Sept. 27, 2008

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Head Coach Rich Brooks

Opening Comment…
“One good thing that happened offensively is that we scored on our first possession. It was a field goal, but we scored. And we scored on our first possession of the second half. It was nice to see the return game on the kickoff return, return to us. We gave up a little more than I would have liked to them in the second half on a couple kicks. B ut by and large I thought our special teams were good. We made every kick, that’s always a good thing, three field goals and every extra point. I thought we ran the ball better in the second half, able to get the running game going and I thought (Mike) Hartline threw the ball well and made some good plays. The one interception, he threw the ball a little high to E.J. ( Adams ), but it still could have been caught. It got tipped up in the air, but unfortunately that’s how some interceptions go. Overall, I was pleased with our performance. I thought our defense, other than three or four plays in the first half, was really, really good. We played a lot of people on that side of the ball. I’m just pleased to get the win.

“The first phase of our season is complete. We’re 4-0, and we couldn’t expect, I don’t think, to be better than that. You play four non-conference games and win all four. We go through and didn’t give up a touchdown again tonight, even though we gave up some position with the turnover and a long kickoff return where they could have been in position to score, our defense didn’t allow it.”

On the team’s progress…
“I think we made some progress. Did we make as much as I want? No. Did our receivers perform to the level I want them to? No. I thought we got our running game on track a little bit. It wasn’t great, but it was better. Defensively, even without Micah Johnson and Ricky Lumpkin and rotating some new players in there, our defense was still solid. Even though we still gave up a couple long plays. Who would have thought we’d hold anybody, particularly a spread offense, to 15 yards passing?”

On starting Alfonso Smith in the second half…
“He hadn’t carried the ball that much in the first half. He was a little fresher, and we wanted to get some fresh legs in there. He broke off a couple nice runs. We’ve still got a lot of backs that are carrying. They’re all doing some good things, but they could all do some good things better.”

On Mike Hartline…
“Mike Hartline is 4-0 as a starting quarterback. He’s thrown one interception and I don’t know how many touchdowns, quite a few. He’s doing a really good job of handling situations. He made some mistakes out there tonight that he’ll continue to learn from. The great news is that we have a young quarterback learning while we win. It’s nice to have what has been a very solid defense to carry the load, to keep us in position to get the points we need to win games. And we have a solid kicking game that contributes to field position and opportunities for our offense. I think Mike (Hartline) is doing a really good job. We still have to get better at what we’re doing on offense, but there was some progress tonight. There was clear progress in my mind.”

On the wide receivers…
“I think there were fewer drops in the second half. We discussed that at halftime, I thought some guys stepped up and made some plays. We do have some tight ends in our passing game on offense, T.C. Drake and Maurice Grinter, are catching some balls. As we move forward, hopefully we’ll continue to develop in some of those areas that we’re not as efficient as we were the last two years. To me we made some progress tonight. We will be tested like we haven’t been tested this year this next week with Alabama ‘s very physical front and very good speed on defense.”

Tailback Alfonso Smith

On improvements in the offense …

“I feel like it’s a huge step. Everybody has confidence now, everyone is excited and happy. There were more holes because the offensive line did great, which made it easy for the running backs.”

On preparing for SEC play …

“We are getting better, but we still have to eliminate some mistakes that we made today. We have to prepare for Alabama in practice this week.”

On Hartline’s performance and response to his interception …

“I like his character and his leadership. (Interceptions) are going to happen sometimes. It was early in the game and our defense was playing great. That gives the offense confidence too.”

On starting the second half …

“I felt fresh for the most part. I don’t want to burn out my legs on special teams, but that’s what I’ve got to do. The coaches came to me in the locker room at half time and told me I was going to be the man in the second half. Coach Brooks told me we needed to punch the ball. I went into the game and I knew I had to run hard and that’s what I did.”

Tailback Moncell Allen

On his second-half performance …

“It felt great. Every time I got the ball I know I got a little bit winded, but I felt like I did well every time I got the ball.”

On needing a good performance as a team …

“We needed it because next week will be tough. We can’t have any faults or mistakes. We have to go out there next week and try to make it better.”

Defensive End Jeremy Jarmon

On UK ‘s rushing defense …

“I think sometimes we played the run too well. A couple of times, running backs stepped back and took it back around the outside because we took away a lot of things. They’ve got athletes that made good plays but overall we made the plays that mattered.”

On Alabama next week …

” Alabama ‘s great and I think everybody knows that. Every team in this league is a very good team. I’ve watched film on everybody, from Vanderbilt to Ole Miss to Alabama . There’s no team in this league where you can walk into their stadium, or that can come into your stadium, and you think you’re going to beat them. It doesn’t work that way in this league. We just have to go out and have a good week at practice. We have to play flawless football.”

On if Ole Miss’ victory over Florida gives other teams hope …

“Definitely, but a lot of the guys, especially me, know players at Ole Miss. So, it’s not a surprise. I’ve seen them beat Florida by two, three, four points the last few years.”

Defensive Tackle Corey Peters

On next week’s game …

“I’m really happy with our focus tonight but we know we need to get better. Alabama ‘s really beating up on Georgia right now, so we know they’re a really good team. We need to focus on that in practice this week and we’re going to go down there and do our best.”

Quarterback Mike Hartline

On the success of the game …

“It feels good just to come out against Western ( Kentucky ) and do as well as we did. At halftime, we discussed that we had some really big holes that we could get through. And on our first drive, we scored a touchdown.”

On his interception …

“That was just bad judgment by me. The ball came out funky when I threw it. I thought somebody was open. There was nothing wrong about the receiver. The ball just came out wide. You just got to expect those things to happen and this is the first one of the year. You just have to move forward from it and that’s what’s most important.”

On the upcoming SEC play …

“We have Alabama coming next week and this game was important to win to prepare us for that. They are a good team. We are playing well right now and it’s important that we just go in there and try to compete with them. Starting off with Alabama in SEC play is a really big challenge. We’re doing really well and we’re really happy to be here and we just need to keep doing what we have been doing offensively. “

Tailback Derrick Locke

On going into SEC play …

“The offense took a step forward. There is still a lot we can do to get better. We still made a lot of mistakes. We put up good numbers, but we can start a lot smarter. I mean, running wise and dropping passes give us room to clean up, but we’ll be a whole lot better. This game has given us confidence. We just have to make just we don’t miss any wholes in the offense. We need to protect out quarterback, make good passes, and make good decisions.”

On getting taken out of the game …

“I mean, it is kind of rough to get taken out, but that’s just something that you have to get used to as a player. That’s just how it is going to go and no one can complain about it. When your in, do your job; when your not, cheer on your players; and when its time to go back it, you get things done.”

On last week’s game compared to this week’s game …

“Last week, I feel like we played terrible. This week, I feel like we did do a lot better. Like I said though, there is still room for improvement. We just need to clean up before heading to Alabama .”

WKU Head Coach David Elson

On the games shifting after Western’s field goal …
“We’ve talked a lot recently about momentum. Our kick-off coverage team has been a big strength for us but you have to give Kentucky credit. They executed and (Derrick) Locke is really fast and at that time that momentum changed. We got into the half 17-3 and we thought we could get something going offensively. We honestly felt too good defensively, we thought we were doing pretty well because we’d only given up three points and we got some stops. Then they took it to us in the second half. It falls on me; I have to look at the film and see exactly what happened. You have to give Kentucky credit because they had a great run in the second half and we just couldn’t get anything going. We couldn’t get a rhythm going and that’s what offense is.”

On Bobby Rainey’s performance …
” Kentucky ‘s really good. We knew that going in so we just have to keep trying ways to get the ball to No. 17 (Bobby Rainey). He really stepped up his game tonight and that’s what we need. He was the guy that stuck out and made plays. We moved Rainey into the No. 1 returner spot last week. He did a really good job against Alabama . We knew for quite sometime that Rainey was going to be a heck of a player. He’s a redshirt freshman and it took him a little time to get going. Tonight he showed that he’s ready. He’s running strong and he’s the guy we saw on the scout team.”

On Western’s defense …
“We felt like we made a mistake against Alabama with moving around too much. They were able to get movement on us. We felt like we could play some solid technique and run base defense. Then Kentucky got going and got the ball to the outside a little more in the second half. We adjusted well to that. We just have to work on control and technique issues.”

On Kentucky’s defense …
” Kentucky ‘s really good and we’re just not getting movement or sustaining blocks as well as we could. Myron Pryor and Corey Peters are two stout defensive tackles on the inside and (Jeremy) Jarmon is good as advertised. They’re solid right down the middle and their fast. But Bobby (Rainey) did a good job of breaking some tackles so we just need to keep on keeping on.”

WKU Defensive Back Marcus Minor, #2

On the defensive effort…

“I think guys got tired and lost focus, they [Kentucky] came out and we didn’t play as well as they did in the second half. We came out with a lot of fire the first half, we got a lot of stops and it got us going. The second half I think they [Kentucky] just got on top of us really quick.”

On his role on the team as a senior…

“We have to keep grinding. We can’t get down on this, we have to pick it up and move on and go just as hard in practice as if it never happened. We have to keep fighting.”

WKU Running Back Bobby Rainey #17

On playing another Southeastern Conference school and having success …

“It was a good opportunity and I took advantage of it. The front line gave me the opportunity to make plays and that is what I did. I’ve been waiting since my redshirt year to do this and I think I’ve been doing a good job. I just need to stay humble and keep on grinding.”

On being a team leader …

“I think I can help carry the load. I wouldn’t call myself arrogant, but I need the ball in my hands and I can make plays.”