– UofL’s “Meet the Press”

We are just 6 days away from the gridiron version of the “Battle of the Bluegrass”. Today Coach Strong and senior OL member Alex Kupper met with the press.

The theme of this press conference was that of humility and playing hungry. Strong said “We’re just not good enough yet to turn the switch on and off.”, “We have to understand the expectations are high but preparation is the key to fulfilling those expectations. We have to pay attention to the small details.” Coach Strong praised his opponent saying that “UK is a very good football team, similar to us in a lot of ways”;”UK has some outstanding players. In a rivalry game, everyone is excited but this is two very good teams”

Coach Strong then talked about his team:

Teddy QB- “Teddy is more of a student of the game.” Says he had a really good preseason camp and “improved a lot.”

RB’s- “We still have Tuesday and Wednesday to go and then we’ll sit down with the offensive staff. We still have three good RBs sitting there and it will be one of the three and whomever we pick is going to be the feature guy.”, He says D. Brown, Wright, and Perry are all very good players. The winner of the battle will have earned it & will do a good job. Strong said, “There will be a featured back.”

WR’s- Coach Strong said that the WR position “has been the surprise position of preseason camp” He like the development of Copeland, Andrell Smith and says “We have enough receivers, we have enough guys there. We lost a really good football player in Michaelee Harris but that position had a really good fall camp.”

OL- Charlie says about the O-line that they have five returning players with starts from last season. Says they feel very good about it and that it’s really gelling as a group. Strong said “In the trenches is where it has to happen” “We feel really good”

DL- Coach Strong says that they have some depth and have lots of guys who will help. Says they have plenty of talent to succeed.

LB’s/Secondary- Strong “have enough depth at LB position, and return four starters in secondary” Strong repeatedly said “we have enough guys”, Says “Durant has just had an outstanding camp, like his whole attitude and the way he’s working”

Special Teams- Coach strong mentioned that he was very concerned about the kicking game. Says “A concern for me is the kicking game. I’ll tell you right now, I’m not really pleased with how it’s going in the kicking game” Strong says “no consistency.” Added that Nakatani and Wallace are missing too many FGs in practice and said punting unit also not consistent. “Might be 50 yards one time and 20 the next.”

Some other points from the press conference by Coach Strong:

Game Plan: “We want to run the ball. If you’re strong up front, and UK has a strong defensive fron, they can create issues for you”

On Leadership: Strong “despite only having 9 seniors, those guys are leading. With so many young guys, they do play and they’ve been challenged to lead.”

Bryce McNeil: “Left on his own. Always say when get transfer, this program is not for everybody. Some can handle it, some can’t.”

On the favorite/Underdog: Says we’re going to be the hunter. We will go out on the field with the mentality that we’re always the underdog. “We haven’t talked about preseason ranking, it’s where you finish”

Emotions: “We must control emotion and make sure guys aren’t too fired up”. Says they “must channel that energy into executing properly”.

Camp: “We’ve had some really good hitting practices. I think I need to back away a little now”, “This has been a very physical camp for us”, Says he tells his guys “Don’t punch that clock. Keep working.”

Governor’s Cup effect on recruiting: “Look at in-state recruiting and all the good guys are leaving. We just have to find a way to keep them home.”

Next up was Senior O LINE member Alex Kupper: He talked about how tough training camp had been but did say that there were fewer reps due to the depth. He mentioned expectations and said they must handle it one game at a time and said that this team hasn’t even scratched the surface on how good they can be. Then talked about facing UK’s defensive line: “It’ll be a challenge but we have to face it. They’ve gone against big time offenses and offensive lines.”

Other notes from Kupper:

On RB’s- Said that they have great confidence in Brown, Wright and Perry. Says all 3 guys have great talent and all 3 can help the team win.

On Humility- Says they must stay humble. Says they haven’t done anything yet and that you can’t expect to just roll the ball out and win. He said they must execute and “Play UofL football”

On “The Rivalry”- “It’s a big game for this program and a big game to the state. Newcomers will know how big the game is on Sunday”

Very informative press conference today and it seems like Coach Strong and Alex are very focused on the task at hand. I really like the things that I heard from them today. Kick-off now just 6 days away folks.