Joker Phillips says, "We know how to beat this team."

AWK · « **on:** October 05, 2010, 12:47:45 PM »

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Cats confident they can beat Auburn
'We know how to beat this team'

Joker Phillips and his players acknowledged there's a sense of urgency after a two-game road losing streak was capped by a frustrating 42-35 loss to Mississippi on Saturday.

"There's definitely a sense of urgency," the Kentucky football coach said. "I'd be crazy to sit here and tell you that there wasn't."

But there's a difference between urgency and desperation, players said. UK opens a three-game homestand against No. 8 Auburn on Saturday.

"There's no reason to hit the panic button," defensive tackle Mark Crawford said. "We're 3-2 and we've got three home games coming up. Everybody's still on board, there are no problems in the locker room. We're just going to try and do something with the rest of the season so we can go to a better bowl game."

"We're not really panicking yet," said center Matt Smith. "We still have a long way to go and we know that we can compete with the best of them. We just have to come in and focus and not do those little things to shoot ourselves in the foot."

A visit from the unbeaten Tigers doesn't seem like the ideal time for a turnaround. But UK limped into last year's game at Auburn with a three-game losing streak â€” and without injured quarterback Mike Hartline â€” and managed to pull out a 21-14 victory.

Phillips said he likes how the UK offensive and defensive lines match up with Auburn.

"We know how to beat this team," Phillips said. "We've done it, and I think that makes our players more confident."

"We went down there and took care of business last year, and that's the expectation this year," Crawford said. "Them being a top-10 team, we don't really look at that. As long as we do our jobs, we can beat anybody. Athleticism and talent isn't the problem. We've just got to be more consistent doing our jobs."

Granted, the Tigers are a much different team in 2010, thanks in large part to quarterback Cameron Newton, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound junior who has put himself in the mix for SEC player of the year.

"We know they're going to come in here wanting some revenge, and they're a much better team than they were last year," Smith said. "But we are too, so we just have to go out there and compete."

Starting with the win at Auburn, the Cats finished 5-2 down the stretch last season. A similar finish would leave them at 8-4 heading into bowl season.

"With these two losses, a lot of people are looking at us like, 'This season's done,' " Smith said. "Now we're definitely the underdogs, and not just a little bit. It's definitely going to give us motivation to get back into it because obviously we have to start winning to make the impact we want to."

No decision on kickofftime for South Carolina

The Southeastern Conference has chosen its six-day option to select the kickoff time for Kentucky's Oct. 16 home game with No. 19 South Carolina and will not make a final decision until Sunday. The game will be either the 3:30 CBS game or start at 6 or 7 p.m. on one of the ESPN networks. UK is set to host No. 8 Auburn this weekend while the Gamecocks get a visit from top-ranked Alabama.

Huzzie questionable

Phillips said sophomore linebacker Qua Huzzie will have thumb surgery this week, and he is questionable for the Auburn game.

http://www.kentucky.com/2010/10/05/1464578/cats-confident-they-can-beat-auburn.html

djsimp · « **Reply #1 on:** October 05, 2010, 12:55:10 PM »

Thats all coach speak to me. The mentality of this years Auburn team is solid as titanium. I strongly believe we're gonna beat the braked off those Wildpussies.

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"We know they're going to come in here wanting some revenge..."

You damn skippy fucktard, and we gonna get it!

RWS · « **Reply #2 on:** October 05, 2010, 12:56:09 PM »

For their sake, I hope they can back it up on Saturday. Something tells me they're going to get an ass whippin.

Snaggletiger · « **Reply #3 on:** October 05, 2010, 12:57:25 PM »

Here's the deal. Our offense was anemic last year in the UK game. Still, they had done enough to win the game. Most people forget that AU was driving to put this thing away and had either 6-7 penalties on the one drive alone that effectively destroyed the drive and changed the momentum. Remember, UK was not called for ONE penalty in the entire game while AU was rung up something like 13 times.

Not being overconfident here at all but last years game was the classic example of a team beating itself.

Snaggletiger · « **Reply #4 on:** October 05, 2010, 12:58:25 PM »

Oh and by the way, UK has given up 48 and 42 on consecutive weeks. Just sayin'...

RWS · « **Reply #5 on:** October 05, 2010, 01:33:07 PM »

Quote from: Snaggletiger on October 05, 2010, 12:58:25 PM

Oh and by the way, UK has given up 48 and 42 on consecutive weeks. Just sayin'...

Guess whose rush defense is 83rd in the country. Yeah, those guys. Good luck with that, UK.

djsimp · « **Reply #6 on:** October 05, 2010, 01:39:15 PM »

Quote from: RWS on October 05, 2010, 01:33:07 PM

Guess whose rush defense is 83rd in the country. Yeah, those guys. Good luck with that, UK.

I would love to break CFB rushing records across their faces. Make them want to not play anymore games this year, or the rest of the f'n decade. Break their will to do anything but stuff their faces with Jenos pizza rolls.

AUTailgatingRules · « **Reply #7 on:** October 05, 2010, 02:01:45 PM »

So they found a way to pull a major upset against a Chris Todd led offense, an extremely thin D, and 13 penalties and they "know how to beat this year's version of the Auburn Tigers". You've got to love the enthusiasm of a basketball school playing football.

JR4AU · « **Reply #8 on:** October 05, 2010, 03:38:13 PM »

Dennis Greene knew how to beat the Bears too...

Hobo · « **Reply #9 on:** October 05, 2010, 09:48:11 PM »

Soooo they know how to beat Auburn, but not a Houston Nutt team that lost to JSU and Vandy?

Well his name is Joker...

GH2001 · « **Reply #10 on:** October 06, 2010, 10:20:46 AM »

Quote from: RWS on October 05, 2010, 01:33:07 PM

Guess whose rush defense is 83rd in the country. Yeah, those guys. Good luck with that, UK.

Their Rush D is atrocious. Almost rock bottom in the SEC. Dyer and Onterrio should have fun. If they sell out on the run, Cam will have fun.

They also said they knew how to beat Florida as well. And Ole Miss.....just saying. Actually doing it is different. Kentucky is off from last year. Rich Brooks was a decent coach.

JR4AU · « **Reply #11 on:** October 06, 2010, 02:07:13 PM »

Quote from: GH2001 on October 06, 2010, 10:20:46 AM

Their Rush D is atrocious. Almost rock bottom in the SEC. Dyer and Onterrio should have fun. If they sell out on the run, Cam will have fun.

They also said they knew how to beat Florida as well. And Ole Miss.....just saying. Actually doing it is different. Kentucky is off from last year. Rich Brooks was a decent coach.

In fact, they're horrible all the way around really.

AUChizad · « **Reply #12 on:** October 06, 2010, 03:03:43 PM »

Backtracking a bit.

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/10/kentuckys_joker_phillips_says.html

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Kentucky's Joker Phillips says Cam Newton's runs, Nick Fairley's play make Auburn better than 2009
Published: Wednesday, October 06, 2010, 1:08 PM
Charles Goldberg, Auburn Bureau

Kentucky coach Joker Phillips contrasted this season's Auburn team with last year's Auburn team during Wednesday's SEC teleconference, and, in coaching tradition, had nice things to say about his upcoming opponent.

Kentucky coach Joker Phillips will try to slow Cam Newton (AP photo)
Still, it was an interesting breakdown on how to prepare for Auburn from the other sideline, and that's what we can take from it.

Phillips says Auburn, at 5-0, is better than last year's 5-0 Tigers, and the reason for that is quarterback Cam Newton.

Phillips' assignment: Try to slow Newton and Auburn on Saturday night in Lexington.

"There are some similarities of what they do,'' Phillips said. "They play at a fast pace, but they are doing a lot more quarterback run game. Last year you didn't have to prepare for the quarterback running the ball. Now, you not only have to prepare for the running back running down hill, the jet sweeps, people out leveraging you but then the quarterback running down hill on you.

"They definitely look better...faster, more physical. They're playing with more confidence. I think a lot of that is the quarterback. The quarterback, I think, has brought a lot of that to them."

Newton leads Auburn in passing and rushing.

Newton, in fact, has 474 yards rushing -- or 590 more yards than Chris Todd had as Auburn's quarterback last season.

Phillips also had praise for Auburn defensive lineman Nick Fairley, who leads the SEC in tackles for a loss as well as sacks. Phillips even linked Fairley with Tracy Rocker, the former Outland and Lombardi award winner at Auburn who happens to be Fairley's position coach.

"You look at the film last year and you say, `Where did this guy come from?'" Phillips said. "This year, he's been as disruptive as anybody in the league. I've been in this league a long time, and he looks like some of the old Auburn defensive players -- similar to his coach, Rocker. He has a lot of tackles for a loss, leading the league in sacks, doing an unbelievable job.

"He's playing with a big-time motor. He's playing with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement. It looks like he loves to play this game.''

Snaggletiger · « **Reply #13 on:** October 06, 2010, 03:06:13 PM »

So, it looks like he's identifying how to beat Auburn.

We're fucked

djsimp · « **Reply #14 on:** October 06, 2010, 03:14:52 PM »

Yes, and this is why Dyer is gonna have a big big night. I'm gonna say 150 he will have on the Wildkitties.

Tiger Wench · « **Reply #15 on:** October 06, 2010, 03:18:17 PM »

To me, when a coach uses the phrase "We know how to beat this team...", it is a prelude to a post game presser where that person finishes the sentence "... but we just didn't execute the plan/make the most of that knowledge."

Snaggletiger · « **Reply #16 on:** October 06, 2010, 03:24:30 PM »

Quote from: Tiger Wench on October 06, 2010, 03:18:17 PM

To me, when a coach uses the phrase "We know how to beat this team...", it is a prelude to a post game presser where that person finishes the sentence "... but we just didn't execute the plan/make the most of that knowledge."

He just didn't get to finish his quote.

".......with a big stick".

JR4AU · « **Reply #17 on:** October 06, 2010, 03:25:37 PM »

Quote from: djsimp41 on October 06, 2010, 03:14:52 PM

Yes, and this is why Dyer is gonna have a big big night. I'm gonna say 150 he will have on the Wildkitties.

Kenfucky's run D sux. Cam, Dyer, and Co. should rack up big yards. I'm looking for something in the n'hood of Auburn 48 Kentucky 23.

AUTailgatingRules · « **Reply #18 on:** October 06, 2010, 03:33:59 PM »

Quote from: JR4AU on October 06, 2010, 03:25:37 PM

Kenfucky's run D sux. Cam, Dyer, and Co. should rack up big yards. I'm looking for something in the n'hood of Auburn 48 Kentucky 23.

But does that get us the ever important "style points"?

JR4AU · « **Reply #19 on:** October 06, 2010, 03:40:49 PM »

Quote from: AUTailgatingRules on October 06, 2010, 03:33:59 PM

But does that get us the ever important "style points"?

Mmmmm...well, it matters not really. Auburn completely controls it's own destiny since the #1 team is on the schedule. But that's getting a bit ahead of ourselves. If we can win in a "double up" type score like I predicted...I will be VERY happy...especially if they clean up stuff like penalties and turnovers.