Sept. 29, 2008
Head Coach Rick Brooks
Opening Statement…
“An update on injuries, as my trainer tells me there is good news and bad news
with Justin Jeffries’ MRI. There is no ACL damage but there is an MCL tear
at the tibia and not at the femur and that’s not a good thing. We will have
to wait and see if it tacks down on its own and, if not, it will require surgery.
We will have to wait to see after immobilizing it for 10 days or 2 weeks. John Conner
has a mid-foot sprain and he won’t be able to practice tomorrow so we will
have to see how that comes along. T.C. Drake has an ankle sprain and he may not be
able to practice tomorrow. DeMoreo Ford will probably not practice tomorrow because
of his concussion. Micah Johnson, Ricky Lumpkin, and Randall Cobb are doubtful for
this week. They will do some conditioning drills tomorrow to just test their ankles
but I am not encouraged with any of them at this point. Tony Dixon may not be able
to practice tomorrow because of his ankle as well. That’s the extent of the
significant injuries.”
On this being the first big test for this team…
“I have always been impressed with the play of the SEC. The teams in this league
are always unbelievably talented. Alabama is extremely well coached. They are just
a very physical football team. They are a team that has kind of gone back to football
101. They block, they tackle and they play physical football. That in itself is a
test for any team when you go up against them. The teams they have played have found
that out, obviously. This is an opportunity to see where we stand in the SEC as far
as having an impact on the league. This is a game where we are going to find out
if our defense has really improved. We know that it is better, but is it up to SEC
defense standards? We will find out if our offense has progressed to the point where
we can move the football on a great defense. Unfortunately, we get the opportunity
to go on the road to a very tough place to play to see where we stand in that regard.
The good news is that we get to do it as an undefeated football team.”
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On preparing defensively for Alabama…
“For the last two games I don’t think that we have had more than two
or three snaps with more than three linebackers on our defensive unit together, which
is what we call our regular defense. So we haven’t played regular defense in
quite awhile. We will obviously see more of that this week. We will have to see whether
our ability to stop the run has improved against a team that takes great pride in
lining up and telling you that they are going to bloody your nose and then go about
blooding your nose time after time. So it is a physical mindset as well as being
a schematic difference in preparation.”
On if Kentucky’s defense would rather play against that kind
of team…
“I don’t know what they prefer to play against but I know that Johnny
Williams would prefer to play against a team like that because he gets to play linebacker
on the field a lot more. The nickel backs probably wouldn’t say that because
they like to be on the field to play. I think that the great thing about college
football is that every week is a new challenge. You have a greater variety of challenges
than you do in the NFL. You see different types of offenses and defenses week in
and week out. We had an opportunity to play two similar offenses back-to-back and
now we have a major radical change on what we are going to see as we open conference
play.”
On facing an intense environment down in Tuscaloosa…
“The next two days we will crank up the noise (during practice) particularly
with a young offense. The communication which we haven’t handled greatly in
the first four games will be very difficult on the road in that environment. We experienced
it once in the opener (at Louisville) and we didn’t have an offensive juggernaut
in that game. This is a game, that in my mind, if we are going to have a chance to
win it is going to have to be a near-perfect game for us as far as mistakes, penalties,
turnovers, takeaways and we need to play at our optimal best to achieve it.”
On Alabama’s offense…
“I saw something today that John Parker Wilson now holds every meaningful record
in Alabama history at the quarterback position. He is a senior and is very experienced.
He had an unbelievable game last week. He didn’t have to throw it much but
when he did they were big plays. They have some talented skill people, a great freshman
receiver that is playing like a senior, making big plays. They have a lot of weapons.
Their backs are downhill runners. (Glen) Coffee is a very physical runner; he almost
never goes down on the first tackle. He always falls forward.”
On if Alabama looks like the number two team in the country…
“They look like they could be the number one team in the country. I don’t
know who the number one or two team is in the country and I don’t think anyone
does. They are in that conversation without a doubt when they can go on the road
against a top-10 team in Clemson and bludgeon their nose and go on the road and bludgeon
the nose of the number one team to start the year and number three team at the time
(Georgia). Eight or nine days ago everyone agreed that USC was going to play for
the national championship and my alma mater ( Oregon State) beat them.”
On if he feels Kentucky should be ranked…
“We will find out this week. If we win then there is obviously no doubt. If
we go down there and play well then I would say yes, even if we get beat there might
be an argument that we should be ranked. If Alabama is the number two team and we
play them close on the road then maybe ( UK should be ranked), because we have already
established that we can win football games. I would rather have that conversation
after a victory than after a loss.”
On improvements he saw in the receiving corps against WKU…
“We didn’t have as many busted routes. We blocked a little better. Other
than that I saw the dropped passes just like you did. I am hoping that will decrease.
We actually had a lot of dropped passes by our guys last year but its not as glaring
when they are making a lot of great catches and drop one once in a while. With our
offense and the need for our ability to be near perfect on offense right now those
things just jump out at you.”
On if he expected Coach Saban to get Alabama to the top this early…
“I will be honest, I have been here six years and I never thought that Alabama
was a bad football team. Saban went 6-6 last year and then won a bowl game. They
started off last year like gangbusters. They have had talent and still do have talent.
John Parker Wilson has been there and I know that all of those linemen aren’t
freshmen and sophomores that bludgeon people. He is a great coach. He has proven
that by winning a national championship at LSU. He took that program and built it
into something that is still something very special. Am I surprised that they are
where they are? No, I’m not surprised. The only thing is how dominant it has
been at this point. I think that you have to judge that over the length of a season
instead of one or two games. If they go through the rest of the conference like this
then wow.”
On if he is impressed on the progress of Mike Hartline…
“I am about as pleased as I can be for what he has done in his first four starts.
He is throwing the ball more consistently than I felt he would in early fall camp.
He has made some very good reads and decisions and has not had a lot of negative
plays, which is something that we asked of him. When you ask that from a young player
it is very difficult to get. He is on track to do some very good things if we continue
to develop and help him.”
On how the offensive line played against WKU…
“I thought that they played pretty well. I wasn’t very happy with our
run blocking in the first half, but it got a lot better in the second half. I think
that, given the fact that Jeffries went out after the fifth play of the game, I thought
that our young linemen (Billy Joe) Murphy and (Brad) Durham did some good things.
Stuart Hines played half the snaps at guard as a redshirt freshman. I think that
we are making progress. It is never as fast or perfect as I would like it to be but
we are getting better. Our line will be tested unlike they have been tested before.
This will be a major challenge, one to protect our quarterback, which has been very
good. Part of that is because Mike Hartline has been able to move in the pocket and
throw the ball away and not take unnecessary sacks. This will be our most difficult
challenge as far as pass blocking goes. We all know that it will be a challenge to
get back to the line of scrimmage, let alone gain any yards against their rush defense.
Look what they did to one of the best backs in the nation last week. They destroyed
Georgia’s running game.”
On the play of Matt Lentz…
“I think that he played very well. His reads were good and he only made a few
mistakes. He is a very good tackler and run support guy. This week will be a much
bigger test for him.”
On his thoughts about going to Alabama…
“It will be a good game. We both have some of the top defenses in the nation,
so I think it will be a defensive game.”
On his reaction to the Alabama-Georgia score…
“I was really shocked because I thought it was going to be a close game.”
On opening in conference play with Alabama…
“I am just thinking of it as another SEC game. I’m looking forward to
it and the game is the SEC Game of the Week and I feel we have a lot to prove.”
On fighting for respect with the media…
“We’re just going to go to try to prove to everybody that we are capable
of winning big games.”
On the upcoming week from a defensive perspective…
“This will be the best offense we have seen this season and definitely the
best offensive line we’ve seen. We just have to go in and watch a lot of film
to get ourselves ready.”
On if he is preparing differently for this game…
“No. I’m sure we will be a lot more focused for obvious reasons but we’re
just going to go to Alabama and do our best and hopefully pull out a win.”
On having the number one scoring defense in the nation...
“It feels great, but unless we carry it over into SEC play it won’t mean
anything. We want to continue to improve every week.”
On playing Alabama…
“This game is a big opportunity. Alabama is a good team, they are ranked high,
and they have a good offense and defense. We have the chance to go down there and
show what we can do.
“ Alabama is a tough football team and they are well coached. They
are physical and have good athletes that make plays at all positions. If
we go down and play assignment football we can play with them. Their spread
offense will be a little different for us. We are going to prepare for
them the same way.”
On Kentucky gaining national respect and being unranked…
“It is disappointing that we aren’t ranked, but if we keep winning it
will eventually happen.”
