#ReportCards: Petrino Wants to See Consistency on Offense
October 27, 2015 | Football
Cards travel to Winston-Salem on Friday night to take on Wake Forest on ESPN2.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. After a 17-14 hard-fought win over Boston College on Saturday, the University of Louisville was back on the practice field for a rare Monday night practice  at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
"We did a good job, had a lot of enthusiasm," head coach Bobby Petrino said. "I think playing in the afternoon last Saturday, and then getting Sunday off and almost all of Monday, it was good for them. They were refreshed. They did a good job in practice. I was happy with things went."
Petrino put the focus on his young offense Monday night. Despite the win, the Cardinals were very inconsistent on offense as they turned the football over four times and were sacked a season-high seven times against the nation's top-ranked defense.
"There were times where we were moving the ball in the first half," Petrino said. "We came out and had two good drives, had a touchdown, had another big play, and then had negative plays. We had another big play coming down, and had to settle for a field goal."
The Cardinals were held scoreless in the second half of the win over Boston College for the first time all season, and the Cardinals made a lot of mistakes that put the game in peril.
"In the second half, it was really -- never really got in position where we went and scored," Petrino said. "We threw the interception in the end zone. It was just inconsistency. We had some breakdowns on the offensive front. At times we did a good job. But we weren't good enough to move it against a very, very good defense."
Freshman Lamar Jackson, who was making his fifth start, continues to get better with each start, but has been fighting inconsistency from being a true freshman playing at the Division I level. Jackson went 15-of-25 for 230 yards in the win over the Eagles, but was victimized by a couple of interceptions, including one in the end zone that frustrated the head coach.
"The No. 1 thing he needs to do is be more consistent on a down-to-down basis, being able to concentrate, focus, do all of his reads right," Petrino said. "And he has taken a huge step forward the last three weeks on making good decisions, delivering the ball. We certainly have improved in our passing game."
"Some of that is Lamar; some of it is we've got those older receivers back that are aware of where they're supposed to be and on time. Our third-down conversions continue to be good the last few weeks, so that's something he's really improved on, the ability to run the ball. We're still a long away."
Petrino, who is used to explosive offenses and lighting up the scoreboard has been frustrated with the offense, and knows that it's not close to reaching its potential.
"I don't think we're close at all. I'm not happy with it at all," Petrino said. "I haven't been happy with our ability to concentrate and focus and do things right all the time. We continue to have one guy makes a mistake here, one guy here, one guy here -- and that's when you're not very good. And right now, on offense, we're not very good."
The Cardinals are on the road for the third time in four games facing a short week and a solid Wake Forest squad. Despite being 3-5 and 1-4 in the ACC, the Demon Deacons
have a lot of talent and are a dangerous team to face this Friday night.
"The No. 1 thing we need to do defensively is be good on first down again," said Petrino. "Pressure the quarterback. Understand they're going to have some read game and do our assignments in that. Make sure we take care of our assignments first."
"Offensively we have to have some balance -- run, pass. We need to be able to get some big plays and create big plays. I'd like to see us be able to drive the ball and be on
time with the down and distance and get to third-and-short, third-and-medium, and convert."
The Cardinals have a great opportunity for this young team to even its record at 4-4 after an 0-3 start, but it will have to strive for consistency on both sides of the football.
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"We did a good job, had a lot of enthusiasm," head coach Bobby Petrino said. "I think playing in the afternoon last Saturday, and then getting Sunday off and almost all of Monday, it was good for them. They were refreshed. They did a good job in practice. I was happy with things went."
Petrino put the focus on his young offense Monday night. Despite the win, the Cardinals were very inconsistent on offense as they turned the football over four times and were sacked a season-high seven times against the nation's top-ranked defense.
"There were times where we were moving the ball in the first half," Petrino said. "We came out and had two good drives, had a touchdown, had another big play, and then had negative plays. We had another big play coming down, and had to settle for a field goal."
The Cardinals were held scoreless in the second half of the win over Boston College for the first time all season, and the Cardinals made a lot of mistakes that put the game in peril.
"In the second half, it was really -- never really got in position where we went and scored," Petrino said. "We threw the interception in the end zone. It was just inconsistency. We had some breakdowns on the offensive front. At times we did a good job. But we weren't good enough to move it against a very, very good defense."
Freshman Lamar Jackson, who was making his fifth start, continues to get better with each start, but has been fighting inconsistency from being a true freshman playing at the Division I level. Jackson went 15-of-25 for 230 yards in the win over the Eagles, but was victimized by a couple of interceptions, including one in the end zone that frustrated the head coach.
"The No. 1 thing he needs to do is be more consistent on a down-to-down basis, being able to concentrate, focus, do all of his reads right," Petrino said. "And he has taken a huge step forward the last three weeks on making good decisions, delivering the ball. We certainly have improved in our passing game."
"Some of that is Lamar; some of it is we've got those older receivers back that are aware of where they're supposed to be and on time. Our third-down conversions continue to be good the last few weeks, so that's something he's really improved on, the ability to run the ball. We're still a long away."
Petrino, who is used to explosive offenses and lighting up the scoreboard has been frustrated with the offense, and knows that it's not close to reaching its potential.
"I don't think we're close at all. I'm not happy with it at all," Petrino said. "I haven't been happy with our ability to concentrate and focus and do things right all the time. We continue to have one guy makes a mistake here, one guy here, one guy here -- and that's when you're not very good. And right now, on offense, we're not very good."
The Cardinals are on the road for the third time in four games facing a short week and a solid Wake Forest squad. Despite being 3-5 and 1-4 in the ACC, the Demon Deacons
have a lot of talent and are a dangerous team to face this Friday night.
"The No. 1 thing we need to do defensively is be good on first down again," said Petrino. "Pressure the quarterback. Understand they're going to have some read game and do our assignments in that. Make sure we take care of our assignments first."
"Offensively we have to have some balance -- run, pass. We need to be able to get some big plays and create big plays. I'd like to see us be able to drive the ball and be on
time with the down and distance and get to third-and-short, third-and-medium, and convert."
The Cardinals have a great opportunity for this young team to even its record at 4-4 after an 0-3 start, but it will have to strive for consistency on both sides of the football.
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