Louisville vs. Kentucky Post-Game Quotes
September 01, 2002 | Football
Sept. 1, 2002
Recap?|? Final Stats?|? Notes
Dave Ragone, Louisville senior quarterback
"We've got so many new starters on offense. It's not rocket science. We've got four new offensive linemen, they saw the tape of our last regular season game against TCU, and you knew they were going to bring everybody. It was expected. It was to our advantage. We always want one-on-one coverage on our receivers. We just didn't make enough big plays."
"We've got the same goals. We didn't accomplish our first goal, and that's to beat Kentucky. I gave it everything I had. Adversity tests your character. We'll see about our team."
Dewayne White, Louisville junior defensive end
(on the Louisville defense). "We played all right, except for a few plays. We let them score big on that pass in the first quarter. That ended up being the difference in the game. Overall, we played pretty good for the first game. We just have to get in, look at the film and get better as a team.
Devon Thomas, Louisville senior defensive end
"I didn't want to start my senior season like that. We came into the game knowing everyone we see will put up their "A" game. Kentucky brought their "A" game and put points on the board. It's nobody's fault but our own. We didn't make things happen."
Louisville Head Coach John L. Smith
(on the offensive line) "We have eight different guys and we're still trying to find the five best. We struggled. They brought a lot of things at us and we just didn't pick much up. If you can't block any body, it's tough to win. It's pretty simple: you have to block somebody."
"I feel as a team, we coaches have to take some responsibility. We were not well-prepared. You prepare on the practice field and we, as coaches, did not have some of the guys prepared. We just did not go to the field and prepare. We can't go to the practice field and just go through the motions, because that's where you win games."
(on Dave Ragone) "What a herculean effort by Dave Ragone. He's a stud. They beat him to a pulp and he hung in there."
(on the U of L defense) "For the most part, they did a good job. Other than the one big play, they had to work for everything and tried to keep us in it. I think they are going to be a good defense."
"We weren't ready to go in the first half. We had a spark in the second half, and picked it up from there."
Kentucky Head Coach Guy Morris
"I'm so pleased and proud for these kids. They have worked so hard for this. Our kids were close to beating some ranked teams last year. We talked about taking the next step and we did that tonight. They understand and believe in what we're doing. This game will help us with our confidence because we beat a very good football team tonight."
(his expectations) "The kids either knew or felt that we could win this game, based on the work we did this summer. We were worried about putting up enough points on a good defense, but we managed to put up enough points on the board tonight. We tried to win the battle of the kicking game. Other than the run-back (for a TD), we did pretty well."
(was he worried after U of L's second half kickoff return for a TD) "I was waiting to see how we were going to react. I think we did pretty good. We just kept talking to them about ignoring the score and playing hard every down."
"We felt our strength was our defensive line and we needed to capitalize on their weakness, the offensive line. We put good pressure on Ragone and I felt this game was decided by good field position. We also felt the kicking game was to our advantage."
