VRBO CITRUS BOWL: IOWA VS KENTUCKY

December 29, 2021

Brad White

Yusuf Corker

Camping World Stadium

Kentucky Wildcats

Press Conference

BRAD WHITE: Obviously, we really excited to be here at the Vrbo Citrus Bowl. I think our guys are really ready to play in this game. They have been excited. The energy and practice both at home and here on site in Orlando, has been at an all-time high.

We know it's going to be a great challenge, a really physical Iowa offense. They have a couple of different ways that they can beat you, but it all starts up front. We know we have to play physical. We know we have to try to create some turnovers.

Obviously, they have got an incredible defense. They have been able to create a lot of turnovers that last year we were able to create, and we were sort of in the upper echelon of creating turnovers last year. This year, not so much, but we have to able to make those opportunities count in this game.

It's going to be a heck of a battled and one we're ready for. Really excited to watch Yusuf [Corker] do some damage on the field, and try to put him in some positions to make some plays.

Q. Iowa's offensive numbers are not great, but what do they do well that you need to look at controlling?

BRAD WHITE: I think stats at times can be deceiving. When you look at how they are able to control the game, and it fits into what they do. It is their identity. It all started, we talked about it in the opening statement, it starts up front for them. Their offensive line, especially interiorly, does a great job of creating initial push, creating some seems in their run game, in their zone scheme. Then, it sets up their play-action game and it sets up their boot game. In the boot game, the mirroring of both run and play-action in boot, looks almost identical.

So to fit the two-back run scheme, I've got Yusuf here, from a safety standpoint, you have to be really, really disciplined with your eyes. When it looks the same, it gets to be hard and they do a great job because of repetition. They do a great job of marrying looks and they do a great job of self-scouting themselves, so their tendencies are minimal in that regard.

It's hard to pinpoint and attack certain things. Obviously, not having [Tyler] Goodson is a difference for them, but they have running backs that have plenty of experience and have done some really good things.

I don't think anything really changes identity-wise for them in terms of how they are going to run the ball, how they are going to push it down the field. So, I think that's really where they create some challenges for you. It's a scheme that in a world of spread offense, and that's how you sort of build your defense, now it is a little bit more old school. You have to get physical and you have to get nasty. Our defensive front is going to have to play, you know, really well. Our linebackers are going to have to take on backs and lead blockers. It presents a completely different challenge than something we have really faced all season.

Q. You guys during that three-game losing streak were kind of reeling a little bit, tinkering with the secondary. How did you respond to that adversity to be able to recover and finish the season strong?

YUSUF CORKER: We went back and watched the film and see the things that we needed to work on and just be real with our receives. We didn't create any turnovers, obviously, in those three games. We didn't play well. We had bad eyes and things like that.

After those games, we put it behind us and we just look forward to the next opportunity. I feel like we played better on our last, I'd say, three games of the stretch -- at the end of the season.

Q. Your last answer got me curious. When is the last time you faced a team like Iowa, that old school mentality?

BRAD WHITE: Probably inside the five-yard line. And it's true, in this day and age, I joked in a previous deal back home, is that for some of our younger players that haven't been around and have only seen spread offenses, especially in high school, they don't even know what a fullback is.

But that, it creates two-back run fits that create problems, and it stresses your rules. What you have to do you is have to key on that fullback -- and our guys have to do a great job of understanding. Hey, it's creating two-by-two formations or three-by-one formations, depending which way he goes, but you have to identify flow early, and then you understand your run fit, where your support is.

That's where some of those creases have really come for them is that there have been some unblocked players that can make a play. But, if you push the ball the wrong way, if your help is outside, but you send the ball inside, even though that there's an unblocked defender, the running back is walking in the end zone.

So, you have to be perfect. Obviously, we have been working a lot on that, but until you get the game speed of it, the true physicality of it. We will have to make corrections on the sideline just like every game, but I think, again, I think our guys are forward. They understand that it's a -- you challenge their pride.

Especially when it's a physical game. When it's one of those games where you call it a circus and there's motions and flies and ball going this way and that way. It's just sort of, hey, play soft and let it play out in front of you and then you go play ball. This one is sort of challenging your pride. They are not hiding anything. They are coming downhill. They are going to put their pads on you, and they are going to try to drive you off the football.

If they are gaining yards, it means that they are physically more dominant than you. So it's a sense of pride for our front. It's going to be a sense of pride for our back end when they have to come and fill, and they have to tackle these big backs coming downhill. We have to impose our will and our physicality, and it's something that we've been able to do over the years. We've been able to do it this year, at times, and we need to show up and do it again.

Q. For you guys as a defense, do you get a sense of smelling blood in the water for an Iowa offense that has struggled this year, and they are without their starting running back? Their quarterback situation is kind of on the fence a little bit. And two, with playing a physical team, how much do you look forward to that as a physical defensive back?

YUSUF CORKER: Well, any game, our next game, I look forward to it.

As far as Iowa, when I go back and watch the film, I feel like they are a really good, disciplined offense. I feel like the last game they played against Michigan. They really kind of shot themselves in the foot. There were opportunities they could have put up a lot more points, but like I said, they shot themselves in the foot.

It's going to be a physical game for us and like Coach said, it's going to be a lot of pride. I feel like for me getting off blocks and making tackles for the whole defense is going to be real big for us.

Q. You were here a few years ago as a redshirt freshman and now you're back, could be playing in your last game what would it mean to start your career with a big win in the Citrus Bowl and to wrap it up with a 10-win season in the Citrus Bowl?

YUSUF CORKER: It would mean a lot, especially with this team. This might be my last game. It's going to be very emotional. You are never going to get this team back again. Everybody is going to go to different places and different ways, so it's going to be very emotional for me.

Q. Iowa has not announced a starting quarterback. How do you prepare for that? Do you think there's a difference between Spencer Petras and Alex Padilla, a big difference? How would you assess that situation?

BRAD WHITE: You know what, I think from a scheme standpoint, I don't think it changes. I don't think it's as drastic a change if it's a pure pocket passer versus, all right, this guy is a runner then tries to throw.

I think their skill set is within the same ballpark. I think [Alex] Padilla probably runs a little bit better. I think decision-making, [Spencer] Petras understands where to go with the football -- been really successful in the offense.

So from that standpoint, it's not a big difference for us in that regard in terms of how we scheme. It's not going to be a different game plan., but you do have to be mindful of who is in and what that particular quarterback's strengths are.