University of Louisville Football Post-Game Quotes
November 19, 2006 | Football
Nov. 19, 2006
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Louisville Head Coach Bobby Petrino
"It was a good win for us. I'm really happy with how our players prepared all week. After the tough loss at Rutgers, the team showed tremendous character. It was a good, hard fought contest and our players kept competing. We kept our offense in there and they started clicking. I'm really happy with our special teams and the way we covered kickoffs. It was a good win for us and now we must get ready for Pittsburgh on the road and get another one."
"We knew going in that we had to put pressure on the quarterback and give them some different looks. Even without blitzing, we were still able to put pressure on them. They have very fast receivers, and we did a nice job of holding them in check."
(On the emotional highs and lows of the season) "It's been hard. You're always concerned about being emotionally drained. We opened with an emotional win over Kentucky and then had the emotional win over Miami. You then have to play Kansas State on the road and eventually, they all add up to a tough challenge. Now, we have to do it again. We're going on the road to Pitt where we know it'll be very difficult."
(On bouncing back from the loss at Rutgers) "We talked all week about that. We told them that adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it. I really liked the way our guys handled all of that. The guys on our team have tremendous pride. We have a group of seniors that we've coached for all four years. We had a good week of practice and nobody held their head down. We got better and better all week and it was an enjoyable week of practice. That says a lot about our team."
"We have tremendous leadership on this team from our seniors. The strength of a team is determined from within. We have guys like Amobi (Okoye), Nate (Harris), William Gay and Kurt (Quarterman) leading this team. I thought Mario and Harry took over leading our offense. It was good to see Mario on the sidelines leading the team. I know he would've liked to have had more catches, but he did an excellent job of leading the team emotionally. He's really stepped up his leadership."
(On the play of Brian Brohm) "He did a good job tonight. He had a tough start, but he's so tough mentally and he keeps playing. He did a good job in the pocket. I knew watching him in warm-ups and seeing his concentration that he'd play well."
(On the BIG EAST) "It's a good league and really tough. When see all of the athletic players in this league and how tough it is week in and week out, that's what stands out to you. It's very tough and very physical and there's no time to relax. You can't take a week off."
Zach Anderson, Sr., DE
"We got a good group of seniors and as seniors, we just came in the lockerroom and just told everybody that that loss was over with. We had a great practice the whole week, and everything stayed in order. We never got out of our gameplan or what we were going to do. No one switched anything up, we stayed with it and that is what made us successful tonight."
Harry Douglas, Jr., WR
(On today's upsets) "That is what college football is all about, you never know who is gonna lose on what weekend. You just gotta make sure you are ready to play, so that you won't be one of the teams losing."
(On the last two games) "You have to be excited for every game we play. We are going to be ready."
(On the slow offensive start) "It was just a little bit slow here and there. Everybody, all 11 of us, have to do their jobs. If all 11 do their jobs, then we won't have any problems."
Eric Wood, So., C
"I felt better. We were seeing blitzes better this week. We were feeling better at home. It was a great crowd again, it was good to see the crowd again tonight. It was a good feeling."
(On needing focus) "I don't think we need too much more for this week. We've been waiting for this game since last year. We were focused about finishing all last season and we came out to play."
Brian Brohm, Jr. QB
"Everybody got back into the rhythm of things. The big thing early on, we didn't let a few early three and outs bother us. We stayed in the game and stayed positive and went out there and executed the rest of our game plan."
"We have to win out to be in any consideration. We need to beat Pittsburgh and be ready for the next game. There are still a lot of things that can happen. We just have to play our games and not worry about the rest of it. It feels good to get a victory and put the Rutgers loss behind us. We just need to keep moving forward and try to get some more wins."
USF's Matt Grothe, Fr, QB
"We didn't play very well, we lost. They weren't as good as I thought they were going to be. We had some missed assignments that we couldn't get."
(On Louisville) "They checked themselves and would get themselves into a good play. They came out and put it down our throats. They came to play and we didn't. It's all a loss, we are all frustrated."
USF's Ben Mofitt, Sr., LB
"It was very frustrating, there is nothing else you can say. We lost a chance to maybe share a championship and we lost and it hurts. It hurts really bad."
(On his injury) "I got hit right above my knee and I have a contusion. I can't bend my leg right now. It's swollen really bad. It will be alright. I'll be fine."
USF Head Coach Jim Leavitt
"We were only 10 down at the half. I really felt good about the game. We were set to win in the fourth quarter. The 3rd and 23, them getting that was bad because we had them hemmed up. You know our defense did some good things and some bad things. We didn't block very well, we didn't give Matt near enough time. We dropped too many passes. We didn't play very good. I don't want to take anything away from Louisville. They are a good team, but we can't play like that and win. I am disappointed how we played. I thought we battled in the first half. It's just the second half really disappointed me in the way we didn't come out to play."
"We couldn't get anything going offensively. We just couldn't and that was sad. Cincinnati beats (Rutgers) and a win here would have put us right in the championship race. But how can we think about something like that, they way we got hammered. We are not in that deal right now."
"We played some good football so far this year, but tonight we didn't. I just thought we would battle better in the second half. That part was the most disappointing."
