Wednesday, September 04, 2002
UK still on cloud nine
Morriss won't let win go to Wildcats' heads
The Associated Press
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky offensive lineman Antonio Hall still breaks into an ear-to-ear grin as he recounts the chaotic scene in the team's locker room after its emotional victory over archrival Louisville.
“It was crazy,” the 6-foot-5, 300-pound junior tackle said Monday. “People yelling and hugging, everybody singing the school fight song right there in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. It was special.”
The Wildcats (1-0) were still beaming Tuesday, not quite 48 hours after their 22-17 upset victory over the 17th ranked Cardinals — their first win over a ranked opponent since a 31-20 victory over No. 20 Arkansas in 1999.
The victory also was Kentucky's first over Louisville in four years and sent the Cardinals, a team coming off a school-record 11-win season with Bowl Championship Series aspirations, freefalling out of the Top 25.
“Last year, we got blown out by Louisville and all you could do was keep your head down, not wear any Kentucky stuff and just try to blend in as you walked across campus,” said junior quarterback Jared Lorenzen, who threw for 195 yards and a touchdown without an interception against the Cardinals.
“Today, I wore just about every Kentucky thing I had, and I was proud.”
Kentucky coach Guy Morriss also grinned as he recalled the enthusiastic 70-mile bus ride home from Louisville after the game.
“I got to bed about two in the morning and then didn't sleep very much,” he said. “It's a neat feeling to win. There's nothing like it, no substitute for it. It's a feeling I want the kids to remember.”
“There's a pride I feel for a bunch of kids that have really, really worked hard. They laid it on the line, and finally to see it pay off for them and go ahead and win a close game like that on the road over a ranked opponent ... it was a nice ride home.”
Pride and enthusiasm aside, Morriss' biggest concern this week will be keeping his players grounded and working hard after the most emotional victory in his short tenure.
Overconfidence is a word that hasn't been uttered around the Nutter Training Complex much the past few years. Morriss, however, believes he has just the formula for keeping the team focused on Saturday's home opener against UTEP.
“I want to show you something,” Morriss told the reporters assembled at Commonwealth Stadium, unbuttoning his wrinkle-free blue Oxford shirt and pulling it open like Superman entering a phone booth.
Underneath was a brown T-shirt with the likeness of Grumpy, one of Walt Disney's seven dwarves, complete with his perpetual scowl.
“See this guy right here,” he continued with a chuckle. “That's Grumpy, and I'm pretty grumpy this morning.
“We'll remind them you play them one at a time, all the old cliche stuff. We're going to just go back and prepare the same way we got ready for Louisville.”
Hall said the team's veterans will be charged with making sure the younger players do not let the victory go to their heads. But he acknowledged how important the win over Louisville was in kicking off a successful season.
“I think it lifted a huge burden off us, our fans, the program — everybody,” Hall said. “This is really going to open some doors for us confidence-wise that weren't open the past two years.
“It's a lot easier to get on a roll when you start the season 1-0 instead of 0-1.”
In that same vein, new athletic director Mitch Barnhart took several minutes to challenge Kentucky's students and fans to get behind the team and help keep it moving forward.
The school already has sold nearly 1,000 additional tickets for Saturday's game since the final gun sounded Sunday night. Barnhart believes Kentucky fans can do even better.
“People ought to get out and flat support these guys after what they've done,” Barnhart said. “We've gotten off to a great start and now we've got three straight home games, so there's no excuses.
“Obviously, UTEP's not going to bring a lot of folks. So I want to make sure that when they come into Commonwealth, they understand it's a sea of blue, it's loud and there's an absolute home-field advantage for our folks when they take the field.”
Story on Sunday's game
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UK still on cloud nine 
