Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

8/9/2010 at 1:06pm

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino appeared for a segment on the Scott Van Pelt show on ESPN Radio. Petrino was on for approximately six-and-a-half minutes with hosts Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo. Below is a transcript of the appearance, which includes talk about Petrnio’s expectations, his thoughts on the running game and his thoughts on players using Twitter and other social media outlets.

SVP: Coach, I’m reading here that you say you want your team to be a more physical football team. How would you say in the past, your team’s lack of physicality has cost you games?

Petrino: Well, I think the biggest thing is being able to run the ball in the late third quarter and the fourth quarter to be able to win a game and stop the run in the second half. I’ve always believed that’s what it comes down to. Throwing the ball is fun and exciting, but you have to be able to knock someone back and run the ball physically in the fourth quarter.

SVP: And I would imagine, coach, if you do have that threat of running the ball that only helps a guy like Ryan Mallett, who does have the ability to throw it so well with the play action. There’s been so much talk about him and his ability. How would you assess him based on the quarterbacks you’ve been around in your time?

Petrino: Oh, Ryan is a special young man, first of all off the football field he does and excellent job in the classroom. He loves the game of football. He understands it very well. He’s a tremendous leader for our football team. He always has a smile on his face and is full of energy and excitement and it elevates everybody else. On the field he has some special, special talents – his ability to throw the ball downfield, his vision and knowledge of the game really help him. He continues to work on his footwork. Anytime he gets his feet set correctly, he can throw the ball as well as anybody.

RR: Is it almost ironic to hear you have a quarterback that’s a more traditional style quarterback when so many other offenses are trying to do everything different now and you have somebody you an kind of go back to and say, I don’t have to scheme and gimmick like all these other teams and it’s just worked out so well for your offense?

Petrino: Yeah. It makes it nice to be able to continue to run the same offense that we always have, really. We’ve been a pro style offense; we incorporate the quick passing game and then also some deep play action. But coming back to the running game, it really does help our passing game if we can be more physical running the ball and get them to drop a safety out so we can throw it more.

RR: What can you tell us about this defense and where it will be in comparison to last year?

Petrino: Well, we’re much better. We’re more physical on the defensive front. The experience we have coming back allows us to rotate and stay fresh. I think we have a special player in Jake Bequette, who has started now for two years, and he’s just a junior, but he’s 6-5, 270 pounds and has run in the 4.6 in the 40-yard-dash, so I expect him to have a real dominant year. We’re much better in the secondary and faster. I think that’s what will really help; being able to move Rudell Crim from corner to safety makes us a faster team in the secondary. We still have some question marks in the linebackers and we’ll see how that will play out in camp to see how the starters and leaders are there.

SVP: Coach, I hope you’ll forgive me here, I know you’ve got a couple of games before this four game stretch where you’ve got Georgia, Alabama, A&M and Auburn, but it’s the same four-game stretch in the same sequence that you played it a season ago. And, a lot of folks will circle that ‘Bama game coming into your place, do you — and I recognize you have to play your first two — do you see that four-game stretch of giving you a real indication by mid-October of what type of football team you’ve got as to what you can aspire to in January?

BP: Well, what we’re really trying to do is understand and be a mature football team and win those first two games and play them well and get better each week in practice. And then we have to go to Georgia and play on the road, play a very good football team on the road, and, you know, they’re a team we had a great game with a year ago and just came up a little bit short, but we have to just concentrate and get ready for that game. If we can take care of our business there, the Alabama game becomes a big game for us.

RR: Coach, how do you feel about this role, though, of being the team we hear about all the time; ‘Hey, if ‘Bama is going to lose a game, they’re going to lose it on the SEC West side. It’s going to be that Arkansas game.’ I hear that far more this year than your other couple years at Arkansas. How do you feel about that role and that role change?

BP: Well, we embrace that there’s high expectations for us. We’ve worked extremely hard in building this program and putting the pieces in place to have high expectations. The best part of it is, that’s what our players have. We have a vision. We have high expectations and we’re working daily to try to achieve those. One thing we’re not going to do is be afraid of it and shy away from it. We’ll shoot for the top of the rainbow and go out there and have a bunch of fun.

SVP: Coach, this is something Ryen and I are going to discuss in a bit more detail coming up on the program: Boise State [coach] has barred his players from using Twitter and I know a number of programs are having to close practice because in the day and age that we live in, if a kid twists his ankle and goes down, somebody tweets it or puts it on Facebook and parents are finding out about it before a coach is able to say, ‘Hey, I just wanted to let you know what’s happened.’ How are you as coaches dealing with the evolving way that he media covers every detail of your practices and your program? What’s your feeling on all that?

BP: Well, we’re definitely monitoring Facebook and Twitter. That’s a good idea to not let them use it at all. We haven’t went that far, yet, but I have practices open until next Wednesday. You know, one thing about being the major university in the state of Arkansas, I think it’s great for our fans to be able to come out and watch us. It’s exciting. It gives our players energy when they come out to practice and scrimmages. You do always worry about them putting online…[trails off] I worry more about when they put online about ‘A player not being as good as we thought he would be’ or criticizing a player online because our players are the ones that read it, you know? Once we get started in the season, though, our practices are closed.

SVP: I understand. Coach, thanks so much for your time. I appreciate it and look forward to visiting with you sometime in the fall. A lot of folks are interested in your football team and were interested to see how good you are. Thanks so much.

BP: Thanks, Scott

Tagged: Bobby Petrino, ESPN Radio, ESPN, Scott Van Pelt, Ryen Russillo, Ryan Mallett, Jake Bequette, Twitter, Facebook