Petrino Previews Home Opener Versus Miami
August 25, 2014 | Football
PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO
Petrino | Mauldin | Gardner
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The anticipation has been building for the start of the University of Louisville football season. The long-awaited entrance into the ACC has been in the works for over year, but most of the excitement has centered around the return of head coach Bobby Petrino.
Guiding the Cardinals to a 41-9 record during his first-term as head coach of the Cardinals from 2003-06, fans have waiting to see the excitement that Petrino will bring to Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, where he owns a 22-1 career record.
While the anticipation has building from the fans, it pales in comparison to the coaches and players, who finished the grind of fall camp on Friday night.
"We're looking forward to it. We ended camp basically last Friday night, which was good. It's time for us to play a game and get ready for next Monday night," Petrino said. "It is going to be a long week. I think that's the thing that will be unique about this game is that it's all the way until Monday, which I personally have not experienced before."
However, the news wasn't all good for the Cardinals, as Petrino announced wide receiver DeVante Parker will miss the next 6-to-8 weeks with a foot injury. Entering the season third on the school's all-time touchdowns list and 10th in receiving yards, the loss of Parker hampers the offense, but will not stall it.
"He's a tremendous player, and what we have to do is guys have to step up and perform," Petrino said. "I think we're fortunate in the situation we're in that we have a lot of experienced players. And certainly they're all going to have to contribute. We're going to have to rely on our tight ends and running backs, so you're never going to replace a guy like DeVante with just one guy. You've got to do it collectively with all the weapons that we have stepping up and making more plays."
One of those weapons in place is sophomore quarterback Will Gardner, who Petrino named the starter on Sunday night. Set for his first career start, Gardner will be missing one of the most dynamic players in the nation in Parker, who caught 55 passes for 885 yards last season, but still has many options at his disposal.
"It's tough when you lose a guy like DeVante," Gardner said. "He's a great athlete and a heck of a person overall. But with the guys we have on this team from Kia De La Cruz, Michaelee Harris, Matt Milton, guys like that. I know those guys are going to step up and have a great game against Miami."
Gardner sat down with Petrino on Sunday night and gave the 6-foot-5 signal caller the good news. It was a dream-come-true for the product of Coffee High in Douglas, Ga.
"It's exciting, I'm very blessed," Gardner said. "The confidence coach Petrino and coach (Garrick)McGee showed in me to name me the starter, it's a very exciting feeling but it's also gives you a lot of confidence know that they're behind you."
The road for Gardner has been long and winding after a couple of knee injuries have slowed him down, but he always believed in his abilities and will take the first snap for the Cardinals on Monday night in front of a national television audience.
"I feel like I have a good grasp of the offense and the defenses that we'll see and making good decisions," Gardner said. "That comes a lot with the coaches and them helping us at the quarterback position and making those good decisions. So a lot of the credit is due to them. They make it easier on us. But I feel like I do have a good grasp of the offense and what decisions to make."
Petrino has been pleased with Gardner's progress from the spring through the first month of fall camp, and is pleased on his knowledge of the concepts within the offense.
"I thought Will had a really good camp," Petrino said. "He really showed command of the offense. I thought he did a good job in setting the standards of leadership and got the players around him to practice hard, perform well. When he speaks up, guys listen to him, and he understands the offense and what we're trying to do and I thought distributed the ball well. One of the biggest things about this game coming up is the ability to make good decisions and take care of the football, and certainly that's going to be something that Will will have to do, and I have all of the confidence in the world that he'll do that."
The defense, which must replace seven starters and learn a new scheme, will also be tested by an explosive Hurricane offense, which will also be led by a true freshman in Brad Kaaya, but has one of the best security blankets in the nation in running back Duke Johnson, who rushed for 920 yards and six scores in just eight games.
"He's a really good player," Petrino said of Johnson. "He's somebody that we have to contain. We've got to do a good job of setting edges with our outside linebackers and defensive ends. Our safeties are going to have a to do a good job coming downhill and tackling, and we've got to get 11 guys to the ball. I think that's the biggest thing when you watch him is that we're going to have to run full speed to the ball because he's a guy that can take it the distance."
After the long grind of camp, the players are ready to kick off the season on Monday night. With still seven days left, the game can't come soon enough.
"I'm ready," senior Lorenzo Mauldin said. "I missed out on the spring, came back strong in the summer. Now I'm ready to just go out there and show what I've learned." Let's hope the Cardinals have learned a lot on both sides of the ball, and are ready to face a determined and talented Miami squad Monday night.
