Tennessee
vs. Kentucky
Nov. 30 - 12:30 p.m. EST (JP-TV)
Neyland Stadium |
Questions & Answers
with Kentucky Head Coach Guy Morris
1.
What has been the difference from last year's team that went 2-9
to this year's squad that is 7-4?
A- "I think the main thing is that it is the second season
together as a whole team and coaching staff. Anytime you have a coaching
transition, you have coaches getting know players and other coaches. It
just takes time to implement a new philosophy and style of play and what
is expected from everybody. I think our kids are more comfortable in the
system now. They are operating a little bit better now and everybody is
on the same page. They have bought into our way of doing things and I
think that is the biggest difference."
2.
Talk about the importance of having a balanced offensive attack and how
that has helped your team.
A- "We wanted to put a little bit more balance in our offense.
We would have probably run the ball a little bit more last year, but about
halfway through last season we lost three of our senior offensive lineman.
So, we had to throw the ball more, because we really didn't have
the lineman to knock people off of the ball like we wanted to. I think
that has been the biggest difference this year is that we have had everybody
stay healthy. Artose (Pinner) has been healthy, and we have just tried
to win the battle of the field position with the flipping of the field
due to the kicking game. We have tried to run the ball and shorten the
game, and keep the other team's offense off of the field. I believed
that would give us our best chance to win. We still want to throw the
football, but not just 65 times a game."
3.
How important has it been that your team has gotten off to a fast start
in 10 of your 11 games?
A- "We have been fortunate to get off to a good start and
that has obviously been helpful to us. If there is anything I can fault
to that is that sometimes I think we get off too quickly. Our kids get
relaxed and comfortable with that as they will sometimes, and things kind
of slow down on us. We have really not played, in my opinion, a complete
game on offense, defense and special teams as yet. I keep telling the
kids every week that I think our best football is still out in front of
us. We certainly are going to have to put together as close to a perfect
game this week as we can to have a chance to win."
4.
How important is it to you that you stress taking care of the football?
A- "That is kind of my gig. I get onto them and
remind them every week of taking care of the football. Those of the kinds
of things that will get you beat in a hurry, and we believe it is something
we can control as a football team. So we preach to our ball-handlers every
week about taking care of the football. When you get into traffic then
wrap the other hand around the football and kind of know when your journey
is over and go down. Just to make them conscious of handling and taking
care of the football."
5.
You have a special group in the kicking game. What are your thoughts on
them?
A- "That again is part of that change in our philosophy
that has made a change in our program. Then we have a kid back there returning
punts who is very special. That is God-given talent, a gift that he has
and has maximized. He is a kid who has great courage and is sure-handed
when he catches the football. He also has good speed. I think the thing
that amazes me when I watch the tape the next day is his vision. You scratch
your head and wonder how in the heck did he see that. He just has tremendous
vision, and, like I said, he has a gift."
6.
What do you expect from Tennessee?
A- "We think Tennessee is a really, really good football
team. They are very athletic. I know they have had some injuries and they
are nicked up. But Tennessee has great depth so we have a tremendous amount
of respect for this football team. After looking at tapes from some of
the past games, I think we expect to be able to have to stop the run.
It kind of seemed to us as a staff that Casey was struggling a little
bit, especially against Vanderbilt. So they just kind of lined up and
started knocking people off of the line of scrimmage and had a good day
running the football. We know we are going to have to stop the run to
be successful.
"The Tennessee
defense, in the five years that I have been here, has had tremendous athletes.
They have good speed. We will probably going to have to get our running
game on track. I don't think that is a secret to anybody. Hopefully,
we can do that and if so that can open up some things in the passing game
for us. We are not going to take any different approach than we have in
the past. We are just going to try and do what we do best, and hopefully
that is going to be good enough to come out of there with a win."
7.
With the probation put on this squad, does your team look at this game
as its bowl game?
A- "We are going to approach this as a great opportunity
for us and our program. It is just another big game on our schedule. We
have tried to keep things as close to normal as we possibly can. There
has been a lot of talk about this was going to be our bowl game and all
that stuff. That is baloney. We are not thinking in terms of this being
our bowl game, just another big game. It would be nice for us to have
an 8-win season. I can't remember when that has been done around
here. We just need to try and take the next step, which is to beat a team
like Tennessee, which is so tradition-rich. It is another step in where
we want our program to go and springboard us into having a good off-season.
Everybody wants us to win the last one so that we don't have the
bad taste in our mouth the whole off-season. Those are reasons enough
for us to try and go down and win the game."
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