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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 22, 2016

Bobby Petrino

Greensboro, North Carolina

BOBBY PETRINO: We're working hard getting ready for our last home game for our seniors. It's a group of young men that have done a great job for this program and certainly have made the transition for myself and my staff very easy. They've really come together and been great leaders for our team, so we want to send them out with a win against Kentucky. We know it's going to be difficult. Kentucky is playing good football right now, doing a good job on defense, and they're really running the ball well.

We're looking forward to the challenge.

Q. I know Lamar has gotten the bulk of the attention on offense, but what's it meant to have Brandon Radcliff there and what kind of leader has he been for your team this year?
BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, Brandon is a great leader because, first and foremost, he comes out and practices so hard every day, finishes every run into the end zone, and just does a great job of leading by example. He's been a great weapon for us. He's been in a lot of big runs and long runs, and hopefully we can get him cranked up and loose again on Saturday.

Q. I just want to ask, you guys have played so consistently well all year. To come out Thursday night and be a little flat, is it tough to recover from that, or is that a spark to get you ready for the last game?
BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, really what -- we addressed the issues and watched the video, and obviously that was hard and difficult, and then you put it behind you and get ready to send our seniors out with a win. I think it helps that we're playing Kentucky this week. It helps that it's our seniors' last game in this stadium. I liked our attitude when we worked and practiced on Sunday night. I'm looking forward to the week of preparation.

Q. When you went back and watched on film, was there a technical -- were there technical flaws that you found, or was it more emotional, that kind of thing?
BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, it was really everything. It was really everything. It was one of those games where you completely hit the wall.

Q. Talk about Kentucky; do you like playing Kentucky at the end of the year, more like a rivalry game, because I know Louisville used to play them at the beginning of the year as the first game of the year. Is it better to make it the end of the year so you make it more of a rivalry type thing?
BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, we've settled into it being the last game of the season on rivalry weekend. I think it's good for us. It's good for the state, and we're excited about it.

Q. Talk about Kentucky; what do you see on film? I know they're playing really well, better than last year. What do you see this year on film that's going to give you a problem on Saturday?
BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, they're playing well. They're running the ball really well. They've got a quarterback now that they like that can throw it down the field and scramble out and make plays with his legs. Defensively they're very sound. They're not making a lot of mistakes, and they're very good in the secondary. So we've got a great challenge.

Q. In that Thursday game, whether it was the sacks or the fumbles or the penalties, were these things that you had been noticing on film every weekend and going, geez, sooner or later that's going to really hurt us? Were these the kind of things that you had been preaching to your team for many weeks now that just kind of all came to a head in that one game?
BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, certainly the turnovers. That's something that we've been concerned about all year long, and we've got to do a better job. It's going to be important this Saturday for us to win the game that we take care of the ball and do not turn it over, so that's very important. We're coming off a game two weeks ago where we had zero penalties in a game. That, and we've got to be more disciplined in handling the noise of the crowd.

Q. You guys have the best 4th down conversion rate in the ACC. Can you talk a little bit about your philosophy, field position and the length of yards to go? What goes into your decision to go for it so much on 4th down?
BOBBY PETRINO: Well, a lot of times it has to do with where you are on the field, whether you punt the ball, it helps you that much, or you want to be aggressive and go for it, where you are relative to field position to kick a field goal and get three points on the board and what type of momentum that you've got going, also how you're doing handling the front, and are you able to knock them off the ball and run the ball, or do you feel good about a pass call.

To me it's a feel thing as the game is going on.

Q. I was wanting to see if you had an update on Josh Harvey-Clemons this week.
BOBBY PETRINO: No, nothing new yet. We'll get out there today and get practicing, and we'll be able to see where he's at.

Q. What's been your evaluation of the UK quarterback's ability to kind of throw the deep ball? He seems to be pretty talented at that.
BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, he is. He is. His timing is good, and his ability to drop the ball in there is very good. I think that's one of the things that has really added to their offense.

Q. To go back to the Houston game, just what you took away from Tom Herman and his ability to coach those guys on that side, and how you've seen your team respond to make sure that it's not another loss this week?
BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, I mean, they're a very well-coached team. They do a great job offensively attacking you and defensively being aggressive. They certainly outplayed us. What we've done is really addressed the issues and then come back and worked hard on having a great attitude, a great attitude on our approach to how we're going to practice, how we're going to prepare, and to make sure that we send our seniors out with a win in our stadium.

Q. Being a part of the evolution of the ACC, Louisville hasn't been there long, but to be where you sit at in the Atlantic Division, just what you can say about how strong this Louisville program is and kind of the statement that you've made this year.
BOBBY PETRINO: Well, I like our football team. Obviously a week ago we didn't do what we would like to, but I like the season that we've had. I think that we're a team that's playing good football for the most part. We can throw the ball, run the ball, and we're very, very good on defense. I've liked the season that we've had. We've got to finish it strong this Saturday so that everyone feels good about it and brings us into a positive mindset for bowl preparation and for our bowl game.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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