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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 14, 2016

Bobby Petrino

Greensboro, North Carolina

COACH PETRINO: We're coming off a good win up at Syracuse. I was proud of our team, the way we prepared for the game, went up and played. I thought we played pretty well. We're excited about this game. Obviously playing a great opponent in Florida State, a team that has a lot of talent, is very, very well-coached. So I think it's a great challenge for our football team.

I think our city and university is excited to have GameDay here. I think our players will do a good job of practicing hard and focusing in at the task at hand.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Petrino.

Q. A lot has been made about Lamar's development in understanding the playbook and running the offense. It's been said that last year he even admitted he'd stare one guy down, if he wasn't open, he'd take off. Touch on his development as a quarterback.
COACH PETRINO: Yeah, I thought he did a great job in our bowl preparation, from the end of the Kentucky game to the Texas A&M game in the bowl. We went back and retaught everything, went through a total installation of the offense. He really worked hard on that, worked hard on his footwork, his ability to be more accurate with his throws, then continued it through the off-season and into spring ball, throughout the summer.

I'm very proud of how much effort and work he's put into it. He just needs to continue to focus and get better.

Q. From looking at the Ole Miss tape and DeMarcus Walker, he beat different guys in that game. What did you see, especially in the second half of that game?
COACH PETRINO: We know him real well. He's a great football player. He's a really high-effort guy with a lot of skill. Does a great job on his quickness off the ball, then using his hands, attacking the sets of the offensive linemen. He's just a very, very good football player that we're going to have to know where he's at and make sure that we get our guys some help with them.

Q. How would you describe what Lamar has given you guys, what he's done through the first couple games of this season?
COACH PETRINO: Well, he's given us a lot of leadership, the way he goes about his business at practice, how hard he works, how much he demands his teammates to do the same, how much they have pulled together and support each other. I think that's been great. That's what we needed from that position.

He's throwing the ball real well. He's doing a good job on his keys, his reads, distributing the football, getting it to different guys off of what the coverage is doing. Then he's always been able to tuck it and run a little bit.

I've been happy with his performance.

Q. Even going back to what he was able to do last year, when was the first time you really got a sense that he could do these kinds of things so early in his career?
COACH PETRINO: Probably the second day of practice last fall. He surprised me on how well he threw the football, how well he saw things, his quickness of his release, his ability to snap his wrist, get the ball out. We knew we had a guy that had some special talent.

Q. With FSU losing Derwin James for the next little bit, does it change anything knowing they're missing one of their best players in their secondary?
COACH PETRINO: He's a great football player. I feel bad for him. He's done such a great job for them. He runs around, tackles, covers, rushes the passer. He just is a guy that is very, very talented, plays extremely hard, the way we want players on our team to play. I feel bad for him.

They've got a lot of depth there. They've got a lot of talent. They've played a lot of guys in the first two games. We know it will still be a great challenge for us.

Q. When you look at a team like FSU, the fact they can move guys in their secondary around, does that present any challenges in terms of preparing for it, or you study a scheme and worry less about a personnel move?
COACH PETRINO: We have to do both. We have to know what their schemes are, try to anticipate on where they're going to put their backups or their substitutions, then make adjustments during the game.

Q. I've heard you mention various guys over the course of the last year or whatever, but have you come up with one guy that you've maybe coached previously that Lamar most reminds you of, a player you coached against or watched?
COACH PETRINO: Just a combination of different guys. His skill to throw the ball, his skill to throw it deep, his ability to run, probably one of the most unique guys I've coached.

Q. What do you think about the production of Jamari Staples so far this season, getting to start the year healthy as opposed to last year?
COACH PETRINO: Jamari has done a great job for us. He's Mr. Reliable. You know he's going to run the right route, know where he needs to be, catch the football. He provides a lot of leadership out on the field during the game. When he comes to the sideline, you know whatever he tells us out on the field you can trust him is going on. He's a very, very valuable player for us.

Q. You talked a little bit about Syracuse. What can you say about some of those big takeaways you're to taking into this game against Florida State?
COACH PETRINO: I thought we played well at Syracuse. We made some big plays. We can't drop passes, we can't turn the ball over. We're working extremely hard on taking care of the football, tucking it away, securing the ball.

Defensively we're working hard on running full speed to the football and tackling. We know we've got to get a lot of guys to the ball, really work on stopping their run, then putting some pressure on the quarterback.

Q. You just mentioned the defense. How would you assess your defense through the first couple weeks here going into this game?
COACH PETRINO: Yeah, I think we've done a nice job. Sometimes you look at Syracuse and say they got 28 points against us. But they had 91 plays. It was a long game, a lot of action out there. We gave up a couple scramble plays which we've got to work on or contain our pass-rush lanes. We made great effort, tackled well, made plays when the pressure was on.

Q. You spoke a little bit about GameDay coming to town for the first time ever. Have you noticed a heightened sense of excitement and anticipation from students, players, coaches leading up to Saturday?
COACH PETRINO: You know, I don't think we really need that. This is a big game for us against Florida State, the No. 2 ranked team in the country. We've been trying to battle to get to where they've been. It's just something that is above and beyond having the big game.

I think it's exciting for our city and for our students, our university.

Q. Huge top 10 marquee matchup between divisional opponents on Saturday, yet it's a noon kickoff. GameDay there. Outstanding environment regardless. I was curious if you were at all surprised or upset with the early time slot there?
COACH PETRINO: We understand what drives the time slots. We get the schedule, make an itinerary, then go play the game. Really doesn't matter to us.

Q. Devonte Fields said after last year's Florida State game he came up to you and said, You're never going to see that kind of effort from me again. What do you remember from that moment and what changes have you seen out of him after that?
COACH PETRINO: Our pride was hurt a little bit after the Florida State game last year on defense. We didn't play the way we usually play. We didn't have the effort running to the football that we're used to, accustomed to here.

We had some of our players that really watched the video. What you got to do to be a great player is be critical with yourself, be honest with yourself. Devonte saw where he wasn't putting in the type of speed, effort and desire he normally plays with. He never let it happen again the rest of the year.

I'm very proud of him being able to be critical of himself, then making the adjustments and holding true to it.

Q. How would you assess the way he's played the first couple games for you? How important might he be in this game this weekend?
COACH PETRINO: He's a good player. He can do a lot of things. He's a great run defender, which he doesn't get a lot of credit for because of his stats rushing the passer, getting sacks. He's a critical part of our defense.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, thanks for being with us.

COACH PETRINO: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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