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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 2, 2016

Bobby Petrino

Greensboro, North Carolina

COACH PETRINO: We're coming off a game where we feel like we didn't play our best, but we found a way to win the game and we are very excited about the two-minute drive. I thought our team showed a tremendous competitive spirit and a lot of poise and now we're having a good week of practice, so we're looking forward to going on the road and playing at Boston College.

Q. I know coaches subscribe, and probably rightfully so, to the idea that winning is hard. But when the rankings came out and you guys were at seventh, it seems a pretty clear indication that the committee was not impressed by how you won a couple of your games. Do you feel there's a pressure to win with more of the so-called style points?
COACH PETRINO: I think what we need to do is not worry and go out and play good, hard, Cardinal football, play the way we know how to play. Execute at a high level the way we have shown throughout most of the season. And it is hard to win games and everyone that goes on the road understands that and knows that.

You know, we've just got to keep playing football. And you've seen from -- history shows that these four teams that come out at this time of the year usually aren't the ones that end up in the playoffs.

Q. Especially given the circumstances of where you are and the help that you need to win the division, do you just kind of have to ignore the playoff standings for the time being and just see where things shake out at the end of the year?
COACH PETRINO: Yeah, no question. We've just got to go out and play and enjoy the game and not worry about that. Worry about taking care of our business, playing one play at a time, each player working hard to have their game of the year and their best performance of the season and see how it all falls.

Q. Are you at all concerned about the fact that you play a really strong game, really impressive and then you've had two games, one with Duke and one with Virginia, that you were not at the top of your game?
COACH PETRINO: No, I'm not concerned at all. This is a long season and you're not going to be able to get as fired up and physically ready each week like we were against the type of teams we played in Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina State, and that's why you have to be able to go out and work hard to be consistent.

But Duke held the ball on us, shortened the game. They did a good job with it. And then last week we didn't play well. So we've got to come back and practice better this week, and go out and perform better.

Q. Boston College is a team that's struggled on offense the last two years but has played very solid defense. What kind of test does their defense present for you?
COACH PETRINO: Yeah, they always play very good defense. They are a physical team that when you turn the video on, you see guys playing with great effort and flying to the football.

So what's important for us is to play at a high level and a lot of intensity and we need to get back playing physical football and running the ball the way we're capable of.

Q. You mentioned you didn't play particularly well. Are there one or two aspects from last week that you have really been honing in on in practice this week?
COACH PETRINO: Yeah, we're working hard on our pass protection and our technique within the pass protection. It wasn't a matter of scheme or assignment errors. It was not working our technique the way that you normally do, and that's an indication of not good enough focus, which is my job.

We are working hard at catching the football and looking at all the way to the tuck. We feel like we left a few plays out there early and that made a big difference in the game.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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