up and play. It will be a very good player. I don?t think it takes any luster out of the game for us at all.?

More on Florida State ?

?I?ve been giving them that message (that Florida State is a very good team). Florida State is a good football team. (Coach Bowden) has won 20 bowl games. He has 20 wins, nine losses and one tie. Folks, there aren?t too many teams in America that can say that. Not Michigan, Ohio State, Southern Cal, Alabama or LSU. That?s just a phenomenal bowl record. We?ve got our work cut out for us.?

On Florida State?s schemes?

?I?ve been very impressed with how their quarterback (Drew Weatherford) has responded after kind of getting beat out. He?s come back and played really well at the end of the year. He?s very accurate throwing the ball. They have very, very good running backs. Their offensive line has made tremendous progress from the first part of the season until the end of the season. They are blocking much better than they have. Defensively, I think they?ve been very good the whole year.?

On his game plan of how Kentucky will approach the game?

?We?re preparing for Florida State?s offensive system, their defensive system and their special teams execution. Who lines up in those spots, you look at it, but it?s a system you are preparing against. Then you worry about match-ups when match-ups become obvious. We can worry about which guy is there, but we might not have the other guy on film. We don?t know what we?re getting. We might get a better guy. We might be up against a better player. We don?t even know. We?ll prepare for the system, and we?ll have to adjust during the game if somebody is giving us a fit in there that we can?t block very well. We might have to adjust early and as the game goes on, if there is somebody offensively giving us problems that we can?t cover very well one-on-one, then we might have to double-up on him. Those are the kinds of things you have to do when you go through a game and make adjustments anyway.?

On how he is preparing his team for the game, compared with last year?

?We?ve been going with some similar stuff that we did a year ago. We were inside a little more than I would have liked to have been. We?ve been outside the last two days. Yesterday?s practice wasn?t very good. Today?s was better. We just have to continue to get better on the things that we need to get better at. We went through a slump, I thought, in the middle of the year for whatever reason. I thought we came out of that slump in the second 30 minutes of the Tennessee game. We need to pick up where we left off rather than where we were earlier in the few games against Mississippi State, Georgia and the first half of Tennessee. We need to play at a high-octane level of effort on both sides of the ball.?

On the routine he?ll implement in Nashville?

?What will change is that we?ll have more time there than we did last year. The game is on the 31st, which is two days later than last year. We report a night later on the 26th, rather than the night of the 25th. We actually have three good practice days. So, it will be like a normal (game) week where we would have practiced Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. It will be a regular practice week, then a Friday walk-through and a Saturday game. That?s kind of the pattern we?ll be in when we get there.?

On if there have been any players beginning to emerge on the practice field?

?It?s hard to predict that. But, Kyrus Lanxter has looked very, very good in practice. He may see an expanded role in this game. I think that Jamil Paris has been doing some better things. Alfonso Smith and Rafael Little are as healthy as they?ve been in a long time. They have their speed back. They have that extra gear back which is nice to see.?

On how this senior class will help prepare this team for the last game of the season?

?The senior class that went there last year handled it very well. This year?s senior class is about the same numbers as last year?s. These guys this year have a lot of skill players who have established some great numbers in Kentucky football history. This is a more recognizable group of seniors. They have leadership well beyond their years, going back to their freshman and sophomore years even. It is my hope that this leadership will continue to handle things as well off the field, as they have on the field. That is my goal, and that is my hope. I hope that they can leave with a second bowl win, and put themselves in a position in Kentucky football history that hasn?t happened here very often.?

On coaching the final game with this group of seniors and what that means to him?

?It is very difficult to say goodbye to people who have the kind of impact these young men have had on this program, and ones that have been through with me the good, bad and ugly. It?s a type of thing that I think people who have played a team sport understand a lot better than people who haven?t. There is a bonding that goes on between players, between players and coaches, and this is a very special group. They have bonded together, with their teammates and with their coaches, about as well as any group that I?ve ever been around. They have accomplished some very significant things. I?m disappointed that we didn?t accomplish more this year from where we were in the middle of the season. And they are too. This will be the last chance that they have to do something significant. It would be extremely significant to get back-to-back bowl wins, something that hasn?t happened since Bear Bryant was coaching in ?51 and ?52. To get back-to-back eight win seasons hasn?t happened around here in a really long time. It?s just very, very special. You also have to remember that Bear Bryant didn?t play eight SEC games when he did his wonderful things here at the University of Kentucky. The schedule has gotten much more difficult. The league is unbelievably tough. It would be a great accomplishment for them to leave on a positive note.?

Kentucky Players

#16 Wesley Woodyard, LB

On facing Florida State in the Music City Bowl?

?We?re excited to get another chance to play, especially the seniors. This is our last time coming out in a Kentucky blue uniform, so we?re just excited about the opportunity at hand.?

On preparing for Florida State without knowing which Seminoles will play?

?We?re still preparing for the guys that we see on film. We never know who is going to be playing, we just hear the rumors. We?re preparing just like they?re going to have everybody on their team right now. Coach Brooks stressed to us that we?re not going to worry about who is not playing, we just have to focus on ourselves. ?

On Florida State?s Preston Parker?

?They?ve got an extremely good guy [Preston Parker] in as a running back who used to play receiver. They try to get the ball in his hands a lot, so we?ve just got to go out there and try to stop him and try to stop their receivers. He?s a real shifty back. He can move a lot. Any time you get a back like that behind an athletic line like Florida State has, it can be tough on you.?

On the challenge of facing legendary coach Bobby Bowden of FSU?

?We also have a legend here in Coach Brooks and playing for him, that?s even bigger (for us) than playing against any legendary coach. Playing against a program like that [FSU] is exciting. They?ve been to 26 straight bowl games. We?re trying to get to where they are.?

#3 Andr? Woodson, QB

On whether he has thought about his collegiate career being nearly over?

?No, not really. Right now, we?re just really trying to focus on the bowl game. We want to get ourselves in a situation to come out with a win and that should make another statement in front of the nation that this program is obviously headed in the right direction and we are continuing to turn things around. I hope it will continue to be a big-time program.?

On his reaction to the situation at Florida State involving potential player suspensions?

?That has nothing to do concerning us. We just have to do a good job of getting ourselves ready for this game. Obviously the play-calling and the schemes they run is not going to change. We just have to continue to work hard because the game plan is going to stay the same. As long as we get ourselves prepared and really focused, we will be fine.?

On whether that situation affected the Kentucky team?s mindset?

?No matter what, we want to come into this game and win. Our mindset hasn?t changed one bit. We just have to continue to focus and get ourselves mentally and physically prepared for this game. We want to go in there, get off to a fast start and put ourselves in a good position to win the game.?

On whether FSU reminds him defensively of any of UK?s 2007 opponents?

?They?re very fast, pretty much like any SEC team we?ve seen this year. I think they remind me of a lot of different teams ? LSU and Florida mainly. They showed signs of being a very, very talented defense where they are going to make you do things that you don?t want to and possibly get turnovers in those situations. Hopefully, if we make good decisions and we don?t try to force anything, I think we?ll be fine.?

On the speedy defense of Florida State?

?Their defensive line is the biggest thing. They have a lot of speed and come around the corner very fast. We?re going to have to do the best job we can to pick that up and really try to be solid all day. As long as we can do a good job of picking that up and not letting them cause a lot of disruptions with the pass timing, I think we should be fine.?

On preparing to face Florida State?s defense?

?We never really plan against one player. We always plan against the defensive schemes that we have seen and the different looks. We always go after what we feel are our strong points and our weak points. It doesn?t matter who they have in there and who they don?t, we?re still going to stick to our same game plan and hopefully we continue to run that pretty well the entire game.?

#91 Corey Peters, DT

On what it would mean for Kentucky to beat Florida State in the Music City Bowl?

?It would mean a lot. Florida State is a good team. They have beaten some really good teams. They beat Boston College. Beating them would be the next step in continuing to improve Kentucky football. Of course, this year, we didn?t finish the way that we wanted to, but we still have a chance to make this season into a positive.?

On the challenge in not having played a game since Nov. 24?

?Practice is a little bit harder. The coaches make us be a little bit more physical than in the normal week preparing. You usually only have three or four days preparing and now we?ve had five or six in a row so far and we have a couple more to go. Other than that, we?re not in as good of shape as we were at the end of the season. We have to work back up to that. It?s a little tougher and practice is a little bit longer.?

On his reaction to the situation at Florida State involving potential player suspensions?

?It?s an unfortunate situation, but at the same time, we have got to move on from it. They?re going to rally around that and people are going to try to make up for that. They?ll be ready to play I am sure. We?ve just got to still bring our ?A? game.?

On Kentucky being the favorite in the Music City Bowl?

?We?ve beaten some teams we were favored against and we lost some games that we were favored in. I really don?t think that matters. You?ve still got to put your pads on and go out there and come to play.?

#18 Jacob Tamme, TE

On whether or not the Florida State suspensions puts more pressure on the team for a UK win?

?You can look at that question a lot of different ways. Who knows who is getting suspended? I don?t and it doesn?t matter. They?ve been to 26 bowl games in a row. We?re at number two. That?s all I can really say. We can?t control it, and we?re not going to worry about it.?

On the mindset of the team going back to the Music City Bowl?

?This is our second bowl game in a row, and it?s their 26th. That?s amazing to me. We have the chance to win back-to-back bowl games for the first time in over 50 years. Think about what was going on 50 years ago. That?s unbelievable! That is a different world 50 years ago. Watch the History Channel. That?s not too long after World War II. We have a chance to do something that hasn?t been done since then, so that?s really special. I think also the fact that this team was disappointed at the end of the season, to go from where we?ve come from to even have the chance to be disappointed, it shows where we?ve brought the expectations to for this program. It?s a whole different place than it?s ever been.?

On where he thinks the program is going?

?It?s definitely the hope (that UK will have a similar run as Florida State?s 26 bowl games). That?s what we?ve been working for. It?s exactly the mindset that everybody has had, to build this place up to where you can be consistent winners. That?s what Coach Brooks wanted to do. That?s what these seniors wanted to do. Now all of the young guys that are here, they want to do the same thing. I feel good about it.?

On remaining connected with the program after his career is complete?

?When you don?t win, guys don?t come back as much. At the end of the season it?s kind of like, it?s time to move on. Let?s go try and be successful at something else. Now, when you?re winning it is fun. When you?re putting in the work and you?re getting the reward it?s good to be back around everybody. I think we?ve brought Kentucky football back to where guys actually care about it. Guys care about winning. Guys care about keeping it successful. That makes it be a community that you want to be a part of.?

On playing the Florida State defense?

?There obviously strong on defense. Their defense is extremely fast. They have a defensive line that is comparable to any d-line that we?ve faced all year. It?s as good as the best that we?ve faced all year. It might be the best. They?re athletic, just unbelievably athletic. Their linebackers are extremely fast. I think they have a really athletic defensive backfield. When I was growing up, they?re the kind of team that all of the announcers were talking about their speed. They almost kind of brought speed into the game. Now, they continue to do the same thing. With Coach Bowden still there they obviously still have the same type of defense.?