Kelly, Petrino Q&As on the ACC coaches teleconference

Both Bobby Petrino and Brian Kelly participated in the ACC coaches teleconference on Wednesday, extolling the virtues of their opponent and looking ahead to Saturday's 3:30 p.m. kickoff up in South Bend, Ind.

The game will be on NBC and it'll be the first meeting between the two programs. Hard to believe that, right? They've both around forever.

Anyway, here are the full transcripts from their Q&A sessions on Wednesday.

First up, Bobby Petrino:

Opening statement: We're coming off a good bye week, where we were able to get back and work on a lot of technique and fundamentals and individual work that you like to do when you have a bye week. We're very excited to go to Notre Dame and play a very good football team. We know our defense will be challenged by their offensive. They have a lot of play makers and a great quarterback in Everett Golson. And defensively they're very physical up front. But we're going up there looking for the challenge.

Related: Notre Dame wary of U of L's DeVante Parker

Q. Golson you made comment of. Have you seen a quarterback this season that's been as effective on the ground as well as throwing the ball or do you think he's kind of a different breed that you're going to be seeing?

Petrino: We faced a number of quarterbacks that have the ability to both throw the ball down the field and run and make plays with their legs. He's very, very good at it. I think the thing that impresses you the most on him is not only his ability to run and make plays when he gets out of the pocket, but his arm strength and the zip that he can put on the ball and how deep he can throw it down the field.

Q. And then as far as what you were able to take away from having that opportunity at this point in the season between two road games to have that bye week in the middle, just besides getting some guys healthy and normal things that occur, were there any key points that you were able to address with the team that you think are going to help in the last couple of games to finish up the rest of the season?

Petrino: Yeah, we went back and worked on our individual technique and fundamentals. And it's good to review that and spend extra time to do that. Always go back on this time and work hard on third downs, both offensively and defensively in the red zone, some areas where you always want to have some extra work.

Q. Maybe talk about Holliman, what do you know about this guy from being around him so much? I'm sure you're tired of talking about him.

Petrino: I'm not tired about talking about him at all. He's had a great season for us. Does a great job in his preparation. I think that's what shows up the most on game day is his understanding of what we're seeing from the other team and his confidence not to hesitate. He's just got great confidence. He sees things, he breaks on the ball. And then has great hands to be able to make the catch. But he certainly had a great year for us.

Q. Reggie, taking over quarterback now. At this point in the year, what's your confidence with him and his comfort ability with the offensive?

Petrino: We're very confident with Reggie. We were able to play him early in the year, and then he came in and started a couple of games. A couple of games we had good wins in. He came in in the second half last week and I thought executed our offensive very well. Threw the ball accurately and made big plays. And I think he's very confident now. And you can see a difference in how he played the other night and how he played early in the season.

Q. Want to focus on getting Parker back and the difference he makes. What does he do to help your other receivers in terms of taking the pressure off or maybe doing something that makes them more effective?

Petrino: Yeah, I think what he does is he helps our running game because at times they have to roll coverage and count for him more in the passing game. So he's helped us run the football better. He gets our other receivers in single coverage, in zone coverage to their side, so they have more room to work and have the ability to catch balls. When you have an elite receiver like that he helps everybody like else elevate their game.

Q. I want to ask about Notre Dame. They played well, and were in the top ten of the CFA, and obviously the last two games for them have not gone well. Is it all turnovers or is there something else you see that's happened to them in the last couple of weeks?

Petrino: When we watch them on video they look like a very, very good football team, very well coached with great players. We know it's going to be a real good challenge for us.

Q. Coach, obviously your team has played in tough venues in all of the country. But going into Notre Dame, do you even need to say anything about what kind of atmosphere you'll be in in that golden dome and that legendary stuff and all of that or is that just another football game for you?

Petrino: Yeah, I think for our players now at this stage, and we're fortunate, we have a lot of players with the experience that have played in big games, played in big bowl games, been in big stadiums in front of large crowds. So really what you do is you just try to go about your business on your preparation, how we prepare for the game on a daily basis and how we go about practicing with the noise out there at practice. Really just concentrate on getting yourself ready for the game.

Q. What goes through your mind when you walk into a place like that, if anything?

Petrino: I don't know. I guess I'll have to figure it out when I walk into it, because I've never been in there before.

And then here's Brian Kelly ...

Opening statement: Well, looking forward obviously to playing Louisville. Coach Petrino has obviously a great track record, very successful head coach. And he's got his team and the ACC playing very well the first year.

We're looking to bounce back after a disappointing loss to northwestern. Anxious to play. It's our seniors Senior Day and certainly want to play well for them. Again, excited about the opportunity to play a very good Louisville team, but more so want to get back out and obviously play better football from this past weekend. Just waiting for Saturday.

Q. Obviously talked a little bit about the loss you just had, and after having back‑to‑back the biggest thing you were able to learn about your team, just some of the key points that you were able to take to grow your team to go into this Louisville game?

Kelly: Well, I don't know that there's much that we didn't know about our team. We're still a young defense. We're still evolving, trying to get these guys more experience, getting them lined up, getting them mistake‑free has been a challenge.
And then from an offensive standpoint, take care of the football, critical, critical mistakes, and then at the most inopportune times. I think we know a lot about them.

The response that we got after the loss to Arizona State was that they played with great effort. Their attitude has been great. Those are the things they can control. Now they've got to control the things like turnovers and mistakes, and that's what we'll be looking to see on Saturday.

Q. And then as far as your quarterback, just to go into his evolution throughout the season, what you not only take into this game, but what you've seen from him, just what you've been able to see from Everett?

Kelly: Well, he makes a ton of plays. But those plays are tempered by some mistakes. And we really have to eradicate the inconsistency. Those are the things that are really ‑‑ we knew going into the season we were going to be playing to a young defense. And I felt like in these last two weeks that our offensive could carry us. And we had a number of opportunities to score enough points, we've turned the football over. And Everett is the guy that has his hands on the football.

So what I'm looking for him is we know you can make plays, but you still have the manage the game and you still have to take care of the football. And that's the maturity that I need to continue to see from him. And he wants to do it. He's just got to go do it on Saturday.

Q. You mentioned reducing mistakes. How did you get your team to reduce turnovers when you're facing that Louisville defense, that Louisville secondary that's good at the take away?

Kelly: Well, again, I think there's a number of things that we have to do better. No. 1, we had three fumbles that had no result in contact. As much as just sloppiness. And so cleaning up the things that we can do to control it. Louisville has got great ball skills. If you don't run your routes with precision and throw on time and do those things, they're going to take the ball away from you. And we know that.

If we can control the fundamentals on our end, you know, we can overcome a mistake. We're not going to be perfect, but we can overcome a mistake, and Louisville is a very good defense. We know that. And we're not going to play timid. But what we have to take care of is the carelessness that we have shown over the last couple of weeks and at times during the season. That's really been the big emphasis.

Q. I wanted to ask you when you look at Louisville's film, how much of a difference does Parker make? They got him back at this season and seems to be playing at a high level?

Kelly: He's another piece, there's no question. He's a match up problem. So he's another guy that allows Coach Petrino the opportunity to push the ball down the field for big time plays. He's got great range. He's got the ability to go up and get the football. He reminds me a lot of the kid from Arizona State, strong, you get one‑on‑one match ups, he's difficult to defend.
So you've got to know where he is at all times. He just adds another dimension to a pretty balanced offensive. With the tight ends quick, and the running game and Dyer, a quarterback that's athletic, it just ads so much more balance to their offense.

Q. You mentioned the quarterback. Obviously they've had their change from Gardner, who played one style to Bonnafon who is a different kind of player. How does their offense change with the changing quarterback?

Kelly: Well, Bonnafon is a guy that you can put on the edge a little bit more. He's a guy that's very athletic, not that Gardner was not. But you have a tendency to think he can do more with his feet.

But their system is going to be their system. I think that they're not going to sway too much from that. He can definitely get you out of some trouble with his feet. And I just think he brings a little bit more athleticism. He doesn't bring the experience to the position but he definitely brings a little bit more athleticism to the position.

Q. This is a little off topic, but in light of Todd Gurley's injury at Georgia, the questions come up whether maybe the NFL draft eligibility rule should be lowered for players who might be considered ready for the League. I was wondering if you had a thought on that subject?

Kelly: Well, I just think if you paint with a broad brush in this game it's very difficult. Certainly there are certain positions that may have that ability and namely maybe the running back or the skill position. But when you're talking about linemen, those guys physically need the time to develop. And so I think it's a very difficult decision to make in football in this sport compared to basketball, for example, because you're dealing with such a different skill set at different positions.

That power position, those linemen, versus that skill set position, the DBs and the wide receivers and the running backs. They're so different. And to paint with one brush for all those guys for eligibility, makes it for a very difficult decision. That's how I see it.