Bobby Petrino Previews Kentucky

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Highlights:

--It was so exciting for us to have that many fans at Notre Dame, and so we want to thank the 15,000 fans that came up there and supported us and helped us find a way to win that game. Now we've got to find a way to put that behind us.

--Late in the year we give the players Sunday off and then they'll come back today and we'll get to work on Kentucky.

--Kentucky's a good football team. They've got a quarterback who can throw and run and who really competes. It's going to be a great challenge for us.

--Sometimes it's an issue to put a big win behind you, but I think playing Kentucky and it being senior day will make us focus. These are seniors who have had a lot of success here and who have a great deal of pride in going out the right way.

--We talked about the Orange Bowl a little bit before the Notre Dame game and told the guy guys that there were some opportunities out there for us, but that we need to just concentrate on winning the next two games. We just have to take care of our own business and see how things happen. They're aware of it though, but they know that the only thing they can do is focus, play hard and win a game.

--I really liked playing Kentucky the first game of the season because all winter and all summer it was something to build up to. Now that it's the last game, it's good because it's on rivalry weekend with the other big rivalry games. I think it helps the entire state of Kentucky and the game should be exciting for both sets of fans.

--The first time I was here I realized how big a rivalry it was right away. It's kind of unique in that in your neighborhood you have some Kentucky fans and some Louisville fans. I remember the first time I went to the Governor's Cup golf tournament, and there was this guy I thought was my buddy and he showed up wearing a blue sweater. It's unique, but it's great for all the sports we go up against one another in.

--We don't really worry what they say about the rivalry on TV or the radio, we just get ourselves ready to play. It's all about focus and preparation because every play counts.

--This group of seniors has done such a great job for the program. It's amazing how many total games and how many big games they've won. I was worried that they were going to be reluctant when we came in as a new coaching staff, but they've been great. They've had great attitudes and they've been willing to work since day one. That allowed us to move on and get better really quickly.

--I love having rivalry games like this that really mean a lot and that people really care about. It's fun.

--It'd have been nice if we'd finished the game on Saturday by scoring a touchdown instead of by them missing a field goal, but our guys really competed. We made a couple huge plays to keep them out of the endzone there at the end. In the 4th quarter I loved hour our guys were still playing so hard and doing what they'd been coached to do. It was very impressive.

--We really want to get to nine wins and get to the best bowl game we can get to. You can't think about Kentucky and what they have to play for, you just have to stick to the process and understand what you have to do. If you do that then the scoreboard will take care of itself.

--Reggie Bonnafon did a great job competing on Saturday. I thought he did a great job getting us going in the first quarter and then staying focused after some things didn't go his way. I was really happy with the way he competed and the job he did. He's a great leader and he's got everybody behind him. He's very coachable and he shows tremendous poise for somebody who's so young.

--Kentucky is completely different than they were the last time we played them. At that time they were just learning what their coaches wanted them to do. Now they have a better understanding of their schemes and what's expected, and they have a quarterback who really competes.

--We'l have a team Thanksgiving dinner.

--I was looking around to see where the leprechaun was after that batted pass that went right to the Notre Dame receiver for a touchdown. I thought it was going to be a pick and we were about to get the ball back.

--(On success against UK in the past) The first time I was here we had really good football teams that knew how to compete and play hard, and the Kentucky game meant a lot to them. We had some guys on our team from the city of Louisville who knew how important the game was and did a good job of letting the other guys know how much it meant. None of that is going to help with this year's team though.