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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 8, 2014Bobby PetrinoBOBBY PETRINO: We're coming off a good road win at Syracuse where we had to fight hard to win the game in the fourth quarter, which I thought was really good for our football team. Defensively we're playing at a very high level. Offensively we continue to get better, so I'm excited about the improvements we made. We know we have a great challenge ahead of us going in to play at Clemson, which is a very loud atmosphere and a great crowd. But we look forward to the challenge. Q. Is DeVante fully cleared for this Saturday or are you waiting on a few for things? BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, we're kind of waiting on that. He came out for practice yesterday. He didn't go the entire practice but did run routes and took part in parts of our practice. He looked good out there, but we just have to see how the week progresses. Q. When you look on film, what is it about Clemson's receivers you think that allows them to shine so fast so soon, a lot of young guys there? BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, I think they do a great job on their teaching of their get‑off and their route running. They're big guys that can get down the field and catch the ball well in their hands, so it's a great challenge for us. Q. I'm wondering what you see from Watson on film and kind of what your thoughts are about what your defense has to do to pressure him and maybe get him off his game. BOBBY PETRINO: Well, he does a great job in executing their offense, the ability to run the ball with the quarterback runs and run the ball when he gets out of the pocket is a great challenge to our discipline and our guys, so we have to do a great job with that. And then his ability to make the throws. He throws the ball deep real well, and he's real impressive on video. Q. Is there anything in particular you think is a key to getting him off his game? BOBBY PETRINO: Well, there's a lot of things that we need to do, but obviously you have to be successful on 1st down stopping the run and try to get him in 3rd and long. Q. You brought up that Syracuse game. I just wanted to look back at that as you look forward to Clemson. What are the biggest things that you took from that victory that you really feel like you can go positively into this game against Clemson? What were some of those key points you took? BOBBY PETRINO: Well, I think Reggie improved as the game went on and did a really nice job of executing in the second half and looked more comfortable, and our timing was better, our offensive line did a better job in the second half and our run blocking and our protection. So the ability to get better as the game went on on offense I think is something that can really help us, and then defensively we were able to stop the run against a very good run team. Going into the game Syracuse was averaging a lot of yards rushing the ball, and defensively we were able to get that stopped. Q. And then as far as your running back, what can you say about Radcliff and what he was able to put together and his efforts there because it really seemed like he had a pretty breakout game against Syracuse and able to push, like you said, a rush defense that obviously had some talent there. BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, he did a really nice job with his speed and his toughness in running the ball. He's been very hard to bring down with the first tackler. He's given us a big boost because of his speed through the holes and his speed before he gets the ball, and he's seeing things real well. He gave us a great lift as an offense, both against Syracuse and Wake Forest. Q. First I just wanted to ask, you're trying this week to figure out how you make your quarterback decision. What are some of the things that go into you guys deciding which guys get the start and goes out there for you? BOBBY PETRINO: Well, obviously Will's health and how he's doing, is he 100 percent, and we do feel good about that. He came out yesterday and did a great job, was running full speed and conditioned afterwards, which was great to see. He threw the ball well. We just have to really look at how they execute the offense throughout practice and make a decision on who we think gives us the best opportunity to go in and win. Q. Just a follow‑up to Monday, it's obviously probably been made out a lot more by fans than you would have intended or anyone would have intended, but how do you prepare for Death Valley on Saturday in terms of the crowd noise and that environment because this team, aside from maybe the Sugar Bowl, hasn't been in an environment like that for a while. BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, I think it's just something you have to work hard at in practice and communicating. We'll have the noise going in practice and making it loud. We just have to be able to communicate, keep our poise, understand the time clock, and communicate in all three phases, offense, defense and special teams. We know it's going to be a real loud, hostile environment, so you have to keep your focus on the field. Q. Is there a timetable for making that quarterback decision, and once made, would you prefer to stick with that guy, or is there going to be some type of rotation? BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, we're not going to make a big deal of it. We're just going to practice and see how it all plays out. Q. And once that's made, would you see using two quarterbacks or sticking with the guy who starts? BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, it's something that we've not even talked about yet. Q. The Death Valley thing, did that come out Monday the way you intended as far as comparing the Carrier Dome to a place like Death Valley with 80,000 people? BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, I didn't really mean to compare them. I was just saying that when you go on the road and play, it's loud, and we know that it's going to be a loud, hostile environment. I really didn't mean to make any comparison, it was just the fact that when you do go on the road, it's really loud and you have to do a good job of focusing and concentration on your job at hand. Q. What's your confidence level in your quarterbacks handling a place like that? BOBBY PETRINO: Well, we're going to find out, but he's improved. He's gotten better. We've been on the road, so that's a good thing. If this was our first game going in, then it would really be a concern, but we've been on the road a couple times and had to be able to communicate with noise, so it's just something that we have to execute and work all week in practice. Q. Brandon Rogers, when did you see him really start to come along and what's his work ethic or what has he done to get to this point where he's been able to do so well for you these last couple weeks? BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, it's really his work ethic that's given him the opportunity, and it's been that way since we got here. He's a guy that goes out and practices extremely hard. He runs every run into the end zone when he touches the ball. He got injured in spring ball, wasn't able to finish spring ball, had to have his knee scoped, and that put him behind in learning the offense. And through camp you still saw the burst and the effort and the vision, but he was catching up as far as his knowledge of the offense and what to do and the entire offense. Then in practice he started getting to know things better, and you still saw the effort, the speed, the burst that he shows. So it was time in Wake Forest to give him the opportunity. We knew going into the game we were going to give him the opportunity to take a few series. Q. Do you view a specific rotation there, or is there something you're going to give different guys a chance to see who's got the hot hand and ride that guy? BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, I think it's a position where throughout the year you're going to need two, three, maybe sometimes four good running backs. They're the guys that take all the shots. They're the guys that get nicked up, and they have to be able to find out who's hot and then feed him. In the opening game of the year, Dom Brown had a huge game for us, really carried the whole load. The last couple weeks it's been Brandon, so we'll wait and see how it plays out. Q. The last thing, when you review your running game, do you prioritize or think more about like a yards per carry number or just the sheer number of carries that your ground game is getting in a game? BOBBY PETRINO: Well, kind of the way you do is you grade it more on efficiency and what runs are efficient because if you're running a 3rd and 1 play and you get three yards, that's an efficient run. That's a win. It doesn't relate to yards per carry or anything like that. We grade it out by efficiency according to down and distance situation of the game. Q. The last few weeks we've seen NC State hang with Florida State for a while. What's the biggest key for Louisville to be there for the whole game and not just for part? BOBBY PETRINO: Well, first, we have to be able to get off to a good start. Clemson has been very aggressive in the first quarter of games, and they play extremely hard and fast in the first quarter, so we have to get off to a good start. And then really focus and concentrate on one series, one play at a time. We've been a good second half team. We've been a good fourth quarter team. So I think the No.1 thing we'd like to do is get into the fourth quarter in a position to win the game. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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