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Kentucky Quotes
11/12/2005
Kentucky at Vanderbilt
November 12, 2005
Vanderbilt Stadium
Kentucky Head Coach Rich Brooks
(Opening statement:)
Let me just start with injuries: Arliss Beach got a pretty bad ankle sprain — we x-rayed and the x-rays were negative. David Jones got his neck hurt a little bit on the kickoff with the fumble; he did come back and play — he also got a thumb on the pass he batted down; we don’t know the extent of the thumb injury. (Muhammad) Abdullah had a groin injury, played with it, but wasn’t quite as effective. Wesley Woodyard got a stinger and missed quite a bit of action. Our defense didn’t seem to play quite as well after Wesley left, and then he did come back in. Gary Williams had either migraine headaches or some type of concussion.
We came here with 63 players on our travel squad — we’re very thin right now. I’m tickled to death for these players that they could go on the road against a team that had a lot to play for, that has played very well — it’s the best Vanderbilt team that I’ve seen since I’ve been here — and played them off their feet for at least three quarters and then were able to close the deal and get the win.
(On the play of the special teams, especially the blocked field goal:)
We blocked eight or nine PATs and field goals last year, and I’m not sure whether it was (Raymond) Fontaine or Curtis Pulley that got it, but we finally got it into a guy’s hands that could run and Bo (Smith) made a great run. That was a huge play, obviously, because it takes three out of their hands and gives us seven so that’s a 10-point swing.
Rafael (Little) continues to do a great job in the punt return game. Our guys are doing a good job blocking for him too, you’ve got to them some credit, the unknowns up there. The special teams were huge.
(On the team making plays:)
We made a lot of plays today, and we had to. This is not a bad football team, they’re pretty good. I was a little disappointed in the first half that we had to settle for 3s instead of 7s, particularly on the fumble after the kickoff. But the good news is, every time we got down there we got points out of it.
(On the defense:)
For three quarters, our defense played about as well as it had all year and then we got into a little bit of a mode where we don’t want to give up the big easy play. I thought our pass rush for the most part was good. Ventrell Jenkins, another true freshman, comes through and gets a sack. We got a little sloppy; I think we got tired in the second half and missed some tackles that we hadn’t missed in the first three quarters.
(On if he got nervous at the end of the game:)
I suppose when they scored their last (touchdown), that got me on the nervous side because last week they kicked an onside kick and got it against Florida. I thought our hands team did a good job handling that play.
(On Rafael Little:)
I guess I might have to rest him a little more because he had a couple of plays in the first half that I thought were gone and he kind of run out of gas. I guess we might be overusing him, (but) I’m glad we are because he’s doing some good things with it.
(On if the offense is back to the level it played at against Louisville:)
I don’t think we’re 100% on offense right now because we’ve still got some guys that are hurt. McCutcheon played on a bad ankle hobbling out there; Keenan (Burton) and Tommy Cook I don’t think are 100%, but it’s great to have them out there, and then when you lose Arliss Beach, that hurts. We’ve got some linemen that are also banged up. We played three true freshmen on the offensive line for many, many snaps today. I think it speaks well for the future of this offense when you look at that most all of these players are young.
Kentucky Player Quotes
Linebacker Raymond Fontaine
We were able to hold Vanderbilt today, which is the most important thing. They’re a great team and we knew that. We have been preparing hard all week to play a great team and have played great teams all season. It was great to get (Head) Coach (Rich) Brooks’s first SEC road win. Every game is important and we wanted to show that today.
(On Vanderbilt’s Offense)
We knew Vanderbilt was going to play extra hard because it was senior day. They worked hard all day. We knew as a defense that they had a strong quarterback and strong wide receivers. We also knew they were going to just keep working and working and never give up.
(On blocked field goal)
I got a push on that second field. On Vanderbilt’s first field goal, I realized I had room so I took the extra step on the second one and stepped in the way of the kick.
(On Coach Brooks’s extension)
Guys have just stayed focus all season. We wanted to win and nothing else mattered. We block out those outside factors.
Quarterback Andre’ Woodson
(Opening Statement)
Our team played great today. We put up a lot of points and gave a great performance overall.
(On Vanderbilt’s comeback)
We were starting to get worried in the fourth quarter. They’re a team like us that never gives up. We helped our defense as much as possible the rest of the game, but in the fourth quarter, our offense just dried up. We knew no team was going to give up, particularly on their senior day. They did a great job brining themselves back into the game. They’re a great team and they have done that all season long. Thank goodness we got the ball back and could run out the clock because who knows what they could have done if there was anytime left.
(On Running Back Rafael Little)
We have great players on our team and Rafael is one of them. Rafael has been doing an exceptional job all season. Every week he works hard and puts 100 percent into every play.
Wide Receiver Keenan Burton
(Opening Statement)
I was nervous at the end of the game. The defense played a great game. The whole team played a great game. We just wanted to keep them off the field at the end and not make them come back on and try to stop Vanderbilt again.
(On Running Back Rafael Little)
The stuff Rafael is doing is great. On the outside, we try to put a hand up to get him as much room as we can. If you give him an inch, he’ll take a mound. We always assume he may be cutting back to our side of the field so even if he goes one way at first we never are timid because he may cut back across. It is hard not to be a fan of his with all of the magnificent stuff he does. He sees the field so well and has such a quick first step that it is hard for defenses to stop him.
(On SEC Road Win)
It is not every day you can get a win, particularly not a road win in the SEC. It was great to get one for Coach Brooks.
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