John Clay's Sidelines

Kentucky offensive coordinator Randy Sanders talks to media after today’s win.

UK quarterback Morgan Newton talks to the media after completing 10 of 16 passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns against Jax State.

Kentucky running back CoShik Williams talks to the media after rushing for a career-high 148 yards in the Cats’ 38-14 win.

Kentucky receiver LaRod King, who caught five passes for 84 yards, including two for touchdowns, talks to the media after the game.

Video of Joker Phillips talking to media after UK’s 38-14 win over Jacksonville State.

Full transcript of Joker Phillips’ post-game press conference:

Opening statement: ”Well, our injury report, Raymond Sanders has an ankle, his right ankle, P.C. Cobble has a left shoulder and CoShik Williams went out late in the game with cramps. But we talked about wanting to see some improvement; some of the things we improved on. We threw and caught the ball better. We dropped some balls, but we did throw and catch it better. We had a couple guys that made some plays down the field. La’Rod King did a great job of attacking the football. We ran the ball, which is one of the things that when you’re a struggling football team you have to do. We’re struggling offensively, and we ran the ball for 340 yards.

“A couple things that we did not improve on: We didn’t improve on our ball security; way too careless with the football. And we talked about our coverage teams, and we let the guy get outside of us on the last kickoff coverage, the one to start the fourth quarter, and hit us for a big return. And we’d been really, really good at the coverage teams.

“We also put a lot of time into our return and didn’t get a lot of return yardage. Only had one opportunity to return on the kickoff return. And then the punt return, Daylen (Hall) got one chance and had to go in for a catch. There was some improvement, but we’ve got to improve even more next week.”

On the success of the running game being CoShik Williams or the offensive line:  “It was a combination. You can’t run well as a running back unless the guys are doing their jobs up front. He was making people miss in the secondary once he got there and running through some tacklers, but they did a good job of getting him started, the offensive line did.”

On Martavius Neloms’ sack and fumble return for UK’s first touchdown:  “Well, he got us started. One thing we needed is a play, three series offensively and turned the ball over in the second series, I think – second or third series – and we needed someone to make a play for us. We even made a play in the running game and if we didn’t turn the ball over, that would have been a huge momentum swing to our side with that big run. But then they got the momentum back immediately with the fumble. And we needed someone to make a play, and (Martavius) Neloms did. He got a sack, caused a fumble and a return for a touchdown, so that got us going.”

On the play of CoShik Williams: “It was really important, and I mentioned earlier in the week that CoShik (Williams) had had a really good week – really good two weeks – and it showed up. It was good to see him get some results out of his hard work because he had done a really good job all week. So it’s very important. And it was even more important once Raymond (Sanders) went down. John‑John (Jonathan George) got a chance to get some carries. And it was unfortunate that he put the ball on the ground, but he got another couple of opportunities and got the ball in the end zone for us. It was very important for Shik (CoShik Williams) to have a good showing.”

Continue reading ‘Transcript of Joker Phillips’ post-game press conference’

(H-L photo/Pablo Alcala)

Some quick hitters from Kentucky’s 38-14 win over Jacksonville State:

• The Cats rushed for 340 yards on 55 carries, their highest total since they gained 341 yards rushing in win over Vanderbilt last season. That Vandy game contained a pair of long runs by Derrick Locke and Randall Cobb. The longest run in this game was CoShik Williams’ 37-yard run. Williams finished with 148 yards on 22 carries, an average of 6.7 yards per attempt.
• Joker Phillips was not happy with the turnovers. Quarterback Morgan Newton fumbled on UK’s second series and Jonathan George fumbled late at the goal-line when the Cats were trying to seal the deal. “We have to protect the football,”  said Phillips.
• After six games when the UK receivers were criticized for their drops, LaRod King made a couple of nice grabs on the way to his five catches for 84 yards and two scores. The first score came when he caught a 29-yard TD pass while being blanketed by a JSU defender who was actually called for interference on the play. Asked to talk about the play, King said, “Talk about it? I made it.”
• After rushing for 157 yards and five touchdowns on Kentucky as a Georgia Bulldog last year, Washaun Ealey rushed for 120 yards on 16 carries today, but he never felt like a huge part of the game. Ealey’s biggest run was 20 yards.
• The UK defense scored a touchdown and set up two more. Martavius Neloms got the ball rolling by picking up  a fumble off his own sack and scoring from 40 yards out int he first quarter. A Danny Trevathan interception set up LaRod King’s second touchdown catch. And Luke McDermott’s interception set up George’s nine-yard touchd0wn run.
• Phillip confirmed that freshman wide receiver DeMarco Robinson did not dress for the game, but the coach did not give an explanation.
• Williams did not play late in the game because of cramps. Raymond Sanders left in the second half with an ankle injury.
• The announced attendance figure of 54,098 is for tickets distributed or “out.” That includes tickets “sold” and “comp” tickets.

Big Blue Links for Saturday:

• Cats back home, hoping fans turn out, says my game advance.
• Homecoming favors Cats, but JSU on a mission, leads my game notes.
• Q&A with the multi-tasking Tom Leach, from H-L.
• How UK and Jax State match up, from Mark Story of the H-L.
• UK faces JSU’s basketball on grass, reports Kyle Tucker of the C-J.
• A UK-Jacksonville State preview, from Ben Jones of Cats Illustrated.
• Defense propels UK volleyball to win over Georgia, reports UK Athletics.
• The something has to change edition, from Ken Howlett of A Sea of Blue.
• Blackshear cleared to play at Louisville, reports Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News.
• UK-Jacksonville State by the numbers, from Herald-Leader.

SEC links for Saturday:

• Missouri speeds up path to SEC East, writes Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News.
• Mizzou paves way for SEC application, writes Vahe Gregorian of Post-Dispatch.
• Bryant and Neyland were Legends of the Fall, writes Tuscaloosa News’ Tommy Deas.
• Alabama back arrested on marijuana charge, reports Star’s Michael Casagrande.
• Vols should make it easy for Tide, writes John Adams of News-Sentinel.
• Auburn could be a problem for No. 1 LSU, writes Scott Rabalais of The Advocate.
• Moseley set to get serious as Auburn starter, writes Jay Tate of Advertiser.
• Vandy doesn’t want Army to sink season, reports Tennessean’s Jeff Lockridge.
• Five reasons why South Carolina fans should stay optimistic, by Andrew Miller of P-C.
• Not this time for Houston Nutt, writes Harry King of Arkansas News.