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Liberty Bowl Update: Cats crowd not as large in Memphis

December 31, 2008|LARRY VAUGHT

MEMPHIS -- When Kentucky played in the Music City Bowl the previous two seasons, UK fans came to Nashville in record numbers and were credited with helping inspire the Cats to wins over Clemson and Florida State.

But projections for Friday's game here against East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl are calling for no more than 15,000 UK fans.

What impact will that smaller crowd have on the Wildcats?

"This program has come a long way. We have learned how to play with or without people. There will be times you will go into environments where the whole crowd is not cheering for Kentucky," said offensive coordinator Joker Phillips Wednesday. "The thing we have done is we have won on the road. If our crowd is not there, it will be like a road game and we still have to come out with the victory. We played at Mississippi State and won this year. We went to Louisville and won. This will be another road game if the crowd is smaller."

Receiver E.J. Adams downplayed the significance of crowd size on the game's outcome as well.

"We know what Kentucky fans are. They are good fans. They are hard core. We know we will get a big crowd. Whatever bowl we are in, they have our backs," he said. "If it is not as full as usual, we will still play hard because we know there will be a lot of people at home watching and they have had our backs all year. We have a lot of fans to win for."

Senior running back Tony Dixon knows the crowd did help in Nashville, but he's not worried about the expected smaller turnout of UK fans here Friday.

"We are going to go out and play how we need to play with or without the crowd. We are expecting a big Kentucky crowd, but I don't think the number of fans will affect how we play," Dixon said.

If anything, Dixon says the focus and preparation for this bowl game has been better than it was the previous two years.

"I feel like the attitude this year is different from the past two years. Our focus has been better. I feel like from the previous years we learned what we have to do and how to prepare to win," Dixon said. "In the previous two years, we were just excited to be in a bowl game and were taking everything as it came. I feel like this year we know what we have to do and how we have to prepare to win much better."

So does offensive tackle Garry Williams.

"I think it (our focus) is better. It feels better being in a third straight bowl game. Our seniors want to go out with a victory and these younger guys want to start 2009 with a win, so the preparation has been good. If practice gets down, we build each other up. We know what we have to do to win," Williams said.

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