University of Louisville Football Post-Game Quotes
August 31, 2008 | Football
Aug. 31, 2008
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Louisville Head Coach Steve Kragthorpe
"We had a lot of chances on offense today and we put them in a lot of peril on defense with field position. I thought we played well on defense played extremely today, gave us a lot of chances. I was proud of the way our young linebackers played today. I thought they stepped up and played extremely well. I thought all three of those guys played extremely well. Dexter (Heyman) did some good today for his first collegiate action. He was very strong at the point of attack and knocked down the run. He got in on some third and long situations and was able to put some pressure on Hartline. Obviously a big play in the game was when we made the safety to make it 10-2 at that point in time. Then it was our job on offense to take it down and make it 10-10 and we didn't do that."
"We didn't get anything going on offense today. We struggled running the football and got ourselves in several third and long situations and it wasn't very favorable for us. Turnovers, you can't turn the ball over. We turned the ball over twice and we gave up points. You can't do that because then the second time they run it down there inside the five yardline. We gave up 21 points on turnovers and you can't do that. To me a safety is a turnover. That's what got us back in the game and turned the momentum and we just didn't do a good enough job on offense and that*s the bottom line."
(On the young receivers) "I thought some guys stepped and made some plays. Doug Beaumont stepped up and made some plays on third down. Josh Chichester jumps up and makes some plays with his body. Andrew Robinson made a couple of plays in the fourth quarter. Troy Pascley was in position to make some plays but he thought it got interfered with down the sideline. But overall I thought that for their first significant game action they stepped up and made some plays. Hunter gave us a chance to do that a few times."
"Luckily we have a short week. We have to come back and play on Saturday. We're going to lift weights, get a little work in. We'll watch a little film. The players report for treatment and watch film. We'll be back on Tuesday. I don't think Saturday can come too fast. When you play this poorly, particularly on offense, you want to go out and rectify the situation as quickly as possible."
(On what went wrong offensively) "I think when you look at the down and distance situations, we didn't run the ball well. To put yourself in a position to play action passes off of those runs and then to create down and distance situations where you can be less predictable in your play calling. I thought we got into situations where we had to throw the football because of the down and distance. When we got a couple of good drives going because we were able to mix in some play action passes. We got Chichester on the play action pass and a big catch over the middle right there before we tried the field goal - and then obviously on the fourth and one situations. We need to pick that up and if we could pick that up and go down and score, we*re in a good situation."
(On Hunter Cantwell) "I thought Hunter was seeing things pretty well. I think it got a little bit out of hand for him. And just like he said earlier in his press conference, his comments were pretty on target. He got a little frustrated today at the end of the game and started to force things in there that he probably shouldn't have made. Earlier in the game I thought he did an excellent job of creating time in the pocket for himself and sliding a couple of times, putting the ball down the field where we could go make some plays and catch it. He took one down the middle in the third quarter to Doug Beaumont in a third and long situation that was a third and 10 situation down there and he threaded that sucker right in there. Then again I think he just got a little frustrated toward the end of the game."
Louisville QB Hunter Cantwell
(On the game, overall) "The defense played well and I'm really proud of them. On the offense, I think everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Some of the drives that we had, there were mistakes and penalties and I'm very disappointed in myself and the way the offense moved the ball. You hate to lose against UK, its senior year and it is not a good feeling."
(What he took from the game) "I think there is a lot to learn from this. I think UK played a good game, they had a good defense and had some great schemes. We need to reevaluate as a team and more importantly as an offense and just learn from the film and not have a repeat of last season after we lost to UK."
(On coach's message after the game) "The big thing is to keep your head up. He pretty much said this hurts and it is not a lot of fun to lose to UK. Everyone is feeling that right now. We have to stay focused and stay together. Obviously there is going to be a lot of fingers pointed from outside about who did this and who did that. But as a team, we understand that. I, myself, probably deserve that but we need to come together as a team and stay strong. We need to go out and get ready for Tennessee Tech."
(On envisioning the offense) "I think there were a lot of unknowns. We are used to having a high powered offense, always being able to move the ball, always being able to run and to throw pretty much at will. We didn*t do that today. We have to evaluate the film and figure out what exactly happened and go from there."
Louisville C Eric Wood
(On Louisville's offense) "We struggled a lot, we hurt ourselves a lot. We really prepared for this game and we knew what they were going to bring at us. It was an execution thing. The good thing about it is that it was all fixable mistakes. We didn't make enough plays offensively. We were inching the ball down the field when it came down to it we couldn't make the crucial third down. I don't know what the third down percentage was, but when you are as low as that you can't expect to do things well on offense. I thought our defense played great. They gave us a lot of opportunities. We put them in a lot of bad opportunities and they did well with it. If they keep that up we will win some ball games this year."
(On offensive rhythm) "In a few points in the game, we felt we were getting a few things going and then it would just come down to where we have a fumble, an interception, a missed block or a missed assignment. That's what we call drive killers. We had a whole lot drive killers today that you can*t make to win."
(On UK's defensive performance) "They packed the box pretty tightly and they did a good job. It was a combination of everything. All fixable mistakes, like I said a combination of everything. The timing was there, the game plan was there, the execution wasn't."
Kentucky Head Coach Rich Brooks
"This was a great way to start the season. We thought we had a defense and today we sure did. The defense took it upon themselves to score enough points. It's the first time since 1976 that we held the offense to no points. The two they got was a safety but our defense kept making play after play. You have to give Louisville's defensive front credit. They were very physical and we did not run the ball very well. We did not move the ball as well as we have to. But today I thought Hartline did a great job managing the offense and not making the critical errors. Our defense forced some of those errors on Louisville."
(Is Myron Prior the new running back?) "Maybe I will put him in at fullback. I thought he might cramp up there for a second."
(On how the defense played) "I thought the front four did a decent job and put some pressure on the quarterback. I thought we did a pretty good job except for one or two runs around the perimeter. Overall I thought our defensive front did a good job."
(On the kicking game) "Tim Masthay except for the one he kicked out of bounds did a phenomenal job. His kickoffs were high and in the air a long time which allowed our coverage to get down there. I thought we gained an advantage in the kicking game today."
"I thought we had a good football team. I based that on the players that we have. We are still a long ways from being a really good team. We have to get some sync in our offense and get that going and at the same time not let over-confidence creep into our defense. So we have those two issues to deal with as we move forward. It feels good to beat your archrival and good to keep the Governor's Cup in Lexington. It feels really good from Jefferson County come in a play as good as they did."
(On the defensive coverage) "Almost everything was contested. We had a few that we could have caught that we dropped, and that inexperience showed in our receiving corp. They had a couple of tough matches for us, especially the 6'8" receiver. The one they hit down their sideline was just a great throw and a great catch, and David Jones was right there. You can't defend a 6'8" receiver when the ball is thrown that high. The secondary has a lot of athletes, and right now most of them are experienced so that goes a long way. We had a great game plan and executed where the players needed to be."
(On the rest of the defense) "Even with the loss of Wesley Woodyard, I thought this was the best linebacking corps that we had and I think that showed up. The defensive linemen keep the guys off of them and the linebackers fly around and make plays. They have some offensive weapons and I was pleased how we responded and shut them down."
(On the program in a defensive way) "We knew going into the season that the defense was going to have to stand up and be better than it was a year ago and wait until the offense matures. We can't wait much longer, so we are going to have to get that on track. There are a lot of different ways to win football games and this was one of them. I thought it was a great defensive effort and they played well on defense as well. Their offense and our takeaways was the difference in the game."
(On next week) "We need to get a lot better and fast on a short week. I know they won their opener and the offensive film going out into the country isn't going to scare a lot of people."
(On the depth of the team) "We had a couple guys go in and get IVs. Dicky Lyons got one a halftime. Connor and Maurice Grinter had to go in the second half because they cramped up. The great thing is that apparently there are no injuries and our conditioning was good enough for this kind of day."
Kentucky RB Derrick Locke
(On how he felt) "I thought the offensive line did fairly well but we still need to work. I felt that our speed really wore Louisville down."
(On the running back tandem) "I feel that interchanging all three really wore the defense down, especially the defensive line."
Kentucky QB Mike Hartline
(How he felt for his first start) "I felt like I managed the game pretty good. In between tackles I think we need to get a little bit more physical though. It really boosted my confidence."
(What would you grade yourself today) "I wouldn't give myself a definite grade. I thought I did well as far as not getting too excited and not getting too rattled, just playing my game and doing what the coaches expect me to do. Playing in the discipline of our offense and not making any bad decisions. Not forcing the ball and not making any negative plays. The safety in the end zone, either way I was going to be sacked. They called the penalty but that's just the way it is sometimes. It didn't come back and hurt us in the end. I thought I did well for the most part. There were some better throws that I could have made and some better checks that I could have done. I thought I allowed the offense to be able to make plays."
