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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 5, 2016

Bobby Petrino

Greensboro, North Carolina

BOBBY PETRINO: We're coming off a tough loss at Clemson last Saturday night. I thought it was a great experience for our players and coaches and playing in that type of atmosphere on a major stage is something that our players need to make sure that they cherish, even though it was a tough, tough loss for us. I was very proud of the way our team fought back and got back in the game and took the lead. It's unfortunate that we just came up a little bit short.

We have a bye week, so we've been back on the practice field, working hard on our technique and fundamentals. I was very proud of the way our guys came out with a great attitude and worked extremely hard yesterday in practice.

Q. I was wondering if you can expand on the decision to restrict the autographs and specifically maybe what kind of demand Lamar is facing nowadays?
BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, we're just really being a little proactive and making sure that we protect the eligibility of our players. It's become kind of a hassle up here in our office with everything being sent to Denise Murphy, our administrative assistant.

Yesterday I just made the decision that we need to get the word out there. We're not going to have anything more sent to our office for Lamar to sign. We've had a number of times protect him from the number of people waiting after the Marshall game and the Florida State game. It's really something to let him focus and concentrate on being a student-athlete and making sure that nobody gets to benefit from him signing his name.

Q. Thanks, I appreciate it. Any update on Shaq Wiggins and maybe what have you guys missed by not having him the last couple games?
BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, I'm very optimistic that he'll be back for the Duke game.

Q. I wanted to ask you more about the open week. You mentioned getting Shaq back. Five games in, how much difference does it make having the open date as far as healing guys up? Even guys playing with bumps and bruises, to have the week off to kind of heal up?
BOBBY PETRINO: I think it falls at a great time for us. We've had a very grueling schedule and a lot of intensity, couple huge, huge games. We've had to travel on the road and play on Friday night. So I think it's a good opportunity for us to settle in and get our schoolwork done and everything we need to do with class work, get back to technique and fundamentals and kind of go back to half of the practice being camp practice where you go ones-on-ones and work hard on it. Then some of your guys are able to heal up. So, actually, for us it's a great time for our bye.

Q. The other thing is you talked about going back and working on some fundamentals this week. Next week is a fairly short week. You play a Friday night game. At what point do you start preparing for Duke and switch over from the fundamental stuff to game preparation?
BOBBY PETRINO: We're already preparing for them now. What we do is spend about half of the practice going back to some of our drills that we haven't been able to do since camp and having our ones versus ones and really focusing on and concentrating on certain things to get better at. Then we spend the second half of the practice on getting ready for the game against Duke.

Q. You talk about the bye week and the attitude yesterday, how hard was it for them to get back into that practice mode after a loss like that? Was it kind of typical or did they just have this resolve that we still have a lot of season left in front of us?
BOBBY PETRINO: Well, we did have a day off, and then we came in and just lifted weights one day and watched a video of the game, and then got back on the practice field because we do have a bye. We have great leadership on this team. We've got a lot of pride on our team, and guys really were able to watch the video and know that we competed extremely hard and just had 15 or 20 plays in there, where if we make one of them, the outcome's different. So we're going to stick together as a team, have a great attitude and continue to work hard and try to improve.

Q. As a follow-up with your offensive line, are there any major concerns with the false starts and the sacks? Or do you just kind of chalk that up to the competition that you played in and the environment that they had to play in?
BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, it was a great environment and a great game. Played against a very, very good football team.

Q. Talk about your bye week. What do you like about your team so far?
BOBBY PETRINO: Just the attitude that we've come out to practice with. You know, we're working hard to get better. I think it's, like I said, a good time for a bye, and we're going to just work with a good attitude and improving this week.

Q. Is it good to have a bye now or later in the year? It seems that you've not been playing for a week and a half pretty much. Are you afraid that some of your players might be a little, you know, well rested for the game next Friday against Duke?
BOBBY PETRINO: I hope we're well rested and fresh. One of the things you really try to do or I really try to do and believe in is get into the game fresh mentally and fresh physically so you can go out and perform at a very high level.

So we'll try to handle this the best way we know how and make sure we're sharp and fresh and ready to go. I know we'll be excited to get back on the field and play a game.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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