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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 13, 2017

Bobby Petrino

Greensboro, North Carolina

BOBBY PETRINO: I'm very happy coming off our win at North Carolina. It's always hard to go on the road and win games in the conference, and it was a very hard fought, tough game that went back and forth. I thought our players did a good job of keeping their poise and making plays when they needed to, and when the pressure was on, our guys performed well. So that was a great win for us.

We're looking forward to the challenge of playing the defending national champions. They have a great football team, both offense, defense and special teams. It will be exciting for our fans and for our team to have "College Gameday" here again. So it should be a good week and getting ready for Clemson.

Q. This may sound like a stupid question, but I'll ask it anyway. In your mind, did Clemson beat you or did you lose the last two times you've played?
BOBBY PETRINO: I thought they beat us. They're a good football team and they made the plays when the pressure was on and we weren't able to convert when the pressure was on.

Q. They were Thursday night games if I'm not mistaken. Is that for you in your mind to be playing on Saturdays when you're playing somebody of this nature?
BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, they were Saturday games, but I like playing on Saturday. It gives you the week to prepare. Certainly when it's a game like this.

Q. As you look at Clemson's defense on film, what stands out to you to explain why they've been so effective on that side of the ball this year?
BOBBY PETRINO: Well, they're a great group. They're big and fast and physical. Obviously they've got a great defensive front and linebackers that can really run. They do a good job in the secondary. They're very solid across the board.

Q. Any different type of challenge than preparing for that defense a year ago?
BOBBY PETRINO: No, they seem very similar. They're very experienced. They understand what they're doing and they're very well coached.

Q. Couple years ago Lamar Jackson had some success as a freshman there. But as a coach, when you're dealing with an inexperienced quarterback, what is the key to putting him in position to succeed early on?
BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, well, what we try to do with Lamar, and just go by what we tried to do is have a short list for them, and not something where you expect him to understand and execute the entire offense. But things that he did well, and then each week try to add a little bit more to it. You know, it was difficult for Lamar at first just because of all the different looks and the different speed of the game. But he adjusted to it and kept getting better as the year went on which was great to see.

Q. Bobby, with Malik's performance in the run game last week, was that something that you thought was coming in terms of what you've seen from him at practice? What do you think about his prospects just now that he's going to be carrying more of the load for you guys in the run game moving forward?
BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, it was great to see. He's a physical runner that's fast. Last year he was really coming on towards the end of the year and was getting more carries and showed his explosiveness and then got injured and he wasn't with us in spring ball, so he actually had a great summer and got in really good shape. We're excited about the way he's carrying the football. He can catch it out of the back field and protect the quarterback. So we're happy to see we finally got it cranked up and going.

Q. Do you have any idea yet whether Jaire will be able to play this weekend?
BOBBY PETRINO: It's still day to day. He continues to get better, so we're excited about that.

Q. You talked a little bit Monday about preparing for Clemson's defensive front. But seeing the way your team has handled it so far in practice, I guess, how much -- how much of a focus have you placed on preventing and protecting Lamar and making sure he's able to still make plays?
BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, I mean, they've got a great front. We're familiar with a lot of the guys. It's something that you work on every week is being able to make sure you work your technique and your protection, and your schemes and your protection. They do a great job of mixing up what they do. They're probably as multiple as anybody that we play all year, so it's going to be about recognition and technique and playing hard, because you're going to have two teams out there that are going to play extremely hard.

Q. I wanted you to speak on your run defense these first couple weeks. 15 yards allowed to Purdue in week one, 17 yards on 23 carries to North Carolina in week two. Just what you can say about the run defense and moving forward with the personnel that you have there?
BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, I like the way our defensive front has played. We've got some physical guys inside and some real speed on the edge. Done a nice job of setting edges. Our linebacker, Stacy Thomas is really talented and experienced. The young guy, Dorian Etheridge does a great job of playing hard and running to the ball and tackling. Been able to get really good play out of our secondary against the run.

So it's kind of all 11 guys working together. Also, we've had situations where the teams want to throw the ball more than run the football and the ability to get some sacks has helped us too.

Q. As far as the secondary with Washington, what has he done up to this point for you, and if he elevated his game at a pace that you anticipated or if he's gone beyond that for you?
BOBBY PETRINO: Yeah, he's been a good, solid player since he's been here. He played as a true freshman. He's very smart, understands the game and works really hard with his technique.

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