Petrino Hopes for Offensive Improvement Versus Wake Forest
September 22, 2014 | Football
Petrino | Quick | Vatuvei
LOUISVILLE, Ky.- University of Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino is happy to be heading home with a 3-1 overall record, don't get him wrong. But the fifth-year head coach knows his team is a work in progress, especially on the offensive end.
The Cardinals walked away from FIU with a 34-3 dominating victory, but the Cardinals had their struggles on the offense, where they rushed for 12 yards. Sophomore Will Gardner threw for a career-best 295 yards and a pair of scores and wide receiver James Quick accounted for 175 yards receiving on seven catches and hauled in both of Gardner's touchdowns. Quick scored from 74 yards and added a 37-yarder 45 seconds later.
However, the offense had their problems getting into a consistent rhythm, which is concerning to Petrino, who is considered one of the best offensive coaches in the country.
"We're not there yet to be able to step on the field and execute at a high rate and go down and move the ball and score all the time," Petrino said. "We've just not shown it. A guy makes a mistake on one play, a different guy makes it on another, we miss a block on a third play, we don't it right on the fourth play. So we've got to get all eleven guys to do their job right every single play for us to be able to go execute and go do things the way we want to do them."
Petrino knows the offense can be fixed, but says execution is something this team needs to focus on if they hope to improve.
"We're just not executing," Petrino said. "We're not executing at a high rate. We're not focused enough. We're not using our technique enough. We're not playing fast. We're not running hard enough. It's just all kinds of of different things. Obviously, that my job. I've got to make sure that we get there."
One thing Petrino stated during last week was that he wanted to see some more explosive plays on offense, and that was one positive that came out of the FIU win. Sophomore wide receiver James Quick scored two touchdowns in a span of 45 seconds, scoring from 74 yards out and 37 yards.
Petrino stated, "Now, the positive part of it is, last week we're harping all week long about `we've got to start making big plays in the passing game, we've got to get the ball down the field, we've got to show up the plays we do in practice,' we we're able to do that and it helped us win the game."
Quick, who caught six passes all of last season, tallied seven receptions for 174 yards and those two touchdowns versus FIU, and displayed the talent that made him one of the highest recruits ever to sign at Louisville. He played as a true freshman last season, but was never showcased like he has been in 2014.
"It was a great game, we didn't play as well as we should but we came out and got the victory and it's always good to come out and win," Quick said.
Sophomore wide receiver James Quick, who had a breakout game last week with 174 yards and two touchdowns in the win over FIU, stated that they Cardinals are failing to execute consistently.
"I feel like we don't go out there and execute every play to our full potential," Quick said. "I feel like we go out there and play and just forget our technique. We just have to merry our technique and perform."
Petrino was excited to see the second-year player explode like that on Saturday when the team needed to make big plays.
"He really made a great play on the ball," Petrino said of his 74-yard touchdown reception. "That's something we've been looking for a working hard at, so it was good to see it show up in the game."
The Cardinals will need more big plays Saturday when Wake Forest comes to Papa John's Cardinal Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. The Demon Deacons will provide a stern defensive test, but the Cardinals hope they can fine tune their offense this week, and get back to the old Petrino offenses.
