Louisville-Virginia Football Postgame Quotes
November 11, 2017 | Football
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Louisville Head Coach Bobby Petrino
(Opening Statement) “I'm very proud of our football team. We had two really good weeks. Coming off a bye week and coming off a tough loss, what I really asked the players to do was have a good attitude, and a good work ethic, and come to practice and get better each day. They did that last week, and then we came back on Monday and they practiced extremely hard. To have that type of atmosphere at practice after coming off a tough loss is something where they showed a lot of character, I'm really proud of them. I liked the way our defense played today, particularly in the third quarter. I thought we did a great job of shutting them down and giving the offense short fields. What else can you say about Lamar? Another tremendous performance by him. They told me that he just did the 3,000 passing and the 1,000 rushing, the first guy ever to do it. He's an amazing player. He didn't throw the ball as much tonight. We actually thought we could come in and try to run it at them, control it. We used some different personnel groups, what I thought was fun and helped us a lot. I thought that our running backs did a good job and thought that our offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage. James Hearns had a big game for us. He had three forced fumbles. Right from the first series, our defensive front put pressure on their quarterback and that helped us through the rest of the game. I think they had to worry about getting the ball out quicker and not being able to do some of the things that they normally do, as far as taking shots down the field, and that really helped us. I'm proud of our team, I thought they did a great job.”
(Do you think this is the most complete effort from your football team this season?) “Yeah, it might be. It's hard because you really just put games behind you and move on. I thought our defense really did a good job of dominating the line of scrimmage and playing extremely hard and fast. It was great to have Jaire back out there because he's such a leader and gives you so much energy and excitement. There's no question, I think he elevated everybody else's game.”
(Who else do you got on the offensive line and still rush for so many yards, how did you get that done?) “It's not fun not having Mekhi out there because he had a great year. He's a tremendous player. He's going to be a really special player before it's all over with. Cole Bentley is another true freshman. He did come early, he graduated early and has been here since January. He started the spring game, so he's a good football player. He's very powerful. Lukayus did a really nice job of moving out to tackle, helped Cole a lot. He was telling him a lot of what was going on out there and helped him a lot, but Cole is a very talented guy and is going to be a really good player too. It'll be fun to watch the film and see how we do.”
(On the combination of Dae Williams and Malik Williams) “I thought they showed a lot of power and really did a nice job of breaking tackles and getting yards after contact. It was good to see Dae run the ball in the end zone and be able to control the ball. It's nice when you can line up on the 13 (yard line) run it three times and get it in the end zone. It makes life a little easier. Heck of a catch by Jaylen though on the other touchdown on the other end; really nice play. He came across on a drag route, didn't get the ball, so he wheeled on his own up the sideline and Lamar moved in the pocket and made a great throw and catch. You know, Reggie, a little bit dinged up in practice this week, but I thought he did a great job of returning punts for us and really influenced the game by how well he returned punts.”
(On any injury updates for the team) “I'm not sure about Mekhi yet. We always find that out on Monday. But, we just have to wait and see. Tru was back up and could have went back in the game. Chucky they came in to put stitches in. So, we should have both of those guys available.”
(On Jaire Alexander's performance) “Really good. Really good. It was exciting.”
(On being bowl eligible) “I didn't talk to them about it so I don't know. We were just working on getting better and going and winning a game. But, it is nice to be bowl eligible. It's certainly not what we expected as a team when we started the season. We've had to fight through a lot of adversity and this team has shown a lot of character and a lot of toughness. I'm very proud of them. We just want to finish the season strong now.”
(On the defense and needing the bye week) “I thought it helped us a lot. You know, we had nine straight games and to be able to take a little breath, relax a little bit, still work hard—they got a few days off over the weekend. They came back on Monday with a tremendous attitude and a lot of energy and we practiced like that all week—and I think that helped us.”
(On the defensive line) “Yeah, I think they just worked extremely hard and we've been dinged up a lot. I think this game is probably the most we've been healthy on defense all year. It was good to see them go out there and play like that.”
(On being happy with the way the team responded to Virginia scoring) “A lot of what we talked about this week was the fact that Virginia has good players and they are going to make plays too—and what we have to is to keep our poise and to just keep playing fast and playing hard and we'll make plays. If you get down on yourself, which we've seen sometimes from our young defense, they get down a little bit and then things don't go so well. We really wanted to keep our poise—keep the energy—understand that other teams we play have good players, they are going to make good plays and they are going to score on us. We just have to keep fighting and find a way to win the game. I thought that we did a good job of that—I am really proud of our defense—particularly coming out of halftime and being able to control the line of scrimmage like we did in the second half.”
(On who the emotional leaders are on the defense) “Jaire (Alexander) gives us a big left because everyone knows how talented and what a great player he is. So naturally, when he is back that gives you energy right there. Chucky (Williams) has done a really nice job all year. He's kind of been back there by himself a lot and has had a lot of responsibility. Stacy Thomas was great to have back and at full speed—I think that helped us a lot at practice because guys are seeing him sprinting and running full speed and making the plays that he can always make. But I thought James Hearns and Trevon (Young) did a nice job this week to in stepping up and understanding that they had to go out and plays for us to win.”
(On Trevon Young sitting out in practice last week) “Yeah, he needed to get healthy.”
Jonathan Greenard, So, DE
(How does it feel to play a whole game and play it well defensively?) “It feels good. We definitely needed a win to bring our confidence back up. We got of our elements in the other games. So, just seeing everything work and come to fruition is just a great feeling.”
(Did you simplify anything during the bye week?) “Not really. We knew they were going to come out in different formations and stuff like that. But, basically, just had to watch a lot of film and know what's coming and I think we did a good job in that extra week—the bye week helped us prepare. We didn't change anything up. We ran our same stuff and just executed.”
(Did anything seem different before the game?) “It did, but it didn't. We always try to be fired up before the game. Once we got the first snap and first series, once James Hearns got a sack, we kind of knew in the back of our minds that now they've got to come to us. So, we actually got them on their side of the field. We definitely controlled the game, so, that definitely helped.”
(Did you feel like the stops built upon themselves?) “It definitely does. When he (Hearns) has three sacks, that's incredible and it helps the defense as well. It gets the quarterback off the spot and rattled, and he can't get those progressions without tucking the ball and running, so that's a plus. It helps the defense out.”
James Hearns, Sr., DE
(Why were you so effective?) “I don't know if it's anything I've done different. I think us as a defense, not just me. Having 10 (junior cornerback Jaire Alexander) back out there helped us. I think today just felt good. We were talking toward the end of the game that everything went right and just went our way. This was probably one of the funnest games of the year for us.”
(How much different is this defense when you're able to get home?) “I think my ability to get home—it makes the defense not too much different. We're still going to play with our energy, but at the end of the day, it affects the overall game, not just defense, but it swings the momentum of the whole game.”
(How much did the bye week help?) “The bye week helped. Bye weeks are always good. I think it gives you a chance to get healthy, but it also gives you a chance to go back to kind of football 101. Get back to your basics, your technique. So, bye weeks are always good.”
(Did you guys hear about the criticisms of the defense?) “We hear it. The way today is, social media and all of that, people can talk to you without knowing you. We hear, but at the end of the day, the only people that you're worried about is the guys in that locker room and the guys who are out there next to you. So, you can hear the chatter all day, but at the end of the day, we're still going to go out and play our ball.”
(Were you guys thinking about bowl eligibility at all?) “Yeah, bowl eligibility was thought about, but it's not a factor. I think you want to win every game you play, so it's not like, 'Oh, let's get bowl eligible.' It's nothing like that. We're trying to win the rest of our games this year. Just because we got bowl eligible doesn't mean that.”
Dae Williams, r-FR., RB
(On offense performance) “I have to give it up to my linesmen. They were making the holes for me and I was just running through them. I just kept telling them, give me any kind of daylight and I'll try to make something shake. It just happened to work out tonight.”
(How big of an impact can it be when you and Malik Williams are both healthy?) “We can all do different things. So whenever me, Reggie (Bonnafon), and Malik get out there at different times, it kind of mixes it up and makes it harder for the defense. I think it helps having me and Malik back.”
(On string of runs made it in the first half) “It felt good getting that ball in my hands. Everything was flowing for me, so after the second and third run, I was like let's keep it moving because they couldn't really stop it. It just worked out and I'm glad I could do some things with it.”
(For the running backs, how does it feel to have everyone back at full strength?) “It feels really good being back and having Reggie Bonnafon back. But it feels good to have everyone back. We got everything rolling and it was nice. I liked it.”
Reggie Bonnafon, Sr., RB
(Was this the best team win--best team performance this season?) “Definitely. I felt like all phases of the game were feeding off each other – offense, defense, special teams. It was a fun win.”
(On importance of running the ball) “Every guy has their specific jobs they have to do and in a running back room, Coach Smith emphasizes that to us every week. We go in each week trying to execute our game plan and do what we have to do and hopefully it pays off in the game which it's done.”
(On emphasis of returning punts and finding holes) “Not too much. I took just many reps as I have before. I just saw a couple of lanes that I felt I could hit and went from there. I gained confidence throughout the game and the guys on the team were blocking and I have to give credit to them because they were opening it up.”
(On being injured during practice) “Yeah, I'm fine.”
(On feeling about having to fight to get to six wins in order to be bowl eligible) “Our focus is to continue to win each game at a time. Those things come along as the season goes and progresses. We're just focused on the next opponent and let the bowl game to us and let it take care of itself.”
(As an offense, you guys had an opportunity this time to sit back and watch the defense have some fun. What's it like to see the defense enjoy themselves?) “It's fun to watch. When we see guys on defense making plays; we want to go out and make plays too and vice versa. It's definitely contagious to make plays.”
Lamar Jackson, Jr. QB
(Lamar, was this your best overall team performance of the season?) “I just feel that our team came out healthy, and strong. I felt we needed that bye week. And it just showed, everyone came to play.”
(Lamar, what does it mean to you to be the first player in NCAA history to throw for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons?) “Honestly, that's a blessing. With God, that's possible. And of course, my teammates. Starts with the O-Line. They block and bust their butts every game and put me in that situation. And my receivers, too.”
(Lamar, what was going through your head when you saw Jaylen make that catch?) “He does that in practice a lot. And he showed it out here. I just beat everyone to him after- I had to. I was excited about that; that was a great catch.”
(When your running back group is full strength, they're able to help take some of the running load off you. How helpful is it to have them back?) “Hats off to Dae (Williams). Malik (Staples). Those guys run the ball hard and will get a lot of yards. And the line did a great job blocking the guys that'll hit hard. They just showed their talent.”
(Did you notice when the offense is going?) “Well, you know, the read is something we were going over the whole week in practice. They just flowed and hit as hard as they could. And found success. Talk to the O-Line.”
(Cole Bentley comes in for the game and still rushes for 300 yards. What did you think of that?) “He did great. Cole's been sitting out all year, so to get in like that, do great and perform well- he blocked his butt off. In one play he went down and I said 'get up, man, we've got a score to drive!' But yeah, hats off to Cole.”
(Lamar, every game and every win is important, but after coming off a bye week, how important was getting the win?) “Very important. Being at home, in Louisville. The fans were watching and we had to put on a great show. We lost the last game before the bye week, and just had to bounce back. We had a chip on our shoulders and got rid of it tonight.”
(Lamar, when you're in the position where a guy's got a clean shot at you, how do you brace for a play like that?) “I don't know. I just try to get north instead of south, you know? You can't go back. That's just how it goes.”
Jaylen Smith, Jr., WR
(Jaylen, how do you think he does it?) “I have absolutely no clue. I have no clue. I just go out and try my best to block my man for as long as I can, because you never know. It might be a busted play, and you block him for three seconds but then there's seven players in the backfield with him and running behind me. It's fantastic how he does it. I don't know how he does it, I wish I could learn how to do that myself. But I'll leave that to him.”
(Jaylen, do the coaches love you trying that one-handed thing in practice?) “I mean it's really an instinct thing. In my mind when I watch it, even on the field. There was no way I could've gotten to that ball with two hands. I would've had to short-arm it or I wouldn't have been able to fully extend with two hands. When I do it at practice it's the same way, just instinct. Just being able to make the one-handed catch if I was in that situation. I watched DeVante Parker before the game so I was trying to emulate him.”
(Jaylen, can you talk about the video of Lamar in the pocket- does it still surprise you about what he can do?) “Yeah, he always pulls a different rabbit out of the hat. There's always a new trick. You can't refer to him as a one-trick pony. There's always something different, something more, and more spectacular than the week before. It's like 'wow.' He won't get the recognition he deserves for what he did in the pocket. If you watch what he did in the pocket, you would be just as impressed.”
(How many times have you seen the one handed touchdown catch?) “I just saw it for my first time. The catch was cool but I don't know if anyone realized what Lamar did in the pocket. It's like he did a karaoke step back then forward. It was ridiculous. That was my favorite part of the video. I just saw it for the first time but I did watch it like seven times though.”
(You get to see Lamar Jackson all the time. He's the first player in NCAA history to do the 3,000/1,000. What does that mean to you? What's that like?) “He's Lamar. He's a fantastic guy. It's more amazing to see him off the field, to know how humble he is, how hard he works--He's alright. He ain't all that for real. I'm just kidding--what he does off the field and how he carries himself off the field just speaks volumes on the player he is on the field. It just translates from on the field to off the field.”
Virginia Coach Bronco Mendenhall
(Opening statement)
“I think just coming right off the field, Louisville out executed us really in every phase of the game today. They made plays when they needed too and executed well on offense, defense, and special teams. Lamar Jackson is an explosive football player. Louisville has good players on the offensive side of the ball, and they're dynamic and explosive. We didn't make enough stops defensively, especially in the second half third and fourth downs to keep the points within reach for our offense to comeback. Our offensive struggled with ball security and protection for our quarterback. So Kurt [Benkert] was on the run most of the day, and it is hard for him to have a good day when the protection was inconsistent. Defensively we have to keep the points and the deficient closer so we can play our brand of football longer. Really their execution beat ours in every phase of the game today, and the score reflected that.”
(You go backwards from that point after the late touchdown in the first quarter, was that a pivotal moment of the game) “You hate to say that one play is a pivotal moment. We had plenty of chances. It was maybe a disappointing moment, I'm not sure it was pivotal. There are too many plays after that to say that there was one play that caused that. So probably just another example of a critical play we didn't make on either side of the ball. “
(Their defense, did they do anything different or just a simple of their execution) “I can't tell enough right now from just coming off the field. I think maybe the biggest surprise is just the pressure they got off on our quarterback and the situation of how the game went that they could put the situation in, but that to me was the biggest difference. Their ability to get after him.”
(Was their speed on the edge and their playmakers the biggest concern coming in?) “Yeah, explosive players in space and knowing that one player on the quarterback isn't enough, and if you kind of cheat that down and put more on him then other players have possibilities. Gave up a couple passes down field where there was contact, and we were contesting some plays, one or two of those less and maybe we can keep the deficit to where we play our brand of offensive football, and maybe the game is different, but that's just they have a lot of good players.”
(Talk about Lamar Jackson. It seems you knew all about him, you knew what to expect, did you think you could shut him down a little bit?) “Yeah, that's any coach that goes into a game without thinking that isn't really doing the best to prepare his players or himself. We saw early in the game on a third down play how fast he can go the entire distance. After that there were critical plays he made, but not the long, long ones. I don't know how you rank stopping him other than points, and we gave up too many points to win the game.”
(When you look at Juan Thornhill and his matchup with Jaylen Smith, I know as a corner if you get beat twice it looks like a bad day even though you might not have. How would you evaluate that matchup?) “I think if you look at the coverage and how tight it was, you know those are 50/50 balls. We like Juan [Thornhill] in that matchup, and that's why we put him there. He was in great position, I think, and competed well and just didn't make the play. That was kind of the message of the day.”
(Were you happy with the players' mindset this week in practice, coming off that sixth win as they went out to try and get number seven?) “I was happy with their intent. Sure they were torn all over the place, of feeling great about what they had accomplished, and then trying to be hungry and compassionate and completely dedicated to the next game. I have no issue with their intent. What is clear is this is where the program is, a brand new challenge. Otherwise they would have been through it before. This is the first time any of these kids have qualified for a bowl game. They were ecstatic and are ecstatic. Now getting them right back to ground level humility and passion and the determination, I think they tried hard to stay there, but we don't know how to do it yet.”
Kurt Benkert, QB
(What did they do defensively that was so effective?) “They brought a lot of pressure, they twisted a lot up front and we play a little but more off the outside so we couldn't just take our quick shots when they blitzed. They just brought a lot of pressure and I don't think we did a good job of everybody recognizing it.”
(Coach spoke about making the mistakes making personnel changes or the ways he calls the game.) “We are going on game 11. I think we have had some success, we have had some games where we weren't able to move the ball as well and this is one of those games. I mean it's kind of hard to answer to be honest.”
(What about the first drive of the third quarter) “Yes, we just found a way to put the ball in the end zone. I think if we can get up 21-17 it is a different ball game at that point. But they are a team that wants to get up and they get that momentum and they can be really explosive and not in a bad way put it, that front runner a little bit. I mean they can up big and they can get up big quick. We have to take advantage of our opportunities and we didn't do that today.”
(How much easier everything flows when the running game is there?) “I think it is more difficult. I think we are a team if we can run the ball well we can do a lot of other things and I think we have to find a way to establish a run a little bit better than we did today. I think when it isn't working that me as a quarterback and the receivers, we have to do a better job being more effective and more efficient.”
(Coach said you have been a stabilizing force guys who have been hesitant.) “I think the best thing I can do to help those guys is have them look me in the eye and say, 'hey the next play, if something goes wrong we have a drop, miss block, anything, If I throw a pick, next play. It's not the end of the end of the world when something goes bad, it's football, you're not going to be perfect every single play. Just kind of being that presence as best as I can for those guys. We have a lot of young guys playing right now so I think just bring that guy they can look to.”
(How much is it a challenge in finding that consistency from one game to the next?) “Every different game in the ACC anybody can win every week and anybody can lose every week and it's really about match ups. I think it's about finding that consistency it happened early in the game, and I think that just figuring out what works because the game plan is the game plan but that changes as soon as you get into the game. Just finding out what works early is the best thing we can do”.
(Do you think the first-time you rep that through the legs hand off play?) “Yeah, I did not think it was going to work but it did. We scored on it so that was a good thing.”
Jordan Ellis, Tailback
(What did they do well?) “I feel like they were probably more physical than us up front. They were putting pressure on the quarterback and they were kind of stuffing running lanes. They played pretty well today, we didn't think they were as good as they played today but they obviously are going to show that they played better than us today and I mean they really won the war up front and they deserve to win.”
(Were you surprised how good they were defensively today?)
“We knew they were going to come out hard, they only had one win until bowl eligibility. So we knew they were going to come out and play us pretty hard, that wasn't really surprising. All that stuff that we saw on film, we saw in the game. We just didn't execute. We had chances but we just didn't take advantage of our opportunities. That's something that we got to be better at.”
(When it comes down to execution, how is that fixed?)
“Just focusing on each play, not looking ahead, just focusing on your job on each play, everybody do their job. Obviously, we didn't do that today. I mean, we just have to get back to that -- just focusing on everybody doing their job whether the offensive line is blocking, running back catching the ball, running the ball, quarterback throwing it, receivers getting open -- just everybody doing their job. That is something that when we do it, you can see how good our offense is and not only that, I mean see how good our team is. But, that's just something that we have to get back to. We have watch the film get better on it, I mean we just have to get back to it and get ready for Miami next week.”
(Coach mentioned making the same mistakes and possible personnel changes)
“At the end of the day, we just have to step up and play. I feel like we have a good nucleus of guys on offense, we just have to make the plays when our number is called. We didn't do that today. We didn't make enough plays to win.”
(How did you guys feel coming into the 3rd quarter at 21-14 with the ball)
“Oh, we felt pretty good, we got a score. We got a score right before half, everybody was in the locker room on the offense (saying), 'We need to come out and score.' We moved the ball a little bit on that first drive and we kind of stalled out. We still had faith and then they scored and everybody still had faith. But we didn't seize the momentum and that's something that we have to be better at, something that we just have to be better at.”
