Louisville vs. Houston Post-Game Quotes
November 22, 2003 | Football
Nov. 22, 2003
Recap?|? Final Stats?|? Notes
Louisville Head Coach Bobby Petrino
"I'm really proud of our team. After the loss last week, we showed a lot of character in our ability to come back and prepare. I think we practiced pretty much all week with a chip on our shoulders because we didn't perform the way we're used to performing."
"Offensively we executed, made good runs, made catches, Stefan (Lefors) did a really nice job of executing. Whenever you're doing that, you have to make sure the credit goes to the offensive front. We were able to do pretty much whatever we wanted out there and we took care of the football. That was the key to the game. They were a very good offense. We kept telling our defense to hang in there, play hard and that good things would happen. We ended up coming up with some turnovers in the kicking game.
"Lionel (Gates) did a great job. He ran really hard and broke a lot of tackles. He really helps us a lot in the passing game. It's a credit to Lionel's character. Early in the year and the middle of the year, Eric Shelton was getting most of the carries. Lionel kept practicing hard every day and had a good attitude. He feels like he's a very good football player and has the ability to make those same plays."
"I knew that we had to have this type of day. We took the field with the attitude that we had to score every time we get the ball."
"Michael (Bush) did an excellent job. He's one of the guys that after last week's came, could have come out with an attitude because he didn't get the touches. Instead of doing that, he came out in practice and every ball he ran full speed, worked really hard on his cuts, and came in and got extra meeting time with Coach Thomas so he could pick up the blitzes and passing game. It's a credit to how hard he works. Wow ... he's something when he touches the ball."
"They tried to run the ball more in the second half. I kept watching the clock saying 'tick, tick, tick.'"
"This team has prepared themselves now 10 of 11 games very well. They showed they could come back and prepare and play hard. We cut practice down a little bit. We worked more on the mental game and in individual drills. We wanted to come into this game fresh physically and mentally and I thought we'd have a good chance to win it. I shortened practice down about 20 minutes, which is a lot."
Houston Head Coach Art Briles
"Our kids battled hard and their kids played extremely well. Coach Petrino has done an excellent job. They were well-prepared."
(did he see this type of offensive shootout coming?) "It's hard to say. We knew they were very explosive offensively. They've got a lot of great skilled kids, a good scheme and their quarterback is a playmaker. We knew they would be able to move the ball. They've done it all season with the exception of last week."
"We've got to get a lot better in a short time. We've got a big game next week against UAB. There's a little party out there that we want to be invited to. We want to earn that (bowl) invitation. We've got an opportunity to go 7-5, and you guys know better than me, but I think that would get us in a bowl game."
