Louisville-Florida State Postgame Quotes

Louisville Head Coach Bobby Petrino
(Opening Statement)
"That's a really hard loss there for us. I was proud of the way our team prepared during the week. I thought they practiced extremely hard. I was proud of the way they came out of the locker room to start the game. We're really competing, competing to win. We did a good job of moving the ball and getting points on the board. Defensively, we improved on what we wanted to, which was on third downs. I feel like we gave it away. We were in a position to win the game, and we didn't finish the game. That's a tough one on us, something that we've got to get behind us and move forward and get ready for a short week and a game on Friday night."

"I thought Jawon (Pass) did a good job in the first half, was moving the ball around. We weren't able to run the ball like we wanted to, but he did do a good job of completing passes and getting us in the end zone. He did a good job on the two-minute drive right before half. I thought that was an excellent throw to get the touchdown. Then we missed a few in the second half. We had some guys open that could have made it different. The last play that was an interception, I look back at it, obviously and I guess they should have run the ball. I did know what they were in, and I was expecting him to throw the hitch into the field. And it's my job to make sure we're on the same page. So, I didn't get that done. Obviously when you look back at it, you say just run the football, but they were blitzing on the play and the corner took off and bailed into the boundary. Then our defense has to stop them. We had an opportunity to intercept a pass. I thought our defense played really hard and competed really hard. We just gave up two huge plays for touchdowns and that kills you."

(Did they do something differently in the second half or was it just the offense sputtering?)
"They didn't do a whole lot different, no. We moved the ball, we just couldn't score touchdowns. We had some things we thought were there and we'd able to get some big plays on them, but I don't think it was a lot of difference. We converted some third downs, we got the ball running. Trey (Smith) got a couple big third down and threes, third down and fours, when we ran the ball. But you've got to get the ball in the end zone."

(Jawon Pass was really locked in throwing the ball down the field the first half, but was a little erratic on some throws in the second half, was there anything that you saw that led to those incompletions?)
"I think it was… he was trying to throw it maybe a little bit too hard. On two of them down the middle, I thought maybe we would have touchdowns on it, and the ball kind of sailed on him a little bit. On Dez's (Fitzpatrick) double move route, he was just a little anxious and threw it a little bit early. I know when it left his hand, he thought he had a touchdown, but it just didn't end that way."

(You mentioned the play on first and 10 when Jawon throws the interception with about two minutes to play, did you not think you could just run out the clock?)
"I wanted to run the ball and finish the game, but I made a bad call. I knew they were blitzing, I knew what the coverage was, I thought we would catch it and get inside the 10-yard-line. I need to do a better job."

(You hit the long pass to Atwell, and maybe you feel like Pass has some rhythm, and you have Tu open and he doesn't… you second-guessed yourself before we even had a chance to when you came in here. How tough does that make play-calling when you're not sure one play to the next?)
"What was hard was that we felt like we had some good plans. And even the play where we had the back down the sideline, we just didn't make the play. But then we came back, got the first down, drove the ball down there. The third and two, Jawon did a great job. The guy he ended up throwing it to, Micky (Crum), was his third guy in his progression. So he executed that, but it's about scoring points, and we certainly had opportunities in the second half. We just weren't able to execute."

(On the long touchdown that put them ahead, was it just the missed tackles, was it a missed coverage?)
"We were in man coverage, and they threw a slant to him, and we had a guy there. But we know they're good athletes, and he made a great play. He ran through a tackle and did a good job of cutting, and getting the ball in the end zone."

(You mentioned you felt like you guys gave it away. With this team, is there a process of learning how to put games like that away, and what will it take to get one like this?)
"We've got to go do it. We've got to get in a position to win and be able to finish, and win the game. And, unfortunately we didn't get it done."

(What did Hassan (Hall) show you today at running back?)
"I like Hassan a lot. I think he's going to be really explosive. He breaks tackles. He's a guy that sees things really well, and I think he gives us some different speed in there. Certainly we need to grow on what he did today out in the game."

(Obviously you guys didn't finish the job, but this may be the best the offense has looked all season. Do you feel like you guys have made steps in the right direction?)
"I thought they improved. I thought they improved in practice. I thought we improved in the first half and executing. In situations we made plays to score touchdowns in situation football. We just needed to finish it in the second half and we were still driving we couldn't get in the end zone."

(With Jawon you said you had some issues with him the past couple weeks. You said he had some open men and just hadn't seen them. It seemed like you had some problems with that again today. What will it take to clean that up?)
"I thought he really improved today. I thought he really came out and went through his progressions and was seeing things the way he needs to see them. He just missed a couple guys. He made the right reads. He had them down. I thought he really came out, competed hard, got hit a few times and stood in there. He got completions and executed the red zone offense, got us in the end zone, did a good job in the two-minute drive. Those were some really, really good throws he made to get us to score right before half."

(What was your message to the team when you guys came back to the locker room?)
"We've just got to stick together and get this behind us. They need to understand that we did improve a lot this week in practice. We came out here and did what you're supposed to do as far as playing as hard as you can and putting it all on the field, getting in a position to win. So we made a lot of strides but we just didn't finish it and win the game."

Louisville QB Jawon Pass
(Everything seemed to be clicking with you guys in the passing game in the first half but it was a little different story in the second half. It didn't seem to be the same kind of rhythm, was missing on some targets, did they do anything different or what was different for you from the first half to the second half?)
"They weren't doing anything different, not to make an excuse but I was battling some things but I just…I don't know what to say."

(It seems like you were on the bike quite a bit in the second half, did you have some cramping issues or anything like that?)
"Yes."

(What did you see Jawon on that final interception in the first quarter?)
"I saw the guy open but there was a guy right behind him and he undercut the ball when I threw it."

(In the second half when you were in the tent, were you getting an IV? When you came back out how challenging was it with what you were feeling?)
"Yes, I was getting an IV. It was tough but that's just a part of the game, you have to play through stuff like that."

(In the first half, you guys clicked on a lot of long pass plays, what changed this week to get those open for you?)
"Our preparation. We practiced hard, we had a good week of practice, and we just tried to bring it over to the game, and we did."

(Specifically in the second half, how many, specifically down the middle of the field, how many big-time plays do you feel you missed?)
"Maybe like three or four."

(What will it take to put these games away?)
"We have to finish. We were in great position. Everything was going our way. We just have to finish and seal the win."

(On the last drive, what did you see as that developed?)
"They were playing, maybe, a prevent coverage, dropping everyone back. We tried to hit a seam, move the ball and we couldn't do it."

Louisville WR Jaylen Smith
(How difficult is it, you guys are in the lead for most of this game, how difficult is it to come away with a loss?)
"To have it for majority of the game and let it slip away is rough. I feel like we prepared well all week, practiced well all week. We've prepared well over the course of the last two days leading up to the game and it just sucks to let it slip away like that at the end."

(The team came out today with more pep. Following a difficult lost, how do you continue that in practice?)
"Twenty-four-hour rule. A lot of schools, high school and professional teams, I've heard it since high school. Coach P preaches it here. I'm sure everyone at the next level preaches the 24-hour rule whether it's a win or a loss. Celebrate if you win, mourn if you lose. You feel it. It's not something that's going to go away. When you go to sleep and wake up the next day, it's a new day. The sun is going to shine tomorrow, I promise. You take that and wear it. Then you come out and do the same thing we did this week with preparation and hope for a better outcome next week."

Louisville RB Trey Smith
(What was the locker room like?)
"No locker room is going to be happy after losing a game like that but we just have to put this game behind us and get back to work."

Louisville LB P.J. Blue
(In terms of defense, you guys came out with a lot of energy- you only gave up seven points in the first half. How did you feel about how you guys got started and then maybe what changed in the second half?)
"We started great. Not much changed. In the second half, we just made mistakes. They cost us. We need to get off the field on third downs. On a couple third downs, we weren't able to and that changed the course of the game. We've got to get off the field on third downs."

(Is that what it was? Just mistakes? What did you see on the long touchdown at the end to give Florida State the lead?)
"I didn't see anything. I was blitzing. Actually no, I didn't blitz. I was in coverage on the running back. I just didn't see anything."

Louisville DL Jared Goldwire
(When you guys get so close, so much energy, it seemed like you guys put yourselves in a place to win it. What do you guys do to kind of circle around to bounce back next week?)
"We're going to watch film. Just like we did with Western, not Western, I mean UVA. We took that L. We have to come back and watch film. Coach challenged us to keep it more than seven most of the time. We just lost. I don't know what else to say."

FSU Head Coach Willie Taggart
(Opening Statement)
"Man, what a win. Good win for our football team. I think our football team took another step today. It was really good to see how resilient those guys were—to go out and fight till the end and make winning plays. I was really impressed with our seniors stepping up big when they needed to step up and make plays for us. (Safety) A.J. (Westbrook) and (wide receiver) Nyquan Murray made some huge plays for us there late in the game. I thought our football team took another step in the right direction. We're nowhere near where we need to be, but we're headed that way."

(We can hear it a little bit. What is the locker room like right now? How are the coaches? How are you? What is this feeling for you like right now?)
"A win is living. I'm good. Same thing with our players, they're excited. I think they're really excited because of how they stuck together and fought through. Our team fought the entire time and found a way to win, and that is something we talked about today. Winning is a way of life. It's how you carry yourself daily and what you're doing. We didn't care about the score—all we cared about was winning, whatever it was going to take to win. Our guys believed in it. They stuck to it and they stuck together. It was so great at halftime, them believing in the team and saying, 'We're not leaving here without a victory.' Guys made the plays when we needed it and found a way to win."

(Coach, you've preached about changing the culture at Florida State since you've arrived. Last year, in these situations, the team folded. Today, they came back won the game. What does that say about how much progress you have made in that department so far?)
"Like I said, we're moving in the right direction. Early in the year, we weren't where we are at now when it comes to that culture and where we need to be. Each game that's gone on, we've learned from it, and I think our team is understanding more about what I mean when I talk about changing the culture and getting it to how we want it. In these last two games, I thought we made big progress in trying to change the culture. Again, we're not completely there, but our guys are working really hard to get it how we want it. I thought today was another jump in that direction."

(What does it mean for the guys to win? To be that close and find a way to win? How do you build on that?)
"We're going to go and watch this film like we do every week and see what we did well, and what we didn't do well and try to get better at it. But always pulling out the things we're trying to teach our guys to do. Show them we can do this we can get this done. We showed that today, not having the quitting mentality, keep working, keep believing. We had this thing, kind of how we run our program by. A pyramid I call 'Ascent to Greatness', and at the top of that pyramid, I talk about the miracle of believing and our guys believed today and stayed with each other."

(Coach, as they were driving there at the end, were you surprised at all that they threw the ball?)
"Yeah, I was surprised and happy. I mean I figured they were going to run the ball and make us use a timeout and get out of there. It was great. I'm glad they didn't."

(It seemed like after that, the sidelines kind of came alive, did you feel that momentum?)
"Obviously, that's a big momentum change for our team and we needed that. We needed a takeaway in the worst way. We talked about stripping because we thought they'd run the ball and it was great for A.J. to be right there and intercept that ball when we needed it the most."

(Why do you think [redshirt junior quarterback] Deondre (Francois) was so much better in the second half?)
"He was just locked into what we had to do, and receivers made plays for him down the field. I guess I'd like to say he was locked in. I will say he was very vocal on the sideline with his teammates and again, he was one of those guys saying, 'We're going to win this game. Just stay together, it's not over. Let's play one play at a time.' Every series, every drive, we started he talked to those guys about one play at a time, one play at a time and guys believed in him. They made plays."

(They've started to trust the pass protection to him a little bit?)
"I thought, to me, he's been trusting the pass protection all year and you know he's been tough when they don't protect for him and getting up. Again, he was off there early, and I think once he got a grasp for what they were doing to us, he felt a lot more comfortable, and we changed some things up play-wise that helped as well."

(Was that the best you've seen him play in the second half?) "Who? Deondre?" (Yeah.)
"I guess, I mean we won and he made some big-time plays for us, some big-time throws. I would say his receivers made some big-time catches for him in critical situations. Deondre is a good football player and he's only getting better each and every week, and he's growing and he's become a very good leader for our football team and it's paying off for us."

(Having a win like this, especially coming up with Miami, Notre Dame and Clemson coming up on the schedule. A win like this, what does this do to get your team ready for those games and to get back in the ACC conference and bowl picture?)
"Well, for our team we just talk about playing one game at a time and taking care of our own business and not worrying about any other team. I know we got Miami coming up, it's a rival game and conference game, we understand what we're coming up against and prepare like it's any other team and go down there and try to win a ballgame."

(How much does that throw to [redshirt freshman wide receiver] Tamorrion [Terry] in the third quarter kind of spark everything. It seemed like that game had kind of dragged to that point?)
"That was big. I kept telling Terry we're going to come to him again, we need you. And the series before that, we wanted to and didn't get a chance, and so we started our next series off with the first play to make sure that we get it. And, we felt like he could the corner over there, and actually the corner did a good job and made him outside release, but he beat him with speed and Deondre made a great throw down the field and those guys, two weeks, in a row did a great job of executing the play."

(He had a great catch on the second touchdown drive of the fourth quarter, the one right before Terry's play. How much of a weapon is he? A guy that's big, fast and has a really high catch radius.)
"It's a huge weapon and I know Deondre loves throwing to guys like that because you can throw it in tight windows. You can throw it down the field. He can outrun people and in the red zone, he can go up over folks. He's a good player and he's still a redshirt freshman and he's only going to get better."

(It seemed like the defense was having some communication issues in the third quarter. There were a lot of open wide receivers that Jawon Pass missed. But just what was going on with the defense and what was going on with the communication?)
"We've got to be more disciplined, especially in the secondary, in what we're doing, and I thought that throughout the entire game, especially the first half it's just a lack of discipline in our technique and how we're supposed to do things. I mean we're doing a great job stopping the run and knew they were going to throw the ball, and again, we were letting guys get behind and that shouldn't happen. We've got to be more disciplined in our technique and what we're doing because that almost cost us."

(You feel like you kind of stole a victory here, considering that they were up, they had the ball inside the 20 with under two minutes left?)
"I wouldn't say stole it. I thought we took a victory. They turned the ball over. We had to drive the field to score, so I wouldn't say we stole anything. We went out and got a victory that we wanted."

(Your willingness to go for it on fourth down—is that because of the confidence you have in your players?)
"Absolutely. We said from the beginning we're going to be aggressive when we need to. I believe in our players and believe that they can get it done, especially when they're concentrating and focused on what we need to do."

(People are going to talk about the touchdown catch [redshirt freshman wide receiver] Tamorrion [Terry] had. But, the fourth down catch he had—that was a tight window and he got hit as soon as he caught it. Is that just another step for a kid like him?)
"It is. But, that's some of the things you can do with a big receiver. You run a slant route. Big body on a smaller corner. He's getter better, stronger with his hands, and making those catches. He's a special talent. He's one of the first kids I saw when I got here and knew he was going to be something for us. I think the future's really, really bright for him."

(In general, the wide receivers came up big in that second half. What does the say about the potential, the explosiveness for this offense?)
"Those guys have been making plays for us throughout the year in the passing game. We know what we can do from that standpoint, especially when we get protection. Deondre can throw the football and we've got guys who can catch it and run, not only catch the ball, but run after the catch as well. And, we've got to continue to use that. I can only imagine when we finally get our running game going, it will really help this offense go like we're capable of. But, it's great to know we have got guys out there. We can throw out that quarterback and throw to the receivers the catches that we need. Quite frankly, it's helped us this year."

(Do you think it's eye-opening to be part of the next step they can do?)
"I wouldn't say eye-opening. They're always coming to me telling, 'Throw it to me, coach. I'm ready, coach.' Throughout the whole game, they just kept saying it. We're going to come to them and we need you to be ready when we do and they did. All those guys spoke it into existence."

(How much do you think the program needed this win, especially the way you got the win?)
"We needed this win. We need every win. We go into every game trying to win. We don't want to lose. That's not something we try to do, but we needed this win to continue the progress that we're trying to do with our football program. This was huge for our team and I thought it was a huge step in the right direction. When you win big, that's easy, but when your team is down on the road and has the resilience to come back and find a way to win, that's so big for our football team and where we're trying to go."

(What kind of example is [redshirt sophomore offensive lineman] Landon [Dickerson] setting? Wasn't 100 percent, played every snap and seemed to play pretty well.)
"It's important to him. You see him talking to the players and he's passionate about what he does. He's passionate about our football team. And it's great to have him back. His leadership and his energy is great, and I know the guys beside him like him because he helps with communication as well. But, for him to fight…I think Landon is one of those guys, he was frustrated with what we were doing offensively. He was trying to work his butt off in rehab to get back out there. Again, he's not 100 percent, but he's out fighting and helping us on offense, and that's what it takes. That's football and that's what we want. That's what we want to continue to recruit around here: tough, hard-nosed, highly-competitive, smart football players."

FSU QB Deondre Francois
(What changed in the second half for you?)
"It really wasn't for me. It was for us as an offense as a whole. We just stopped making simple mistakes. I feel like we were getting penalties and getting negative yards before we could even snap the ball. We just had a lot of jitters in the first half and at the second half, once we figured we didn't have anything to lose, we just went out there and played the way we know how to play Florida State football."

(When did you realize that Murray was gone and going to score on that play?)
"I remember that I threw it to him and he was going to cut back left and then I saw him, he was going to cut back to Keith. Then, Keith wasn't looking, so he cut back right to Terry and then he just ran across the field and it was like déjà vu because I have seen him do that. He was just in position with the ball in his hands."

(What was your reaction when you're watching him run down the field like that? Are you celebrating, high stepping…what are you doing?)
"I'm celebrating, I'm running out there. I'm like, 'man, this is a great feeling, it's just great for our team.' It's great for our offense as a whole because we know that we haven't been executing the way we're supposed to execute. We haven't been doing it the Florida State way and for us to come back down 21-7, we understand that we are capable of scoring points on offense."

(What does this win do for this team?)
"It does a lot for us. Every win is an important win but just the way we won, we grew a lot as a team. We also grew up last weekend, so we just grew up two weeks in a row and we just want to continue to grow up as a team. Continue to grow together and not be selfish. Continue to share the ball and continue to execute."

(How special was it you, Nunney, and AJ -- guys who have been here a while -- to be at the center at the end to make the plays to help you guys win?)
"It was very special. Nunney and AJ, those are two guys, two seniors who could've checked out. You know we got a new coach and things didn't start off right for us. Those are two seniors who could've been like, 'I don't want to buy into this,' but those are two guys who bought in from the jump. Things weren't going well for us at the beginning of the season but they stayed strong, they kept their leadership. AJ leads the safeties and Nunney leads the receivers. Those are two guys that came up with two big critical plays at the end of the game for us."

(Tamorrion Terry keeps making big plays. How much trust and confidence do you have in him to keep making those?)
"I have a lot of confidence and I'm just going to keep pushing him every week in practice, no matter how annoying I am, no matter how much I get under his skin. I'm just going to keep pushing him to be the best receiver he can be because if he does that, then nobody can guard him."

FSU WR Nyqwan Murray
(How many missed tackles did they have on that play?)
"I think it was two."

(You broke through one too, correct?)
"Yes sir, I broke through the first one, and the next one was a huge turn. I got loose off of that and then it was off to the races."

(Deondre said you might have been looking to go towards Keith, but he wasn't paying attention so you turned it back. Was that what you saw?)
"Yeah, that's definitely what I saw. I looked at Keith, he was running the go-ball, and his dude was looking at me just seeing me taking off. I looked to the right and I had seen Terry. He was in the same route as me and his dude was kind of falling back. I pointed at the dude and Terry blocked him and it was a touchdown."

(You've been through good times at this program and been through bad times too. To win in this way, what do you think it would mean for this team that's trying to install a new culture?)
"It's a big step forward for this team. Great team win on the road. We haven't beaten Louisville in two years. Beating them at their home I've seen here. Walk off touchdown, it's pretty amazing."

FSU DB A.J. Westbrook
(Was this redemption for you? For everything that has gone on up here, the first half and then 2016 to get that pick to really change the game.)
"I wouldn't say redemption. I'd just say it's preparation. I prepared for this moment."

(Did Pass not look off Crum on that play? Is that what you saw?)
"No, the tight end did some kind of gesture to the quarterback, so I just sat there and jumped it."

(At that point, they're inside the 20. You're having to rely on timeouts, a turnover. What's going through your mind at that point and trying to get them off the field.)
"A lot was going on because they had just got that big first down. We were in the spotlight and we don't know what they're going to do next. But, like I said, I'd seen the tight end do a gesture to the quarterback, so I just sat there and I jumped it."

(Were you surprised that they were passing that time?)
"I was very surprised that they passed it."

(Third score on your secondary seemed to be having some miscommunications or some kind of issues with middle of the field coverage. What happened there? It looked like you were kind of heated at the end of the quarter, trying to sort it out. What all accord there?)
"It was just a lot. We were running a couple new plays, so everybody didn't really know what they were doing at the time. But, we just got to practice it, and keep practicing, and get those people in those spots."

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

P.J. Blue

Jared Goldwire

Jawon Pass

Jaylen Smith

Trey Smith

Related Videos