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Pre-FSU Q&A with U of L coach Bobby Petrino

Jeff Greer
Louisville Courier Journal
University of Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino reacts top his teams play against the N.C. State's defense during the second half of play at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky.       October 18, 2013

After a week off, Louisville coach Bobby Petrino met with the media on Monday to preview Thursday night's big showdown with second-ranked Florida State.

The game is on ESPN and kicks off at 7:30 p.m. It's the largest-profile game at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium since Louisville's 44-34 win over third-ranked West Virginia in 2006, when Petrino last coached the Cardinals. (Of course U of L's season and ACC opener this year vs. Miami is up there, too.)

Here's what Petrino had to say:

Opening statement: We're excited about the game, happy with the way our players are preparing for it. We've had a couple good practices this week. We did a good job Saturday morning when we came in and worked. Obviously they're excited about the game. It's something we're looking forward to and going out and performing and playing hard.

On QB Will Gardner: He just needs to focus on executing the offense. He's done a real nice job in practice and in the meeting room understanding what looks we expect to see. You're always going to see something new as a quarterback, but we're working hard on the looks we expect to see. He just needs to go in and focus and go through his progressions and execute the offense. He's very capable of doing that. We'll have to do that consistently with all 11 guys.

He's had a good week of practice. He's snapping the ball and throwing it well. He's done a good job. I think we've looked as sharp in these last couple weeks as we have. Obviously it's fun having DeVante (Parker) back there. I felt like coming out of the last game against North Carolina State, that was the closest we looked to our offense and being able to do the things we like to do on offense.

On WR DeVante Parker: He looked really good yesterday and today. Last week, or two weeks ago, going into the North Carolina State game, we saw glimpses of it and we're thinking, 'OK, how much is he going to be able go out there and how well is he going to perform?' Obviously he went way above our expectations in that game. The last couple days he's looked back as himself, really exploding off catches and it feels a lot better for him.

On LB Lorenzo Mauldin and WR James Quick: They've all practiced the last two days, so we feel good about them both being out there, ready to go.

On FSU: When you look at their offense, they're very balanced. They can run the ball. They can throw it. They can throw it deep. You have to first stop the run. That's the most important of defense is to stop the run and try to make them get behind the sticks. And then we have to play tight coverage and rush the quarterback. He's a difficult guy to tackle and bring down, so we have to have discipline in our lanes and mix things up. That's the thing -- we've been good at doing that, we just have to go and play our defense.

On FSU QB Jameis Winston: They're all different and they're all really good players. He has a real quick release. He makes good decisions. He has very decisive decision making. It's going to be important for us to be good with our coverage and tight with our coverage and put pressure on him.

On Louisville's starting running back: We have another day of practice. We always worry about that after our Thursday practice, which is what, Tuesday this week? We'll just go to practice and see how they all do.

On healthy running backs: Yeah, (Brandon) Radcliff is back full speed, which is great to see. He had an issue with his toe that's bothered him on and off. He's back there competing hard. (Dominique Brown) looks good. (Michael Dyer) looks even better than he did before the North Carolina State game. LJ (Scott)'s ankle feels better. So we're getting back healthy where we need to be.

On his approach to playing big games: They all understand what the stakes are, but what I really want them to do is enjoy it. Enjoy the experience of having the No. 2 team in the country come in here and how you go through preparing for it, how you get ready when you go to the hotel. Just enjoy it. All the routines that we go through are the same. We're not changing anything. We're not doing anything extra. We just go through our preparation and get ready for kickoff. That's the No. 1 thing we have to do is just calm down and understand, you know, we have to be ready when we kick the ball off. Not tomorrow, not Wednesday -- when kickoff is here. I think, with experience and opening the season with Miami, all those things help us.

On calming down in big games: I think they're pretty good about it. I think just having the experienced team that we have and the fact that these guys have played in big games. The opening game of the year was a big game for us, so you just kind of go back and go through your routine and get yourself ready for kickoff.

On the team atmosphere before games vs. top-five teams: It's different. Obviously the intensity, the focus of practice is better from guys who are excited about it. They're all working hard out there. But again, it's getting into your routine and working at learning how to prepare for a game.

On Thursday's atmosphere vs. the Miami season opener: I was going to say it would be hard to be crazier, but I once said it would be hard to be louder, and I don't want to get into that. Let's say it's going to be real, real crazy.

On FSU's defense: They're very physical up front. They have two big guys inside and they do a good job in their secondary with their coverage. They don't do a lot, but they do it real well. On third down, they do a lot. The biggest thing for us is to be able to execute and convert third downs. If we do that, I feel like we'll have some success.

More on FSU QB Jameis Winston: One play at a time. You have to play one play at a time. The whole team has to understand that, when you're in games like this, the momentum swings back and forth. They have great players. They're going to make plays. We're going to make plays. The most important play is the next one, to be able focus and concentrate on executing the next one.

On Louisville's offensive line: We've gotten better, yeah. We've gotten better. We've been more consistent with our assignments, utilizing our technique better and we've been finishing better. We've had two good weeks of practice.

On FSU winning close games: There's not a big difference between winning and losing, and they know how to win. They've got guys in their program who have confidence in coming from behind. You have to learn how to win. Obviously they know how to do that, so we have to be in the game in the fourth quarter and have an opportunity to win in the fourth quarter. I believe our guys have the confidence in the fact that we'll get it done.

On Louisville stabilizing after early-season injuries: You're right -- we were in sort of a scramble mode. We had guys dropping. I think our guys handled it well. When we had a change at quarterback, everyone rallied around Reggie (Bonnafon) and he handled it maturely. We were able to win a couple of games with him at starting quarterback and he did a nice job. We've had different running backs in there and without DeVante, so it's nice to have all our weapons back. Hopefully we'll go out and show we know how to execute.

More on DeVante Parker: He's amazing, really. Most guys would've been down right away and real disappointed, but he had a real good attitude right from the start and showed good maturity. He worked really hard with our medical staff and hit the target dates that they had set for when you get to run, when you get to do this, when you get to do that, and just stayed with a great attitude the whole time. He had a little setback when he first came back and we thought we might get him ready for the Clemson game, but after that, he just stayed at it and it's amazing how positive of a person he is.

On what a win over FSU would mean for Louisville's program: These are the games we want to play in and compete in. We'd like to be in the top rankings and have No. 1 teams come in and play us, that's where we're aspiring to go. Look at our program and it'll get us one step closer to where we want to be.