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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 1, 2014Bobby PetrinoBOBBY PETRINO: We're excited about traveling to Syracuse. We're coming off of a good win against Wake Forest at home, and we know we have a great challenge ahead of us at Syracuse. Our players are looking forward to it. Our defense has been playing real well. Offensively we're still working to find some consistency. Q. I know you've talked about the challenge of going up to Syracuse. What have you seen on film from the Orange offensively with Terrel Hunt and some of the weapons they have that are really are looking to be able to battle up against and stop? What can you say about their quarterback and their weapons? BOBBY PETRINO: Well, I think they give you a challenge of a quarterback who can really run the football, both the way they're calling plays for him to run or just his ability to scramble and take off and make plays when other things break down. They've shown the ability to really throw the ball deep, which is something that always concerns you, and they're running backs really run the ball well. I think they've got two good running backs. Q. When you say two good running backs, which two are you describing? Is it Moore and Gulley that you're talking about? BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, I think they've done a nice job running the ball with them. They're both real quick and have shown that they can make plays. Q. I think you mentioned earlier this week that you've got some players with a chip on their shoulder from the last time they played up in Syracuse. How much have the players talked about that? BOBBY PETRINO: Well, I just heard it after our game, after the Wake Forest game, the players being excited about going back to Syracuse, and I asked one of our coaches, what's that all about, and they said, oh, well, a couple years ago they were going on their way up there and they were undefeated at the time and lost the game. But really since then I haven't heard a whole lot. But our focus is really just to get ready to play and go up and do a good job of playing the game right. Q. At this point in the season did you expect the defense to be ahead of the offense? BOBBY PETRINO: I knew we were good on defense, yeah. When you go through spring ball and you go through camp and you're going against each other every day, there was no question that our defense was getting the upper hand on the offense. It's a very, very good front, fast linebackers, and I've just been really pleased with the way our safeties have played and the secondary. Corners I knew were good players, and offensively we've just struggled. We haven't had the consistency that we need to be able to execute and go score points on a consistent basis. Q. I know you were watching last week more Wake Forest defense entering the game, but I wonder if you saw enough glimpses of John Wolford to have formulated an opinion on where this young man is and what his potential is, especially since he's handed the starting job in the ACC at the age of 18. BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, I've known John for a long time, really respected him coming up through high school. We started watching him when he was a freshman in high school, and I have a close relationship with his uncle. He's somebody that we really did watch closely. He's going to be a really good quarterback. I think when you see the struggles we have with young quarterbacks and they have with young quarterbacks, it's a tough situation, to come in and have to adjust to that type of speed and that type of pass rush that you didn't see in high school football. Q. Everything that we read before Todd came to U of L and took over the defensive coordinator job said that he ran this real complex, complicated defense, but I'm wondering if you can explain what that might mean to the layperson. BOBBY PETRINO: Well, Todd and I had discussions on that, and when you look at the success that he had on defense as a coach at Georgia, the only time the defense started being quoted as other people saying it, complicated and too complex, was when they were starting a bunch of freshmen on defense. He's a great teacher. Our players have done an excellent job of being students and learning fast and understanding it, and our guys have a great grasp of everything that we're doing on defense. Q. And you know I've got to ask, where do you guys stand with Will? Do you know if he's going to be available on Friday? BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, there's a chance he'll be available. Reggie will start the game. Will was out there last night, did more in practice. Reports from the training room this morning was that there was limited swelling, so we get a chance to get him out today at practice again. Q. Obviously you came back to the school with the reputation of Petrino's offensive ways, he's going to make the offense fun to watch. How frustrated are you or not by how the offense has done so far, and what's going to be the key to getting the cones you want in the coming week? BOBBY PETRINO: Well, we're a work in progress. It just takes time I think to get everything going in the right direction. Obviously I think we all have a little bit of frustration when you're not going out there and moving the ball like you're used to doing. But it's a lot of learning for the players, a lot of different techniques, a lot of different things that they had to adjust to, and then we've had some different combinations, you know. We just have to hang in there, stick to the process, understand that if you stay with the process, we know that it'll work. I would like to see it happen a lot sooner than later. Q. I was wondering what DeVante Parker's status is. How is his recovery coming along, and is he someone that you're hoping to be able to get some production out of before the season is over? BOBBY PETRINO: His recovery is going very well. He's on schedule or ahead of schedule from everything that's communicated to me and from watching him run, so he's doing well. I think we'll know a little bit maybe next week. That's kind of the six‑week point is next week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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