Aug. 16, 2011

LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky head football coach Joker Phillips was pleased overall with his team’s performance in its first scrimmage of the year on Saturday, saying that he saw many positives while watching the film.

Phillips, who is entering his second season as the head man of the UK program, continued to rave about the speed in which the UK defense has been playing.

“We have some playmakers over there,” Phillips said when asked what conclusions he came to after watching the film scrimmage film. “I really like the energy that those guys played with. There were a lot of minus-yards plays and I really like that, but we have to create turnovers. That is one of the goals starting this spring and coming into this season.”

Conversely, Phillips was very pleased with how the offense protected the ball, noting that starting quarterback Morgan Newton and backup Maxwell Smith did not throw an interception during the 90-minute scrimmage. Phillips also liked how the right side of the offensive line played.

“Offensively, the right side of the offensive line I thought competed really well,” Phillips said. “Morgan didn’t throw an interception or throw it to the other jersey and Max (Smith) didn’t throw it to the other jersey either. I thought that our backs got their shoulders squared and ran hard.”

Overall, Phillips was pleased with the scrimmage, but notes there is still progress that needs to be made.

“There were a lot of positives in that scrimmage Saturday,” Phillips said. “Do we still have some work to do? No doubt about that. There are a lot of things that we need to do better.”

After taking Sunday off, Kentucky practiced twice on Monday.  The team will practice Tuesday morning before spending most of the afternoon in meetings.