Head Coach Bobby Petrino
Opening Statement:
A: “After watching the video this morning, I came away from it impressed with our defense. I thought our defense made the critical plays when the game was on the line. We came out on top. We made four stops on third-and-1. We got a stop early on a third-and-3, which was huge for us. We got a really nice turnover early in the second quarter, which gave our offense a short field and allowed us to score. That is something we’ve been looking for. We did a great job in the red zone. We had three wins in the red zone and only gave up one touchdown on defense. I was excited to see that and our defensive players played with a lot of effort and passion. They really flew around to the ball and made the plays when the game was on the line. Offensively, we did some good things. At one point we scored on six of seven possessions. We had zero turnovers, which was good and our protection and the ability to get the ball out is going in a positive direction. We still want to run the ball better and we have to improve on doing that. We are going to work hard on that. It’s nice to come away with the win.”
On the defensive performance against Houston:
A: “I thought our defensive front handled their offensive front. We were very sturdy and we had good penetration. Our linebackers did a nice job of attacking down hill and filling properly.”
On the performance of linebacker Michael Boley:
A: “He was running around and he made a lot of tackles and big plays. He forced the fumble that we recovered. He had the big fourth-down stop and he made a lot of plays in critical situations. He’s very knowledgeable about what people are trying to do in the passing game and his length and speed really showed up. Lawyer Milloy had a very nice game as well. He had a lot of tackles and assists. His ability to fit to the run helped us a lot as well.”
Q: Do you have any injury situations that you guys are dealing with?
A: “I feel good about our situation. I always talk to our trainer later on in the day but, after the game, I thought we came out well.”
Q: Do you have any updates on the players who are already injured?
A: “No, hopefully we’ll know something more on Wednesday.”
Q: Do you think giving the players a little more of a rest helped?
A: “After we got our goal line work done on Thursday, we took the pads off. We still had the same amount of reps and time in practice, but I guess removing those three pounds helped a lot. Mentally it does help. The week before (John Abraham) had to rest on Friday because he was sore. He’s playing really hard and playing with good effort. He would be a nightmare for a tackle to have to line up against him. He had another great game. When they were holding him and tackling him and it wasn’t getting called, he would keep coming. That says a lot for his maturity.”
Q: What is working for you in terms of third down efficiency?
A: “Our players have done a nice job of understanding what we think we are going to see. We are doing a nice job of preparing during the week and we work as hard on third downs as we do on anything. We get a lot of reps in during the week. The other night, they threw some blitzes in there that they hadn’t previously shown. We hit the back in the flat and Michael Jenkins did a nice job of working inside and getting open. I think it’s a combination of the preparation showing up and keeping our poise. I really like it when we get into third-and-short and third-and-medium. Although, you would be surprised with our third and long stats. Maybe we should get into more third and longs (laughing). You don’t want to do that, but maybe we should. We consider third and short 1 to 3 (yards), third and medium 4 to 7 (yards).
Q: Have you always been reserved on the sideline when you coach?
A: “I’ve always been really calm and not animated.”
On his throw of the red flag during a play that he challenged:
A: “The first thing my daughters asked me last night was how my arm was. I asked them what they were talking about and they told me that they were proud of me that I crow-hopped before I threw the flag.”
Q: Is the mood better in the building following this victory?
A: “You notice it around the building. There is no question about it. We needed a win. There has been a lot stress and tense moments for the last three weeks. I give the credit to the players. They kept practicing and working. Their effort showed up last night in the game and we found a way to win. That’s what we have to do. I hope every game is a great battle and we keep finding ways to win in the fourth quarter.”
On other teams struggling in the league:
A: “We’ve been trying to focus on our division. We would have liked to get the one against Carolina because we would have been right in it. There is a lot of room for movement still in our division.”
Q: What do you have to do to improve the run game?
A: “It’s a consistency deal. Maybe we run the ball more and maybe we give them more opportunities. Some of the pressures that they brought hurt us at times. We missed a couple of checks we would have liked to get to during the game. The last time we got the turnover was on me because I was stubborn and wanted to run the ball. They were bringing pressure and playing cover zero and you usually throw it in that situation.”
Q: What are your thoughts of Jamaal Anderson?
A: “Jamaal is doing a good job. We are putting him in situations where he is responsible for a lot in the run game. He’s doing a nice job of that and he’s learned how to use his hands. He’s doing a nice job of fitting where he belongs. He’s doing a lot of the dirty work right now and his sacks will come along.”
On some of the running plays:
A: “Ovie Mughelli is the lead blocker. He leads to one of the linebackers and then you push the line to the other linebacker. A lot of times it stays with the fullback and, other times, the play will cut back. It depends on how their linebackers are flowing. We went into the game knowing their linebackers were quick and they floated over the top a lot. We did have some cut-back runs in our game plan.”
Q: Can you speak to kicker Morten Andersen’s consistency?
A: “It was great to count on the three points. You want to get to a certain spot on the field and say, at worst, we have three points if we don’t give up a sack or a turnover. It’s nice to have that. He did a nice job at that. Michael (Koenen) did a nice job of getting the ball down and (Morten) had to kick the threads at one time. He still made it and did a nice job. He has a great attitude and he helps us relax as well.”
