THE MODERATOR: We’re going to get going with Coach Petrino. We’ll open the floor to
Coach with an opening statement.
COACH PETRINO: We got beat by a better football team. There’s no question about
that. They’re very good. They did a great job. Their offense, their defense. They beat us in
special teams. They outcoached us. So, basically, we got beat in all phases of the game.
The biggest thing that we have to do from this is learn. You know, learn from it. And
come back next week and do better in practice, understand where we didn’t execute. And I
thought that we moved the ball for a while and then we had negative plays or hurt ourselves
or they stopped us. It’s a combination of all three.
And then our defense was out on the field too long, you know. They did a good job of
running the ball and throwing it. So it was a very difficult game for us.
One of the things that we can build on is our players kept playing hard and competing
and we were able to get some guys in late that are young and fresh that showed they have
the ability to help us this season. But it was a tough game. There’s no doubt that they were
the better football team out there.
Q. How would you evaluate Jawon Pass’ performance?
COACH PETRINO: I mean, it was a tough night for him. You know, I thought he came
out and completed some passes. He was competing. Made some good escapes and runs. And
then there was a point where he got overwhelmed a little bit by their pressure and their
different blitzes that they used.
You know, they threw a lot at him. They brought guys from different sides and checked
when he checked. And, you know, they’re a very good football team, so we can’t have the
interception late. You know, the interception early, he just put too much air on the ball, and
they went and got it. It was a really good defensive play.
- Do you have an update on Jon Greenard? Do you know what his status is?
COACH PETRINO: They just said he had a wrist issue, and he wasn’t going to be able to
come back into the game. That’s all they really notified me of.
- And with Jawon, you mentioned that there was point where the pressure
seemed to get to him. Do you remember maybe what that point was and how he seemed to
deal with it?
COACH PETRINO: Yeah. It was, I thought, the early part of the third quarter, and they
ran through our offensive line a few times. They switched things and brought pressure a
couple times that got us that, you know, he had a lot to focus on downfield what they were
doing, plus what they were doing on the front.
But that’s why I kept him in. I wanted him to stay in and have to work through it and
keep playing, you know. There was never a question of taking him out of the game. He
needed to stay in there and get all those reps. He kept competing. He’s a guy that’s going to
have a great career here, you know. But this was a hard opener for him. There’s no question
about that.
- What was the plan with the rushing attack coming in, and why do you think it
wasn’t as effective tonight?
COACH PETRINO: Yeah. We didn’t get to remove the line of scrimmage much, you
know, and then we got behind the sticks and had to throw the ball, and then get some
negative yards on sacks. But, you know, we weren’t able to move the line of scrimmage.
And it’s kind of a different tale between what they did and what we did. You know,
they were able to move the line of scrimmage. Running back had four yards and then, you
know, contact on other yards, and we weren’t able to get that done.
- There were four illegal substitutions in the first half. What was creating that
confusion for you guys?
COACH PETRINO: Yeah. We had an issue on the offense where we were calling out a
formation that’s also a personnel grouping. So the personnel grouping ran out on the field–
true freshmen — so that was one of the issues.
And then we had a couple on the field goal that, you know, we can’t have that. That
was something — I think that when Jonathan went down, you know, we got a little bit off on
our substitutions and communication of the substitutions out on the field. So not a good guy
to lose early in the game because, you know, he’s been the leader of our defense.
- This is not typical opening game. Can it be something down the road, though,
that you think can help this team maybe more than just going out and playing a kind of
opener a lot of teams play?
COACH PETRINO: Yeah, it has to. It has to help us. We’re out there competing against
some of the best players in the country and great coaching. We’ve got — like I told the players,
you know, this is not failure if we learn from it. You know, if we don’t learn from it, then it is.
But if we learn from it and come back and know how to work harder, know how to prepare
better, know how to, you know, concentrate and focus during the game, tackle better — you
know, we missed some tackles, particularly in special teams that you can’t miss.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.
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