Postgame Quotes - Kentucky at Louisville
September 05, 2004 | Football
Sept. 5, 2004
Louisville Head Coach Bobby Petrino
"I was proud of our defense. They worked extremely hard all winter, all spring and summer building their bodies up and their confidence. And to be able to come out and play with the type of speed and that type of aggressiveness, that was really nice. I thought the key to the game from my perspective was stopping the run."
"I felt like we were a little tight all week long, maybe the coaching staff more than the players. But to be able to come out and play that way defensively was great. Offensively, we did not play that well. We did not run the ball real well, we had very conservative play calling. I felt a little bit out of sync. I thought we were really starting to take over with the running game and then we hurt ourselves with the penalties. That's something I was really disappointed in. They were young freshman mistakes, and that happens in big games like this."
(On Brohm) "We were going to play him in the second quarter, how much depended on how things were going. It was an excellent time for him to have to come in. The score was 0-0 and the pressure was on and it was very intense. I felt like they were starting to run the passing pretty good. Again it was a pressure play and unfortunately we weren't able to score."
(On Lefors) "Stefan did a great job. He was efficient with the football. We needed to get him into play action a little earlier and I didn't do that. He did a nice job. He's a great competitor a great leader and he kept us poised. Helped the players stay together on offense, and that will payoff."
Kentucky Head Coach Rich Brooks
"Physically, Louisville did a better job than we did, especially up front. They did a very good job of blocking us and this is obviously not a very good start. They totally won the war in the trenches."
"They did a very good job of stopping us. I thought we had a chance at halftime. I felt pretty good, even though we hadn't produced much of anything on offense. We came out and got a decent kickoff return, got the easy field position and throw the interception up for a touchdown. I think that took whatever wind we had in our sails away from us. We've got to go back to the drawing board to find a better way to move the football and stop the run."
"I think they knew one of our biggest offensive threats would be Shane on the perimeter. We have to block some of those people. We just didn't do a good job blocking. Physically, they won the war in the trenches. We didn't step up to the speed of the game or the physical challenge of the game today."
"We are what we are. We've got to go from here and roll our sleeves up and get better after this. We had a chance to make some plays on offense, but we dropped some balls and just didn't do a lot to help ourselves on that end of the field."
"We didn't make the plays and Louisville did and you've got to give them credit. Based on this game, you'd have to say Louisville's defense has improved (from last season). At least I hope it's improved."
"It's a matter of blocking and executing. We were physically outplayed today. It wasn't the scheme. We just didn't adjust to the speed of the game and didn't rise to the challenge. Physically we got whipped. It's pretty simple."
Louisville Players
Robert McCune, Sr., LB
"I was just trying to keep focused on what we had to do all the way to the end of the game. I was trying to make the guys stay focused and go out and play some football. We are just going to continue to work hard and stay focused. That's the main thing. Everybody is going to be after us now. They saw us on TV today. We just have to get out on the practice field and stay focused on what our coaches tell us to do. I have to give thanks to the coaches -- they prepared us very well. We knew a lot of things they were going with the option and we just flew around. We were just excited today about playing football.
Stefan LeFors, Sr., QB
(on the defense) "I was excited. To be able to stop someone is one thing, but to score and create turnovers is another thing. If they can continue to do that game in and game out, it will help us out so much more. That just adds confidence to them as a unit. Sometimes we're going to be stuck and fortunately, we are going to need the defense to help us out. They are going to do it."
"I envisioned that everytime we would have the ball we would just put points on the board. That is how we have to look at every game. In the back of my mind, I thought we were going to score on every drive. I knew our defense was going to do a great job. Getting points -- that's a bonus. That is what they do -- they're fast, they run to the ball and they create turnovers."
Bobby Leffew, Sr., DT
(On beating UK) "We wanted to get off to a good start, and I think we did an awesome job."
(On the defense) "We knew we'd have a good defense and we still have improvements to make, but we're looking good right now. We wanted to win. Everyone understood the team concept and we put our best foot forward."
Brian Brohm, Fr., QB
(On his play today) "I think I did a good job, but there are always things we can do to get better and I can do the same."
(On wanting to play) "The coaches will make the decision for the team and we must trust what they say. Obviously, it worked today."
Kerry Rhodes, Sr., FS
(On the defense helping the offense) "We wanted to win and the defense was big. We had to step up and I think we did. We can make some plays on defense and it will take some pressure off of our offense."
(On the defensive shutout) "It was big. Everyone will always remember today. Today will always be remembered from here on out."
