CARDINALS

Transcript: Bobby Petrino's Belk Bowl updates

Jeff Greer
Louisville Courier Journal
USA TODAY Sports Cardinals coach Bobby Petrino urges his team from the sidelines against Virginia. U of L lost Sept. 13 to the Cavaliers, 23-21. Coach Bobby Petrino was unable to urge his team on to victory on the field at Virginia, and spent the trip home second-guessing the plays that made a difference. USA TODAY Sports Sep 13, 2014; Charlottesville, VA, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Bobby Petrino yells from the sidelines against the Virginia Cavaliers in the fourth quarter at Scott Stadium. The Cavaliers won 23-21. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Louisville coach Bobby Petrino spoke with the local media on Tuesday to provide a few updates on his team as it prepares for the Belk Bowl on Dec. 30.

Here are three quick takeaways from his press conference . And here's the full transcript from his presser (h/t to Russ Brown for transcribing).

Opening statement: We're just wrapping up finals with our players right now so they're excited about that, and then we get to start practicing tomorrow. Well, actually we have a meeting with our team tonight and going to do some position meetings and get a little work done tonight on our preparation. Our coaches have been on the road for a couple of weeks recruiting, which has been fun and a lot of work. The last two days we've worked on game planning and really getting to know Georgia. That's been fun and exciting, but makes you nervous. But it's certainly gonna be a great matchup, a great game. We're looking forward going to Charlotte. I know our players are excited about it. When they learned we were going to the Belk Bowl and then found out we're playing Georgia, I think it was something that really lifted our team. Practiced last Friday and Saturday and I was very impressed with our players. Our seniors worked hard and our young guys worked hard, so if we can continue to do that and have a great experience with our bowl practices, I think it will really help us when we get down to Charlotte.

On the quarterback situation: Reggie (Bonnafon) on Friday got some work in. He didn't take full drops, but he did a lot of throwing. He has some pain in there, he has a bone bruise in his knee, so it's really gonna be determined on how quickly the pain goes away. He's got great movement, range of motion, he's able to run and do those type of things. We're just gonna see how it plays out here. We're encouraged that he'll be ready for the game, but we don't really know yet.

Related:QB situation unsolved for Belk Bowl

On using two QBs: We haven't even thought about that yet. We basically have been working on the game plan, and we'll just see what happens tomorrow when we start practicing and how the week plays out.

You said you were nervous. Why? When you watch them on film, they're a very good football team. They've got a really good offensive line, big running, the quarterback has completed 69 percent of his passes and doesn't throw a lot of picks. Defensively, they've got a great pass rusher, and they run and tackle well. So it's a great challenge for us. Anytime you sit there watching video and you're trying to game plan, you get a feel for how good the team is you're going against, so we've got our work cut out for us but we're looking forward to the challenge.

On Todd Grantham's UGA connections: Todd is very familiar with a lot of their players. He's done an unbelievable job here, we're very fortunate to have him here. We met with him on their personnel and he gave us an evaluation on each guy he knows well. Certainly that helps us in our preparation, but we're just excited he's working for us.

On Bolin's performance vs. UK: Yeah, I thought he did a nice job. He was very calm, he did a nice job delivering the ball on time, getting it out of his hands. He made mistakes, which you're gonna make when you first go out there, but he made plays that made up for them. So it was a good performance by him.

The last month he started to throw the ball with more accuracy, with more timing, he was moving around better. He got injured in the summer, went through surgery and he was never really full speed until halfway through the season. So it was kind of a situation where you started to see him improving. He's always worked hard, pays attention, does a good job in the meeting room.

On playing UGA: I think it's great for us. It has certainly helped our preparation, helped our guys to be very motivated. Makes it a lot easier when we're here practicing, getting up in the morning and lifting weights and everybody else is home for Christmas. I think that's one of the things that's good when you play a game like that. Our attitude was great last Friday and Saturday. We've just got to continue that and sometimes it's a little challenge the closer you get to Christmas and they're not home with mom and dad. So we'll try to do some things to help them out.

On recruiting: Well, we hope it pays off. You never know til signing day, but I'm very happy with our staff, what they've been doing, how hard they've been working. It's not just the last two weeks, it's over an extended period of time since we got here last year, getting to know juniors and sophomores. We've just got to keep pounding at it, and hopefully we'll do a good job on signing day.

On bowl visibility: I think it's great. What you're trying to do is help recruiting, it will be great for our fans and certainly for our players. They like playing on the national stage; we've been fortunate to be able to do that this year a number of times. You want to go out and perform well.

On bowl practices for young players: Oh yeah, we'll give them a lot of reps. That's one thing you take advantage of is the fact that you're looking toward next year's team too or how we're getting ready for spring ball. We do an installation where we go back through what we've already taught 'em, which I think is good for everybody. But some of it is we keep the young guys out there when the vets go run or condition. It's certainly going to be prepare for Georgia and practice for next year.

On practices late in the season: I know we can. We've got a lot of things we can improve on. One of the things I told the players the other day is we've got a group of seniors who have done a lot here, helped a lot with the tradition of Louisville football, set the standards very high for any class coming in. And now you all want to be professionals. Well, what I ask you to do is to act like a professional as we prepare for the bowl game. Do a great job in the meetings, do a great job taking care of your body and get ready to go play one last football game.

On preparing for a bowl: I think the way you handle it is it's something that happens every year. You know that the end of the season's over with, now the challenge is, okay, let's make sure we're physically and mentally ready to play and we understand that there's a period of time ... probably, one thing I always concern myself with is how we'll tackle, because we won't do a lot of live tackling in practice. So you always worry about how well you're going to tackle and secure the football. But we've got to trust in our preparation and know that the way we practice gets you prepared for the game and also keeps you healthy.

On the nine-win season: I've been very proud of our staff. We started out the season and defense was carrying the load and keeping us in games, and offensively we found ways to win in the fourth quarter even when it looked like we were struggling. I felt like we've been almost three personalities throughout the year on offense and the coaches have done a great job of being positive, working on improvement and trusting our process. Sometimes that's hard to do when you're not having as much success as you're used to having, you want to tinker with things. I was proud we just stayed with it and got better and better as the year went on.

On four different personalities of an offense: We started out the season and we didn't have DeVante and Michael Dyer. Then all of a sudden Will gets hurt and Reggie comes in and does a great job, so we kinda changed personalities there. Then we get DeVante back and our team changes a little bit. Will comes back and is doing a great job, then he goes down in the middle of the Boston College job. We change a little bit again because Reggie's back in; I'm so proud of the way he played against BC and Notre Dame, and then in the first quarter (vs. UK) he goes down. So we have to go with another half of a personality, I guess, when Kyle comes in. But throughout the entire thing our guys stayed positive, they stayed focused and we worked on improvement and that was one big area where I can say our coaches did a great job, was keep working on being better the next day in practice.

On Gerod Holliman going pro: What we do with all of our guys, seniors and juniors included, is we've hired a guy named Joe Mendez, who comes in and meets with them, educates them. The seniors have interviewed agents with their family throughout the summer so that we get ahead of the process. And he meets with all the juniors and talks about the process. He's a guy who's worked 20-some years in the NFL, done an unbelievable job, and now what he's doing is a consulting firm that helps players really understand the process. We do all we can to educate them, but the bottom line is they have a decision to make and it comes down to what they and their family want to do.

On if there are too many bowls in college football: There's a lot of bowls, there certainly is. But the way I look at it is it's a great experience for the student-athlete. They've put so much into it, they're very dedicated, very committed to it, this is a reward for what they've done throughout the season to be able to go to a bowl site, have a great experience and enjoy it, remember it for the rest of their life and something I think they've all earned.

On the takeaway from bowls: A lot of hard work. It's always interesting for a bowl game because the coaches get totally worn out. It's totally different. We get up around 4:30 in the morning, we meet as a staff, we put the practice together, we meet with the players, we go practice. Then usually after the practice, we come together, watch the video, get all our work done and then there's an event with your family and everybody and they like to stay up and have fun and all that, and they get to sleep in in the morning, but our alarm clock goes off. So it's really a grind for the coaches, but it's certainly fun and exciting for the team and our fans.

On reflecting on the first year back at U of L: I'm really excited for our staff and players and very proud of our staff. It was a grind, we had to work hard at winning games. Our defense did an unbelievable job, kept us in games early, kept us in games late, made plays to help us win games. Offensively, we just stuck to it, competed. Kind of played out with our team the way we talked to them about early in the year. We're going to play teams that are very talented, very well-coached, most games are gonna be won or lost in the fourth quarter. So we worked hard at being in good shape, worked hard at being fresh in November, which I think is really important mentally and physically. And I'm very proud, especially the games we won late in the year in November.

On UGA similarities: I don't like to make comparisons between teams, but they're really a good football team. They've been in some really good games, they've had some huge wins and some tough losses, so I guess in that way we're probably similar, knowing what it's like to lose some hard games and win some too.

On aiming for 10 wins: Yeah, we want to get to 10 wins. That's certainly something our seniors would be very proud of so they can look back at their career and see the double-digit winning seasons they've had. So it is kind of a milestone that you want to hit every year -- 10 wins, 11, 12, 13, somewhere up in there.