Petrino Previews Syracuse; Looks for Consistency on Offense
September 30, 2014 | Football
LOUISVILLE, Ky.- With a short week of preparation, the University of Louisville hit the practice field Monday afternoon in preparation for Friday night's nationally televised game versus Syracuse on ESPN.
"We got a good practice in today," head coach Bobby Petrino said. "You know, it's a short week for us. We've got to do a good job in our preparation. We have to make sure that we get our players prepared mentally, physically, but also make sure that they're fresh when we get to the game. So that's the challenge is to be able to balance that and make sure we get all the preparation we need but also get to the game fresh and ready to go. They had a lot of energy out there today."
The Cardinals are working to be more consistent on offense after a 20-10 win over Wake Forest on Saturday. Despite rushing for 215 yards, the Cardinals' offense had trouble establishing a rhythm on offense until the fourth quarter.
Starting a true freshman at quarterback in Reggie Bonnafon, Petrino knew the Cardinals would have to scratch their way to a victory, but was pleased with the overall performance of the former Trinity High product.
"He did a lot of good things," Petrino said. "He missed some plays that he wished he could have back. Always what happens when you're young and you're in there live at first, you do some things that you didn't do in practice. I really liked his poise. Obviously, we weren't executing and moving the ball like we would like to, but we kept approaching it one series at a time and he did a really nice job. He showed a lot of maturity."
The offense received a 100-yard performance from sophomore Brandon Radcliff, who rushed for a career-high 129 yards and two touchdowns. His fourth-quarter scoring run put the Cardinals ahead to stay.
"I like the way Brandon practices and prepares, he deserves it," Petrino said. "He went out and performed really well. He was the fastest guy out on the field the other day, for us offensively. He made a lot of great plays, broke tackles, and got in the end zone. He ran really hard, gave us all energy. I think that was the biggest thing is that he gave us all energy."
The Cardinals and Orange resume their rivalry from their days together in the BIG EAST Conference from 2005-12. The Orange is coming off a 31-15 loss to Notre Dame last Saturday, but Petrino knows he must have his team mentally and physically ready to compete.
Cameron Lynch is one of the best pass rushers in the ACC with 4.5 sacks, and Petrino knows the Orange will present a big challenge to his offensive group this week on the road.
"I thought they played really well last week against Notre Dame, defensively," Petrino said. "They're going to blitz us, they're going to come after you. They came after Notre Dame the entire game. They're very fast on defense. They're linebackers aren't very big but they're fast."
The Orange has put up some good numbers offensively under the direction of quarterback Terrel Hunt, who leads the team in both rushing and passing. He threw for 294 yards in the loss to the Irish, and presents a problem for the Louisville defense.
"Offensively, their quarterback (Terrel Hunt) is a good runner," said Petrino. He's big, he's physical. I was actually impressed with the way he threw the ball last week. I thought he really improved in his ability to throw the ball. They had a receiver who went over 100 yards, so we're going to have to know where he is and what he does. It's going to be a great challenge for us."
The Cardinals remember well their last trip to the Carrier Dome in 2012. Heading into the Dome with a perfect 9-0 record, the Orange dismantled the Cardinals 45-26 to derail the opportunity for a perfect season. The Cardinals would come home the next week and lose in triple overtime to Connecticut at home. "They beat us," said senior wide receiver Eli Rogers, who caught ten passes in that loss to the Orange. "I remember that. I actually brought it up at practice today. I just told the team about that game, and how important it is to practice hard this week and try to get better."
Heading into the meat of the schedule and league play, Petrino is pleased to have won four their first five games, but knows his team is not where it needs to be or even where he thought it might be at this point of the year.
"I think we're a little different than what I thought," Petrino said. "I think we're playing really good defense. I'm very happy with our safety play, which I was very concerned with going in. Offensively, I'm obviously disappointed where we're at. I thought we'd be ahead of schedule and we're not. And we're not executing to where we need to consistently move the ball and score."
As his history has indicated, Petrino will get the offense turned around quickly. The Cardinals are 4-1, and haven't clicked to date. When they do figure it out, and with the defense playing as well as they have, the Cardinals could get rolling with a victory on Friday night.
