Cincinnati at Louisville - Postgame Quotes
November 27, 2004 | Football
Nov. 27, 2004
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery
Louisville Head Coach Bobby Petrino
On the 2004 senior class:
"It's great and I'm really excited for our players. It's a great way to send our seniors out, and I can't say enough about that group. During the two years I've been here, that class has certainly led us on and off the field. They have a lot of class. Fortunately for us, we get two more games with them and we'll look forward to going down to Tulane next Saturday and finishing up in this conference the way we need to."
On the win over UC:
"Our players did a great job today. Our offense didn't get as many opportunities as we usually do because the defense was doing such a great job and the special teams were doing such a great job. I think that just represents what we've been all year long and that's a good football team. We take care of each other and play hard for each other. That's a good group we've got and we've got to have fun while we can for the next month."
On Montrell Jones having a break-out game:
"He did have a break-out game today. Actually, he's been playing better and better as the year's gone on. He's been splitting time with Broderick Clark, and with Broderick out the last two weeks (with injury), so Montrell's stats have gone way up. I'm really proud of Montrell and he's been doing a nice job for us."
On the Cards winning the Conference USA title in the school's last season in the conference:
"To be honest with you, we never really talked all year long about this being our last year in Conference USA. Our players have simply focused on playing one game at a time. We wanted to make sure we played one play, one game and one team at a time and if we did that, we'd get our championship. I'm really proud of our players and our assistant coaches. We're just looking forward to next week's game."
On the play of the defense in the win:
"I think overall it is, especially when we can come out and dominate on defense the way we did. They were flying around and getting sacks and I know that (Cincinnati) didn't have Gino (Guidugli) and that certainly played into it because he's a great football player. But we came out and took advantage of that in every way we could."
On the play of the offense in the win:
"It was great to come out and open the game with a long touchdown run. I've thought all week long that whoever dominated and played physical at the line of scrimmage would win the football game and certainly, our offensive front and defensive front got it done today."
Cincinnati Head Coach Mark Dantonio
On the psychological impact on the team with Gino Guidugli being unable to play:
"You would like to think that we would have enough seniors on this football team to be able to pull through it. Obviously we knew it was going to be tough. He [Guidugli] came out and tried to play. He came out and tried to go in warm-ups, but he couldn't throw the football with any velocity. We didn't want to have a situation where he could get hurt further than he is. He didn't have the velocity on the football so he didn't play. Obviously the first play of the game had as much to do with it [the result] as anything. It seemed like we were reeling from that point on."
On his team's performance:
"We didn't tackle well. We didn't run the football. We thought we were going to have to run the football somewhat effectively to set up the pass, but we couldn't do that. I guess you could say it was a very one-sided game. We had turnovers, they didn't. They had big plays, we didn't. They made big plays on special teams, we didn't. We didn't do much of anything."
"I wish I could point to one play and say, 'this is where it happened. It seemed like every play was going down the field. Football is an emotional game, a confidence game. That's it."
U of L Senior QB Stefan LeFors
"I wasn't worried about going out there and playing because we were making plays all over the place and that's why we were so excited. It was a fun game to be a part of. It was a big game for us. We were able to put a lot of points up and our defense and special teams did a great job. Honestly, I didn't really expect the game to be like this. I knew we were capable of doing it, but I thought it would be a little tougher battle for us."
U of L Junior WR Montrell Jones
"We knew what kind of game this was and we knew it was a championship for us. That's something that the coaches had emphasized all week in practice and we came today and executed pretty well. I knew I had a punt return for a touchdown in me. The guys did a great job of blocking today and I found the holes to take it all the way."
U of L Senior DB Kerry Rhodes
"We can't say we're a BCS team if we're not playing in it, but we're capable of playing with any team in the country and that's the key. We've got the confidence and we know we can play with any team."
"We were going to come after their quarterback no matter who was back there. We were prepared for everything they did and with the way we played today, I don't think it mattered who the quarterback was."
